Recruiting and Developing Second-Career Academics in Universities

Abstract

Second-career academics are people who choose to work as university academics after spending a considerable period of time in a different profession or domain of practice. While they hope to contribute to academia based on the competencies acquired in their first career, they also hope to derive greater job satisfaction and work-life balance from their second career. Many universities are recruiting second-career academics actively to infuse their academic activities with a measure of practical orientation. Although all higher education programs can benefit from such a practical orientation, it appears to be especially relevant for taught programs at the postgraduate level. Academics without adequate practical experience in a relevant industry or profession would find it difficult to satisfy the curiosity of postgraduate students, many of whom would look for value addition beyond the text book. However, recruiting and developing second-career academics seems rather fraught with issues. While some of them adjust to their new career with relative ease, many of them experience the career transition to be a rather stressful, even traumatic experience. Research on second-career academics suggests a variety of strategies for inducting them into academia and supporting them adequately to derive the benefit of their experience. While some of them would need career counseling, others may need operational support, broader exposure, or simply greater recognition for their contributions. Selecting the right mix of strategies is important and it should be based on an adequate understanding of the issues and challenges second-career academics face in adjusting to their academic lives.

Importance of Second-Career Academics in Universities

This chapter relates to a particular challenge of academic staffing in contemporary universities, especially with regard to the staffing of professionally oriented tertiary education programs. The challenge relates to recruiting experienced professionals from relevant fields and making them effective contributors towards the educational and research missions of a university. The chapter presents a research-based framework that might be used as a heuristic to understand the challenges of recruiting and preparing such professionals for academic roles in universities. It also presents the author’s suggestions on specific postgraduate programs which can fulfill the developmental needs of such professionals while they are transitioning from industry to academia. Postgraduate programs with this type of focus might become a necessary component of faculty development in the twenty-first century.

The staffing challenge is part of the unprecedented expansion of tertiary education globally since the 1990s – The Economist brought out a special report on this in 2015 (see Duncan 2015). As tertiary enrolments have multiplied across the world, universities have been faced with a plethora of operational challenges, one of which is the challenge of staffing. Interestingly, in many regions of the world, the expansion of higher education has been accompanied with the burgeoning phenomenon of career transition from various professional fields into academia. Several studies have focused on this phenomenon since the turn of the century (e.g., Anderson 2009; Bandow et al. 2007; LaRocco and Bruns 2006; Logan et al. 2014; Simendinger et al. 2000; Wilson et al. 2014a).

The present author had been involved in recruiting and developing such professionals who are transitioning into academia. The author had also been involved in studies focusing on the experience of second-career academics (on this subject, he has also supervised a doctoral research project [Ong 2015]). The current chapter draws on the research literature in this area as well as the author’s own administrative and research experiences.

This introductory section outlines the unique career circumstances of second-career academics, clarifying why they join academia and the sort of education and development that might be relevant for them. The remaining sections offer a description of the second-career experience in academia (section “Nature of Second-Career Experience in Academia”), theirs need for further education and development (section “Academics with Special Needs”), and specific suggestions for university managers with regard to recruiting and developing second-career academics (section “Suggestions for University Managers”).

Who Are Second-Career Academics?

I am a “second-career” academic. I am 50. I am an Assistant Professor. I teach on a satellite campus of a Big Ten University. My hair is more salt than pepper. This is my fifth year in academia. (Tyler 2010, p. 38)

A second-career academic (LaRocco and Bruns 2006; Posner 2009 [uses the equivalent term, pracademic]) is one who chooses to reinvent himself or herself as an academic, after a substantial first career in the professional world outside academia. Tyler, quoted above, left a 25-year career in training and organization development in the private-sector, to become an Assistant Professor of Training and Development, teaching in a Master’s program.

Today, second-career academics work in all university faculties that prepare students for professional service. These include faculties such as architecture, art and design, business and management, computing, education, engineering, natural resource management, media and public relations, medicine, nursing, public administration, public health, rural development, social work, tourism and hospitality, urban development, and so forth.

In order to justify being labeled a second-career academic, one ought to have adequate experience in a first career before joining academia. This means, one would have stayed in the first career long enough to have gained rich exposure to a practical domain, and also long enough to have acquired the knowledge, thinking style, work culture, and value system associated with that practical domain. Such experienced professionals would have developed a professional identity of their own (Clegg 2008; Sharp et al. 2015), reflecting a cultivated sense of who they are. Their professionalism would manifest in their beliefs, attitudes, and values and also reflect in their personal habits and social networks.

