Opinions of Academicians in Middle Career towards Profession of Academics

Academics accomplish important functions of universities all through their performances and determine the present and future of universities. Therefore, studies focusing on academic profession contribute significantly. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the perceptions of midcareer academics regarding academic profession. Although discussions whether academic profession is a distinct profession are two-fold in the literature, academic profession is defined as a distinct profession that comprises of different disciplines in many current studies. The present study defines academic profession as a distinct profession and aims to define the fundamental characteristics of the profession from the perspective of academics themselves. Since the focus of the study is the unique experiences and perceptions of each participant academic (case) in defining the fundamental values and principles of the profession, collective instrumental case study design was used, and 24 academics with different disciplines, genders, ages and titles from two state universities participated the study. Midcareer is considered to be a significant career stage characterized with change and development, but takes rather little attention in the current literature. Thus, midcareer academics were selected for the present study considering that the findings could better contribute to the literature and practitioners. Data was collected using semi-structured interview form, and seven categories emerged after the content analysis. According to these findings, midcareer academics define academic profession as a two-fold profession (teaching and research), acquired through master-apprentice relationship, one difficult to acquire and perform, comprises whole life, guided by moral rather than material aspirations, based on self-discipline and prestigious in society. These findings could guide policy makers in designing policies that might work better and more effectively in academic life