Special Session - It’s A Jungle Safari Out There: An Allegory for Learning to Navigate Academia

Abstract

One of the key challenges at the beginning of an academic career is learning to live in the university working environment. Interactions between academics can be significantly different to those found in industry; and whilst many of the drivers for the organisation are similar, there are also some aspects that are unique to a university. Being able to successfully navigate through the office politics is exceptionally valuable to academic staff, both new and established. In order to do this, it is essential to understand what motivates both yourself and your colleagues. This workshop will use an African Safari as a metaphor for the academic working environment, allocating animals to represent some of the archetypes that are present within an Engineering department.