The difficult early career stage

Abstract

The early career stage is an aspect of academic careers that has attracted significant attention from other authors, with many works focusing on problems experienced by recent graduates as they enter the profession. In describing this phase as ‘difficult’ in this chapter I am however being slightly disingenuous as I am aware that while some people struggle to acclimatize to academia, this is arguably the most tranquil period in a researcher’s career, a time of great personal and professional satisfaction. In this chapter, I look at the experiences of people looking back on the initial years of their research careers alongside accounts from those who have only recently entered the profession, noting that substantial difficulties do not tend to emerge until the early career stage is drawing to a close, with a confrontation with the challenge of remaining in academia past this point.