Academic qualifications vary among second-career academics. Many have undergraduate diplomas or Bachelor’s degrees; some have postgraduate diplomas or Master’s degrees. A doctoral-level degree (such as Doctor of Business Administration [DBA], Doctor of Public Administration [DPA], Doctor of Education [EdD], Doctor of Engineering [EngD], or the more general Doctor of Philosophy [PhD]) is relatively rare among second-career academics. A proportion of the second-career academics choose to enroll themselves for higher qualifications, driven either by institutional incentives or by their own desire to acquire higher academic qualifications, or more likely, a combination of both .

Why Do They Join Academia?

The studies cited above indicate many of reasons why experienced professionals may choose to enter into academia. For some, academia offers an alternative career option in the twenty-first century that appears to be less frantic, nobler, and potentially enriching. In many societies around the world, university positions continue to command considerable prestige. Of course, for some it could be just another job available when their own jobs are threatened by industrial (or sectoral) decline, economic downturn, or any other reason.

Universities on their part also want to attract professionally experienced members into their faculties. This is not only due to a faculty shortage in several professionally oriented disciplines, but professionally experienced faculty-members also to bring a greater degree of realism into the classroom (e.g., Anderson 2009 [clinical practice]; Bishop et al. 2016 [accounting]; Feldman et al. 2015 [nursing]; Weber and Ladkin 2008 [tourism and hospitality]; Yudkevich et al. 2015 [covering various countries]). Regular interaction with professionally experienced faculty members also helps students to be better prepared for future employment. This has acquired further significance in the recent times, as graduate employability has become a key indicator of university performance and reputation globally (Clinebell and Clinebell 2008; Duncan 2015).

As universities respond to the talent requirements of industry through a variety of professionally oriented undergraduate and postgraduate programs, there is a need to balance the theoretical training with a practical orientation that second-career academics can impart. This requires universities to sustain active engagement with industry and community, in order to generate opportunities for student projects, scholarships, internships, research partnerships, faculty consulting, commercialization of intellectual property, and so forth. In all these areas, universities stand to benefit from the skills and connections of professionally experienced faculty members.

Thus, there are both push and pull factors working here. A second career in academia has emerged as an attractive option for senior professionals in the twenty-first century. They have the practical experience and professional learning which are considered vital for university education today. On the other hand, a career transition into academia promises to be a personally rewarding experience for senior professionals.

Their Need for Education and Development

In reality, however, not all second-career academics find academia equally rewarding. They do not fare equally well in their new work environment in academia. Research shows that second-career experience in academia could turn out to be a mixture of both pleasant and frustrating experiences (LaRocco and Bruns 2006; Logan et al. 2014; Ong 2015). Adapting to the value system, work culture, and performance expectations of a contemporary university can pose a variety of challenges for transitioning professionals. It is important to start with a good understanding of second-career experience in academia, before formulating specific programs of support and development.

Section “Nature of Second-Career Experience in Academia” presents a research-based framework to facilitate such an understanding. Based on this, section “Academics with Special Needs” clarifies two sets of needs relevant to the education and development of second-career academics: (a) need for greater alignment with academic culture and (b) need for recognition and reassurance from the institution.

Nature of Second-Career Experience in Academia

The label second-career academic hides considerable diversity within itself. Moreover, universities as workplaces also vary a great deal in terms of their institutional priorities, human resource policies, and organizational climate. Consequently, second-career experience in academia turns out to be quite diverse and multifaceted. A research-based framework is presented below that offers a way to structure this diversity so as to render it somewhat comprehensible and manageable. It is a two-dimensional framework that yields nine categories of second-career experience in academia (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Diversity of second-career experience in academia. Note. This framework extends the work of Ong (2015)

The two dimensions of the framework are described below. The nine categories of experience defined by these dimensions are clarified next, together with their relevance for university managers. The framework is proposed as a heuristic, to be applied and developed in multiple contexts .

Two Dimensions

Alignment with Academic Culture

Second-career academics appear to experience varying degrees of alignment with academic culture. Aspects such as flexible working hours and collegial working relationships are welcomed by most second-career academics. However, this may not always produce a strong sense of alignment with academic culture. A lot depends on their acceptance of academic practices and values, as well as their own performance in the university setting. Some of them experience difficulty with the digitalized work environment now common in universities. Some find the ever growing need for meticulous documentation difficult to satisfy. Institutional expectations related to research and scholarship could be another difficulty.

