Illustration for blog piece entitled demystifying careers in academia

Forging a career path within academia can sometimes be a daunting prospect. The sector is full of esoteric systems and jargon – and can be confusing even to someone who has already spent years within it as a student (and long after!).

Like all journeys, it’s best undertaken prepared, with as much information and visibility upfront as possible. Knowledge of the landscape is often assumed, and it can be unclear who to ask. This information gap favours those with tacit knowledge of the system/culture, and can exacerbate existing barriers to access and prosperity within the sector,  further disadvantaging minoritised groups.

So with that in mind, here are a few things to consider as a starting point, as well as some handy links:

What roles are out there? (decoding the alphabet soup of titles)

A tricky element of navigating an academic career pathway concerns the plethora of letters-after-the-name and ambiguous job titles – it’s often not the simplest hierarchy to decode, and there is plenty of confusion-causing variance between institutions and countries.

DiscoverPhDs and AcademicPositions can be good starting points for understanding how titles translate into career paths at different institutions.

Don’t forget about overlooked, academia-adjacent roles

Don't forget about "academic-adjacent" roles highlighted on platforms like PhD Careers (https://phd-careers.co.uk/2023/04/17/academic-adjacent-careers-what-are-they-and-how-do-i-find-them/).

There is a large, often overlooked, world of positions under this rubric that sit outside the ‘traditional’ academic career route, but still involve a heavy focus on the world of research. Read our blog on academia-adjacent careers for more info.

This recent Pathfinder Career Narratives blog by Dr Taryn Bell – who is now a Researcher Development Adviser at the University of Leeds – gives a concrete example of this pathway.

Who pays for these roles? The funding landscape

Funding is a critical aspect of forging an academic career. There's a whole funding ecosystem out there, including less obvious and known sources. Big names like UKRI and the European Research Council are great places to start (along with Wellcome), but don't forget charities and even private companies.

A good way to better understand the landscape is to chat with your colleagues, your PI, or your line manager. They've likely navigated the funding landscape themselves and can point you in the right direction. Many universities also offer workshops on grant writing and have internal peer-review groups to help you polish your proposals.

Plus, keep an eye out for events where funders come to your institution – it's a fantastic opportunity to learn about specific funding schemes. Research Professional (https://www.researchprofessional.com/) - a site that provides information and news on funding opportunities or similar - it’s well worth taking advantage of.

There may be seed funding (a small pot of money made available for small projects, for things like proof of concept, for example, or around a specific theme like knowledge exchange) available within your school or department, ask your line manager or peers to find out if anything like this is available.

Some companies fund research too – for example Carlsberg were one of the funders of a seagrass project, along with WWF-UK.

What type of institution do you want to work in?

Higher Education Institutions come in all shapes and sizes, some focusing more on research, others on teaching. Think about what gets your neurons firing – diving deep into a specific topic or sharing your knowledge with the next generation of researchers?

Universities aren’t the only players in the game. Postdocs and researchers are also employed in a wide range of research organisations and NGOs. You can see the current list of research organisations approved by UKRI here. Many research roles in the private sector and elsewhere also still involve a large amount of ‘academic’ work – e.g. publishing papers, and so on. Our career clusters can be a good starting point for exploring some of these options.

Sometimes the best way to get a sense of whether a direction is for you is to draw upon concrete examples and case studies of individuals – their personal career journey, what their role is like now, etc. Our former postdoc case studies can be a good place to start.

What’s it like working in academia? Understanding the reality

As with all journeys, it’s important to be under no illusions regarding the road ahead. It’s important to take the time to consider what you really want from a career, and whether the reality of the landscape of academia matches your goals and priorities both in and out of work.

The journey to an academic position typically involves time as a postdoc – which by its nature usually means short-term contracts of a few years, and moving to where the work is. This can pose a challenge in relation to other aspects of life you might be considering during the same timeframe – whether it’s getting a mortgage, settling down, having a family, and so on.

Perhaps most crucial of all is the importance of being open-eyed regarding the numbers involved in the postdoc-to-academic pipeline. According to Nature’s 2023 postdoc survey, 65% of postdoc respondents said they wanted to base their careers in academia. But as the same research makes clear, this signals a misalignment between expectations and the reality of the job market. To quote:

It is extremely unlikely that 65% will end up in tenured or in long-term academic positions in their fields. Most data suggests it’s more like 20%, and the proportion is even lower in some disciplines.

Paige Hilditch-Maguire, Director of Alumni and Corporate Partnerships at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia

Along with the aforementioned former postdoc case studies, resources like the presentation "So You Want to Be an Academic" (http://www.vandermeerlab.org/) and case studies of successful PIs can be used to get a realistic picture of what working in academia is like.

If I stay, can I leave later? If I go, can I come back?

The idea that you have to make a one-off lifetime-choice between academia and beyond, at the start of your career, is a myth.

Whilst still not as easy as it should be, it is increasingly common for peoples’ careers to move in and out of academia – this blog by UKRI’s Frances Burstow is a fantastic read on the benefits of career mobility.

Understanding this – and understanding your options beyond academia – can make all the difference. To quote a postdoc in the same Nature survey:

'People are happier because they know that they can move out of academia, and it’s not a failure. Even if you do find your place in academia, there’s a definite confidence building in knowing that you CAN move, you’ll be valued and can still be successful. It completely changes the power dynamic, as you can then pursue academia because you want to, not just because you feel it’s the only path.'

Julia Sanchez-Garrido, postdoc at Imperial College London

Prosper’s Explore resources are a great starting point for building awareness of opportunities. As the quote suggests, this is more than worth exploring even if your heart is set on academia in the long run.

Related resources: