D8 - Discovering the professional identities of researcher developers: roles, responsibilities and representations
| Day | Day 2 |
|---|---|
| Session | D |
| Start time | 13:45 |
| Strand | Postgraduate Research and Research staff |
| Code | D8 |
| Presenters |
Dr Anna Price - Head of Researcher Development, Queen Mary, University of London Dr Richard P J Freeman - Programme Leader for Researcher Development, University College London Alison Mitchell - Director of Development, Vitae Jen Reynolds - Partnerships Manager, Vitae |
Workshop overview:
The ‘academic pipeline’ and the skills required for progression in academia (formalised in the Vitae RDF) are well documented and very familiar to researcher developers. Less well documented is the pipeline for the emergent profession of researcher developer.
Building on the work previously undertaken by Vitae and the researcher development community, recognising the range and diversity of the pipeline, and inspired by the suggestion of the Vitae London Hub Steering Group, Vitae has partnered with KCL, UCL IoE and QMUL to work on a research project to illuminate how the researcher developer community define themselves regarding their roles, responsibilities and professional identities and demonstrate the great diversity in the role.
This workshop will explore the findings of the research, which included over 100 responses to a survey of researcher developers, together with targeted interviews and data collected contemporaneously with CROS, PIRLS, PRES and PTES 2015. It will also seek perspectives from workshop participants to put these findings into context and to discuss what they might mean for researcher developers, as individuals and as a community, with regard to informing their current practices, collaborating with others, their future career aspirations and their professional development.
Participants will have the opportunity to review the findings in terms of their own career development with reference to the Vitae Careers Framework for Researcher Developers (CFRD) which is a new framework to support the aspirations of all who work in the emerging professional area of researcher development.
Workshop topics covered:
Identity and self-identification
- How do researcher developers compare to researchers and academics?
- What do researcher developers actually do and how are they perceived?
- What skills are necessary for researcher developers?
- Career progression and CPD for researcher developers
Workshop outcomes:
- Understanding of the diversity of roles of researcher developers across the UK
- Reflecting on what the findings mean for how we engage with our audiences
- Reflecting on career progression opportunities and continuing professional development needs of researcher developers
- Understanding the Career Framework for Researcher Developers
- Creating and exploring your individual profile, using CFRD
Format: Presentation, discussion and interactive activity