Some second-career academics also find it difficult to reconcile with the fact that they are beginning at a lower rung of the academic ladder, despite their considerable experience and professional achievements in the previous career. In some cases, this leads to an acute sense of having been short-changed. Acting in combination, such factors could yield an overall sense of positive, neutral, or negative alignment, depending upon a variety of personal and institutional contingencies .

Recognition Received for Contributions

Upon joining academia, second-career academics are welcomed enthusiastically by their institutions, as the institutions had their own good reasons for recruiting them in the first place. The professional experience of these new members is acknowledged and their decision to join academia is applauded (e.g., in welcome messages or faculty meetings). However, this honeymoon phase does not last very long. These academics, like everyone else, are expected to perform according to established performance standards. These performance standards often do not align well with the specific backgrounds and skills of second-career academics.

In the course of their work in academia, sometimes second-career academics receive appreciations from students or colleagues for their contributions. Such appreciations generate and sustain a sense of recognition. Moreover, if they are given an opportunity to contribute to institutional management in areas of their professional expertise, even if in an advisory capacity, it can also create a sense of recognition. On the other hand, if they receive no support in developing the new skills they need in order to perform well in academia, or if their inputs are not sought in institutional matters, it can lead to feelings of isolation, marginalization, or even abandonment.

Juxtaposing these two dimensions, nine categories of experience are identified (see Fig. 1). These categories capture a vast range of second-career experience in academia. The categories align well with empirical data (i.e., the data reported by Ong 2015). The framework promises to be a useful heuristic for appreciating the range of issues affecting second-career academics, supporting them to adjust better with academia, and addressing their developmental needs. Of course, considering research limitations, the framework is best seen as a provisional one and, thus, subject to adaptation and optimization in different institutional settings .

Nine Categories of Experience

Category #1: Negative Alignment and Negative Recognition

This is the double negative experience. Here the second-career academic experiences a strong misalignment with academic practices and values. On top of that, the person also experiences isolation and abandonment, due to lack of appreciation from the institution. Quite likely, the person struggles to meet performance expectations, inviting negative appraisal from the institution. The person is found complaining and criticizing, which, unfortunately, could aggravate the negativity. Such a situation calls for a reassessment by the person as well as the institution. The person needs to re-examine their career choice. The institution needs to review its assumptions and practices for recruiting, supporting, engaging, and developing second-career academics. It may be possible to salvage the situation by providing career counseling. This may lead to either a choice away from academia or a more realistic assessment of the preparations needed to play an effective role in academia.

Category #2: Neutral Alignment and Negative Recognition

In this category of experience, the person appreciates some aspects of academic life and culture. Often it is elements like flexible working hours and a relatively low-pressure environment (compared to the person’s previous career experience). The person may appreciate some other aspects too, such as the environment of collegiality or the social esteem associated with an academic job. However, some other aspects of academic culture create a negative experience for this person. These may include the university’s expectations from academics, for which the person feels inadequately prepared. The positive and negative elements appear to neutralize each other. On the other dimension, the person’s experience is similar to that of Category #1: the person experiences isolation and abandonment, due to lack of appreciation. A situation like this ought to remind university managers that an experienced professional may not become an effective contributor in academia automatically; the person may need systematic support and counseling. Moreover, suitable forms of engagement and relevant pathways for career progress are also needed.

Category #3: Positive Alignment and Negative Recognition

This refers to a situation where the person experiences positive alignment with academia. This means, the person appreciates academic practices and values. However, this encouraging picture is marred by a negative outcome on the other dimension, institutional recognition. This could happen due to several reasons. A sense of nonrecognition could arise if the person thinks that their academic appointment level does not reflect their seniority. This could also arise from a sense of marginalization, if their inputs are not sought in institutional matters. Moreover, it is possible that despite the positive alignment with academic culture, the actual performance may be below institutional expectations. A managerial response to this could focus on inclusion and reassurance. The sense of marginalization can be addressed through greater opportunities for engagement at faculty or institutional levels (e.g., through projects, committees, special duties). In case the performance is indeed below institutional expectations, the person would need the encouragement, support, and training to achieve improvements.

