Academic superheroes? A critical analysis of academic job descriptions

ABSTRACT

For over a decade, debate has raged about the nature and purpose of the PhD, including its role as preparation for working in academia. Academic work has changed a great deal in the last 60 years, yet our doctoral curriculum has remained relatively static. While there is increasing interest in matching PhD programmes to ‘real world’ needs, there is a surprising lack of research to inform research curriculum development at this level. If we take the position that the PhD is still the best way to prepare for academic work, what skills and attributes should we help graduates develop for this destination? This article analyses a set of academic job advertisements and asks: What do academic employers really want from the PhD now?

KEYWORDS:

• Academia
• doctoral
• employability
• PhD
• research education

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Vitae for their permission to use the Researcher Development Framework within our research. We would also like to thank our colleagues who have provided feedback on this research and ideas for future directions.

Additional information

Funding

Support for Rachael Pitt to undertake this research was provided by the Australian National University and La Trobe University.