To help a university academic navigate a successful career in academia, it is important to help them understand factors that will support their career success.
There are five elements that ensure academics can thrive and survive in their busy work context: developing a strong academic identity; identifying strategy for short- and long-term academic success; career management; performance management; and building supportive network.
In his lecture titled “My last lecture – 20 rules for rising to the top in academia”, UTMSPACE managing director and CEO, Prof Ir Dr Mohd Azraai Kassim highlighted that a strong working-together attitude among academics will help boost not just their personal achievement, but the success of the whole organisation.
In line with this, UTMSPACE appointed Prof Shelda Debowski, an international higher education consultant, who as a visiting professor, trained its academic staff. She was in Malaysia between Sept 16 and 21, where she delivered a public lecture, organised workshops for UTM and UTMSPACE staff, and facilitated a seminar for academic leaders in collaboration with the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) of the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
In her public lecture, Debowski shared 10 tips on becoming a successful academic:
1. Build a clear identity and review it regularly
2. Think about your future career paths and how you can achieve them
3. Understand your university and disciplinary context, including expectations and standards
4. Identify the key goals you need to achieve to reach your desired outcomes
5. Develop your time management and prioritisation skills
6. Challenge yourself and embrace opportunities
7. Regularly monitor your outcomes and build you evidence
8. Build an array of mentors to support your ongoing development
9. Find influential people who will support your career aspirations
10. Build and test your success narrative
With Debowski’s appointment, UTMSPACE aspires to be the leading training provider for academic staff development for Malaysia’s higher education. It will host a series of training and personal development programmes for the public on the subject of academic staff development throughout 2019.
UTMSPACE is a certified training provider under the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), an agency under the Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia.
For more information, contact its Centre for Professional Development at +607 521 8164.
