The Success and Impact of Early Career Academics in New Zealand Tertiary Institutions

$10000 for one year. Project Leader: Kathryn Sutherland, Victoria. Other team members: Lesley Petersen, Eastern Institute of Technology.

This project looks at the experiences of early-career academics at two New Zealand tertiary institutions. We aim to identify key recruitment, appointment, induction, training and development processes that result in well-prepared academics, capable of enhancing their students' educational outcomes and their own careers.

The project asks the following questions:

• Which factors/conditions make it more likely that new academics will stay at a particular institution?
• Which factors/conditions make it more likely that new academics will be successful? (Success can be measured by various indicators: early or rapid promotion; teaching awards; research grants; teaching evaluations; student learning outcomes and future study/work experiences, etc.)
• What impact does this success (or mediocrity or failure) have on the educational outcomes for students?
• What does it cost to recruit and appoint a new full-time, permanent academic staff member to a position in a NZ university and an institute of technology?
• What are the financial implications for the institution if that appointee leaves within a few years of their appointment?
• What can institutions do to ensure that their investment in these new appointees is both justified and rewarded?