The work of an academic: Jack of all trades, or master of one?

Abstract

This paper stems from conversations between the authors who recently came to work together in staff and educational development. Having pursued different academic careers in Higher Education (HE), we questioned whether we had a common understanding of our academic community. In particular, we discussed two aspects. First, the extent to which our different disciplinary backgrounds influenced our perspectives on academic practice and our attitudes and approaches to staff and educational development. If we held different views on academic practice, how many other variations were we likely to encounter? Second, we felt it important to be sensitive to the needs of our colleagues in terms of their practices. The research that emanated from our discussions began with an empirical study, reported in this paper. We explore tensions between the various work activities performed by academics at the University of Sheffield. Eighty staff maintained a diary over a specified week early in the academic year 1997‐98. They recorded time spent on the activities of research, teaching, administration, external work, and professional development. Biographical data, including staff grade, length of service in HE, and length of service at the University were collected via a questionnaire attached to the diary. It would appear that the majority of academics surveyed support a role in both teaching and research, with a preference to spend more time on research at the expense of administration but not at the expense of teaching. These empirical data help us to understand more about the role of academics in changing times, and how we, as staff and educational developers, might become more effective and efficient.