Negotiating Identity Recognition and Supervision in Education-Focused (EF) Academic Careers

About the project

About the Project Higher education institutions across the globe are undergoing significant workforce transformation. Driven by increasing marketisation, performance-based funding, research assessment frameworks, and growing student enrolments, universities have progressively moved away from the traditional integrated academic model in which teaching, research, and service were viewed as mutually reinforcing components of academic work. In its place, differentiated academic career pathways have emerged, particularly the growth of Education-Focused (EF) roles. Within the Australia context, these roles have expanded rapidly across research-intensive universities as institutionsseek to protect research productivity while meeting increasingly complex teaching and student engagement demands. Although EF roles are now an established part of the academic workforce, emerging research suggests that many academics occupying these positions continue to experience professional ambiguity, identity tensions, limited career mobility, and perceptions of being viewed as “second-class” compared to colleagues on traditional Teaching and Research (T&R) pathways. EF academics often navigate a complex transition from disciplinary expertise toward educational leadership, curriculum innovation, and the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (SoTL), while simultaneously confronting institutional cultures that continue to privilege disciplinary research as the dominant form of academic capital. While existing literature has explored the identity formation, career experiences, and structural challenges faced by EF academics, a critical gap remains in understanding how these experiences are shaped by the direct supervisory relationship. In most research-intensive universities, EF academics are typically managed by senior academics whose own careers have been built within the T&R pathway. These supervisors are increasingly expected to evaluate, mentor, and advocate for forms of scholarship, leadership, and professional contribution that may fall outside their own expertise or professional identity. This creates a potential “management paradox,” where supervisors exercise formal evaluative authority over professional domains they may not fully understand, value, or recognise. This PhD project seeks to explore how supervisory relationships influence the professional identity, sense of legitimacy, career development, and retention intentions of EF academics within research-intensive universities. Specifically, the study will examine how EF academics experience performance review, workload negotiation, promotion support, recognition, and how supervisors themselves interpret the value, expectations, and “ideal performance” of EF roles within contemporary academic departments. Using a qualitative or mixed-methods design, the study proposes to examine matched supervisors–EF academic dyads across disciplines such as business, STEM, within Australian research-intensive universities. By bringing together the lived experiences of EF academics and the managerial perspectives of their supervisors, this project aims to generate new insights into how differentiated academic workforces can be managed more effectively, equitably, and sustainably in the future university. For enquiries, please contact Assoc. Prof Tridib Saha , Monash University Supervisory Team: Main Supervisor: Assoc. Prof Tridib Saha , Monash University Associate Supervisors: Dr Simran Kaur , Dr Nicola Charwat , Dr Andrew Woon Monash University ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ How To Apply When you apply for admission into your preferred degree program you will be able to select your scholarship type. No separate application is required. By clicking on a course , you will be directed to further information, including details on ‘How to Apply’. The application is for the School of Business, Monash University Malaysia. However, before applying, it is recommended that you first contact the main supervisor and provide them with your academic background and achievements to determine whether you are a 'fit' for this research topic.

Research areas