Category #4: Negative Alignment and Neutral Recognition

This may seem like a peculiar combination. When someone experiences negative alignment with academic culture, how can the same person experience neutral recognition – shouldn’t the person experience negative recognition too? Well, in this case, there is possibly a combination of positive and negative recognitions, so that the result is neutral. While the sense of negative recognition could arise in many ways (as stated under Categories #1, #2, and #3), experience of positive recognitions can also arise independent of one’s alignment with academic culture. For example, students may simply appreciate the viewpoints and the communication style of a teacher who brings substantial professional experience into the classroom conversations. Sometimes, students may appreciate this even more if it comes laced with some reasonable critique of academic culture. Similarly, depending on the depth and breadth of industry knowledge such academics bring with them, faculty colleagues may acknowledge it in various ways (e.g., by seeking their advice on external projects or inviting them into their classrooms as guest speakers). Thus, both negative and positive recognitions can coexist. Persons experiencing this have the double task of adapting to academic culture and fulfilling institutional expectations. They will benefit from any practical support that may help them accomplish this. Depending on their degree of commitment to academia, they may also benefit from receiving guidance and mentoring.

Category #5: Neutral Alignment and Neutral Recognition

In the two-dimensional arrangement of the nine categories, Category #5 occupies the middle ground, representing neutral values along both the dimensions. In this framework, a neutral value is interpreted as a combination of positive and negative values, so that neither the positive nor the negative dominates. Therefore, Category #5 represents a mixed experience along both the dimensions: neutral alignment with academic culture and neutral recognition received for contributions. The situation is quite like Category #4, except that the person experiences a bit more alignment with academic culture here. From their professional perspective, they tend to see the university as a business organization involving the same sort of issues as any other, albeit having a unique type of culture, to which they cannot subscribe wholeheartedly. Based on their professional expertise, they feel competent to make practical contributions to the university. But if the university does not reciprocate adequately, it can result in a sense of nonrecognition. Here, the person is at the halfway house on both dimensions; therefore, it may be possible to build on the positive elements through support and mentoring.

Category #6: Positive Alignment and Neutral Recognition

The positive alignment with academic culture that we see in Category #6 represents a deeper connection with academia. It is possible that the person had some intellectual inclination even as a professional working outside academia. Despite their affinity towards academic culture, they do not seem to receive any more recognition from the institution than those whose experiences belong to Categories #4 or #5. For all of them, positive and negative elements of recognition appear to balance out. Although their professional expertise might be appreciated by students and colleagues, perhaps they do not meet institutional expectations in some areas. But that does not push them to a zone of nonrecognition because the common grievance related to appointment level may not be so strong here. It is possible that the university has already offered them a higher appointment level, in consideration of their professional achievements and leadership contributions. The developmental priority here could be on engagement and recognition. Opportunities for greater engagement with the affairs of the university would be a form of recognition in itself.

Category #7: Negative Alignment and Positive Recognition

A negative alignment with academic culture and yet a positive recognition from the institution may appear like an unlikely combination. However, it could be the reality for those who emerge as strong and vocal critiques of academic values and practices as they see it in the institution. Although they do not align with academic culture, their practical knowledge is recognized by students and colleagues. Perhaps these persons are persuasive communicators. They are able to give a constructive bent to their disaffection with academia. These persons may come to represent the critical voice of industry and society within the university. When this is noticed by the institution, they may be co-opted into policy-level deliberations, curriculum design projects, or industry interface activities. If this happens, it could strengthen their sense of recognition. However, the issue of misalignment with academic culture still remains in the background. This may be addressed through appropriate orientation and continuing dialogue. The developmental task is that of shifting them from the position of external critiques towards becoming internal reformers of academia.

Category #8: Neutral Alignment and Positive Recognition

Second-career academics experiencing neutral alignment with academic culture and positive recognition from the university represent a slightly higher degree of adaptation to academia than those whose experiences come under Category #7. Persons with Category #8 experiences are possibly recognized for their professional achievements and leadership contributions. Possibly, they are offered opportunities to contribute at an institutional level. All of these, together with positive appreciation from students and colleagues, can produce an overall positive experience on the recognition dimension. Although they are not fully aligned with academic culture, they experience both positive and negative elements on this dimension. One of the main negative elements could arise from the domain of research and scholarship – an aspect of academic culture for which they feel inadequately prepared. It is not uncommon for them to invest time and effort to build research skills and acquire a doctoral qualification. If the doctoral experience turns out to be rich and positive, it could enhance their alignment with academic culture, so that their overall experience shifts to Category #9. To facilitate this, the university could focus on providing them with a broader exposure to the academic world .

