Higher education (HE) lecturers facilitate learning and carry out research activities in universities and some colleges of further education (FE). They teach academic or vocational subjects to undergraduate and postgraduate students aged 18 upwards. Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical laboratory demonstrations, field work and e-learning. Multimedia technologies are increasingly used.
Most HE lecturers pursue their own areas of research and develop these in order to contribute to the wider research activities of their department/institution.
Administrative tasks take up a significant part of the working day. Many lecturers also take on a pastoral role with their students. As HE lecturers progress along their career paths, they may be expected to undertake a managerial role.
Work activities vary according to individual areas of responsibility and research. Progression to managerial posts will also have an impact on work responsibilities.
Tasks typically involve:
Although this area of work is open to all graduates, undergraduate and doctoral degrees relevant to the post are required, along with:
Entry without a degree is not possible.
Entry without a PhD (or nearing completion of a PhD) is difficult. However, for more vocational or specialised courses, expertise in the relevant field may be just as valuable as a PhD.
Candidates will need to show evidence of the following:
Some research students undertake part-time teaching responsibilities (sometimes paid at an hourly rate) while still registered as students, which is a valuable way to build up teaching experience. There are guidelines limiting the number of hours a full-time PhD student may work - six hours' teaching (not including preparation time) is currently the accepted maximum, while research councils and other funding bodies have their own individual guidelines. Teaching and administrative responsibilities may also be given to research students as a condition of their receiving a bursary. In some universities, such posts are quite structured and come under titles such as graduate teaching assistantships. (Check Guardian Jobs (http://jobs.guardian.co.uk) , Times Educational Supplement (TES) (http://www.tes.co.uk) and Jobs.ac.uk (http://www.jobs.ac.uk) .)
Part-time teaching roles while you are a postgraduate student do not guarantee a full-time post on completion of a PhD. In the early stages of your career, it may be very difficult to gain a permanent contract as a higher education (HE) lecturer and you may have to accept posts on a fixed-term contract.
For more information, see work experience (www.prospects.ac.uk/workexperience) and find courses and research (www.prospects.ac.uk/pg).
Most institutions offer a wide range of in-house training to their staff, covering:
Universities usually also support staff who wish to take a training course outside their own institution, if it is directly related to their work.
The most significant development in recent years has been the introduction of formal postgraduate teaching qualifications for higher education (HE) lecturers. In many universities, these are now compulsory for new staff on permanent contracts and are completed alongside a lecturer’s normal working duties. Such courses generally cover theories of learning, practical skills and principles of learning within an HE context. Many universities run their own courses and these can usually be taken a module at a time, although deadlines for completion may apply. The Higher Education Academy (http://www.heacademy.ac.uk) accredits these courses. It also offers recognition to individuals following completion of an accredited course, usually a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. Higher Education Academy recognition can also be obtained via a route that accredits prior experience.
During the first few years, new lecturers generally concentrate on building up their teaching skills and experience and developing their research profile. New lecturers are not exempt from the requirements of the Research Assessment Exercise (http://www.rae.ac.uk) (RAE), which means that they will be expected to actively contribute to the research profile of their department by consistently producing work of a publishable standard.
New lecturers will also be expected to network with peers by attending and participating in conferences and seminars. This will need to be maintained throughout their career.
Early responsibility is common and most lecturers are given a high degree of autonomy very early on. As their career progresses, lecturers can expect to take on further responsibility in teaching, research or administration and, in some cases, a combination of all three. Management responsibilities are also likely to increase.
Promotion to more senior levels will depend on a willingness to undertake more roles and continued demonstration of an active research profile. These senior levels may include the following posts:
Progression to very senior levels may be possible for candidates who continue to build up expertise in these areas. This could be to posts such as:
For experienced HE lecturers, there are also opportunities to take on more developmental and managerial duties, e.g. programme/course director or module leader, which can reduce the proportion of hours dedicated to research and student time. Further career opportunities include working as an examiner or an academic author.
Prospects for promotion vary and will depend on a number of factors, not least the financial position of the institution. Funding for new posts is increasingly dependent on the results of the RAE and may create internal bottlenecks. External promotions are possible but generally the number of vacancies within a particular specialism is likely to be low.
Career breaks may have a detrimental effect on promotion prospects, especially if they interrupt a lecturer’s cycle of research publications.
Higher education (HE) lecturers are employed by a range of institutions. Universities and further education (FE) colleges make up the largest proportion of employers, but there are a number of specialised postgraduate institutions, such as law schools and business schools, that also employ lecturers.
In the UK, all universities are governed by an act of parliament and enjoy academic freedom. They appoint their own staff, decide which students to admit, provide their own courses and award their own degrees. Most HE and FE providers are state-run, but there is a small independent sector. The British Accreditation Council (http://www.the-bac.org) provides a quality assurance scheme for independent further and higher education colleges in the UK and has a list of accredited institutions on its website.
Opportunities are also available overseas. The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) (http://www.acu.ac.uk) website has details of HE institutions in the Commonwealth countries.
Search graduate jobs (www.prospects.ac.uk/links/jobvacs).
Individual higher education (HE) and further education (FE) institutions also list current vacancies on their websites.
Informal networking, through conference attendance, participation in national subject area working groups and membership of relevant associations, is increasingly important for finding out about posts.
See also job hunting tips (www.prospects.ac.uk/links/jobhunt) and applications, CVs and interviews (www.prospects.ac.uk/links/appsinterviews).
The following Case studies are also available on prospects.ac.uk:
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Written by Anita Norcott and Matthew Norcott, AGCAS, July 2009.
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