Category #9: Positive Alignment and Positive Recognition

This is the double positive experience, quite the opposite of Category #1. Here the person experiences a strong alignment with academic practices and values. At the same time, the person also experiences positive appreciation and recognition from the institution. Very few second-career academics would arrive at this category automatically. However, it can be a worthy destination for all. Some second-career academics would make their way into this category, with support from the institution. For some it could be a lengthy and arduous mission, not always accomplished fully. Category #9 represents the experience of those who have good adjustment with academia, contributing effectively to the university, and receiving strong recognition for their contributions. They are either meeting or exceeding the university’s expectations in most areas of academic work and getting rewarded and recognized for their contributions. To keep them engaged in this mode of behavior and also to enable them to influence others who experience deficits in any of the two dimensions, it is important that they are given opportunity for leadership. Second-career academics under this category of experience can be excellent role models for others who are grappling with their career transition into academia .

Academics with Special Needs

In the twenty-first century, universities across the world need second-career academics to add a layer of professional expertise and external networking to their staffing profile. This is of critical importance for student learning, especially in professional courses. This is also important for bringing the university closer to the professional world outside academia, by reflecting industry expectations in all domains of university activity. Recruiting experienced professionals also addresses the issue of faculty shortage in several discipline areas.

However, the foregoing discussion on the experience of second-career academics indicates that greater care is needed in the recruitment and development of experienced professionals as university academics. Research suggests that second-career academics may well be viewed as a group of academics with special needs. Their special needs could be derived from the same framework presented earlier (see Fig. 1). Each dimension of the framework suggests a set of special needs.

Special Needs Relating to Alignment

Quite possibly, any prior experience second-career academics had with academia was when they were university students themselves. Considering the length of their tenure in their first career, that academic experience may well have been from a decade or more ago. Even so, that academic experience is the experience of a student, not directly in contact with the inner workings of academia. Under these circumstances, their ideas and impressions about academia are likely to be rather limited and outdated. If their transition into academia is based on these limited and outdated ideas, they are clearly in for some surprise.

Besides, their professional identities would have come to represent the values, beliefs, and practices associated with their first careers. Some of these may not align well with the values, beliefs, and practices they encounter in academia. Consequently, second-career academics typically experience varying degrees of dissonance within academia. This is borne out in several studied focused on the experience of career transition from industry to academia (see section “Importance of Second-Career Academics in Universities” above for an indicative list of such studies).

In order to adjust well to academic life, it is important for them to address this dissonance and develop greater alignment with academic culture. In this light, the following sort of needs can be anticipated:

• (i) Coming to terms with the appointment level

• (ii) Appreciating and getting used to academic freedom

• (iii) Adjusting to the institutional work environment

• (iv) Accepting and cultivating academic thinking

• (v) Developing appropriate curriculum practice

• (vi) Acquiring classroom performance and student management competencies

• (vii) Acquiring relevant technological skills

• (viii) Getting used to the high level of documentation

• (ix) Understanding performance expectations in research and scholarship

• (x) Building research skills, scholarly profile, and eventually, an academic identity

Special Needs Relating to Recognition

In addition to the above adjustment challenges, career transition into academia also poses a threat to the self-esteem of second-career academics. Leaving behind their status as senior professionals, together with all its privileges, and starting all over again in a new field that they do not fully grasp can be an unsettling experience. Moreover, coming across onerous performance expectations and receiving unkind performance ratings can add insult to injury, leading to a genuinely traumatic experience for some second-career academics.

In order to remain functional and develop themselves academically, second-career academics need to maintain their self-esteem. For this, apart from their own confidence about translating their success from one domain into another, they also need constant reassurance about their positive role in academia. Such recognition and reassurance can be conveyed in multiple ways. In the absence of such recognition and reassurance, there is a danger that second-career academics may lose their self-confidence and be overwhelmed with bitterness and anxiety. The need for recognition and reassurance can manifest in the following sort of ways:

• (i) Opportunity to discuss any grievance regarding appointment level

• (ii) Opportunity to share the sense of isolation or marginalization

• (iii) Formal recognition of professional expertise

• (iv) Informal appreciation of professional expertise from students and colleagues

• (v) Opportunity to contribute to institutional management

• (vi) Operational assistance with technology and documentation

• (vii) Support for developing the new skills required for academic work

• (viii) Availability of career counseling and mentoring inputs

• (ix) Realistic performance expectations and pathways for career progress

• (x) Opportunity for orientation, dialogue, and broader exposure

University managers experienced in academic staffing will recognize that some of the above needs would also apply to other categories of academic staff. What makes the second-career academics a special category is their professional identity, cultivated in a different career context. In fact, it is that professional identity which is the very reason why they are recruited by the university in the first place. Therefore, it would be self-defeating to view that professional identity as a hurdle to be overcome. On the other hand, the university needs to devise policies and practices to address the above needs of second-career academics, so that their professional expertise and orientations are treated as important initial conditions in their academic development .

Suggestions for University Managers

In order to fulfill the purpose of having second-career academics in universities, appropriate policies and practices need to be established for recruiting, supporting, engaging, and developing this category of academic staff. Designing and implementing these policies and practices ought to be informed by the sort of insights described above, with an awareness of the diversity of second-career experience in academia and the special needs of this group of academics. Some pointers towards such policies and practices are presented below.

Recruiting Second-Career Academics

While recruiting senior professionals into academic roles, careful assessment should be made of their fit with academia in general and with the specific institution in particular. Motivations behind their career transition, assumptions they make about academic culture, and their preparedness for all domains of academic work ought to be assessed realistically. Open dialogue regarding appointment level, institutional expectations, and pathways for career progress need to occur early in the process, in order to avoid future disappointments.

Insufficient awareness exists among senior professionals intending to move into an academic career. It would be useful to have multiple sources of information to bridge this gap. An excellent example is found in Australia, where the useful primer titled, Down the Rabbit Hole: Navigating the Transition From Industry to Academia, was published in 2014, with support from the Office for Learning and Teaching, Government of Australia (Wilson et al. 2014b).

Similar resources need to be prepared by universities, localizing the information to their institutional contexts. Before they are recruited, second-career academics should be given the opportunity to engage with such resources, clarify and adjust their expectations, and have a realistic understanding of the demands of contemporary academic work .

Supporting Second-Career Academics

As implied above, support needs to start even before the career transition into academia is initiated. Various forms of support need to continue throughout the transition process and thereafter.

A fairly rigorous induction program is needed to introduce these experienced professionals into the life and culture of academia. This could also be an opportunity to introduce the contemporary paradigms of university teaching and learning, widespread use of educational technology, and the emerging demands of university regulation, especially with respect to academic quality assurance.

Regular assistance and training is to be offered, covering information technology, curriculum and pedagogy, educational technology, quality assurance processes, oral and written communication skills, and academic thinking.

Moreover, there is a persistent need for counseling, guidance, and mentoring. This can occur in multiple ways. A key aspect of this is the opportunity for dialogue and broader exposure, to help second-career academics renegotiate their images of academia and prepare themselves for meaningful academic roles.

Engaging Second-Career Academics

The practical expertise of second-career academics ought to be a basis for their engagement with university work. This may mean the allocation of appropriate courses, involvement as guest speakers, suitable involvement in institutional management, and opportunity for external engagement. Some innovations in this area include new designations and programs such as Executive Professor, Industry Professor, Alumni Professor, and “professor for a day.”

Often, the established criteria for academic career progress are stacked unfavorably against second-career academics. In order to avoid the experience of unfairness and marginalization among second-career academics, and to engage them more productively, universities may consider revisiting academic career pathways and related performance criteria .

Developing Second-Career Academics

All the suggestions made above play a role in the development of senior professionals as academics. However, specific policies and programs are needed to guide the long-term development of their academic identity (Clegg 2008; Sharp et al. 2015). This can be facilitated through opportunities for systematic reflection on their career transition experience, their emerging role in academia, and the meaning of their academic career. Where possible, this may be implemented through cooperative inquiry groups or simply through guided reflection on practice (Schön 1983/1991).

Two types of educational programs can help in the academic development of second-career academics. Postgraduate programs on tertiary teaching and learning covering the following content areas would be useful: (a) nature of learning and teaching, (b) curriculum design and assessment, (c) digital learning environments, (d) dealing with diversity for inclusive learning and teaching, and (e) scholarly teaching (to explore, evaluate, and improve practice).

Nontraditional doctoral-level programs, such as those based on practice-based research, could be offered to senior professionals as well as second-career academics to open up suitable pathways for upgrading their academic qualifications (Bishop et al. 2016). This could help them develop a scholarly profile and prepare for academic leadership roles in future.

A word of caution: Postgraduate education programs such as those mentioned above (or shorter training programs on specific aspects of academic practice) would not achieve the overall aim of integrating second-career academics as effective contributors within academia. A coherent package of policies aimed at recruiting, supporting, engaging, and developing them for their new role as academics would be needed .