Promotion and Job Applications
Rachel Dunn
It is no myth that gaining entry to, and moving through the ranks, of higher education is becoming more difficult. I knew from early in my law degree that I wanted a career in academia and after a year out of university, and a couple of failed pupillage applications, started my PhD in legal education. When I got my first academic lectureship, it was when what I consider to be at the end of the ‘easier’ entry and the start of the ‘harder’ entry to a job in higher education. A PhD had become an essential requirement, but the publications and income generation were not yet as essential as they are now. Since my short time in academia, we have the increasing prevalence of the REF, the TEF, the KEF, the introduction of the Office for Students, growing importance of the NSS, and more. Being an academic is so much more than doing some teaching, a bit of research, and having an admin role, and we are experiencing pressures like never before with the marketisation of higher education (Thornton 2011). It often feels like the work never stops, but there is a way to be strategic with what you do to progress and ensure you have a work-life balance. Hopefully in this short piece I can pass on some lessons I have learnt.
The first stage is finding jobs to apply for. When applying for my first academic jobs, I felt incredibly anxious. I had gone back to university to gain my PhD and knew academia was the career I wanted. I had spent my time as a PhD student doing as much teaching as I could, publishing, helping to organise conferences, being a research assistant to anyone who wanted me, and integrating myself into the wider research communities of my field. It was important to me to find a role which suited my teaching and research interests. The best place to start is jobs.ac.uk, as universities advertise most academic jobs here. At this stage, you are most likely looking for a ‘lectureship’ which is the starting point for most early career academics, but there are other academic positions that do not fit into the traditional lectureship description. Also, not every university uses the same role terminology or grade scales, and this can become a bit confusing. The more common entry posts are lecturer or senior lecturer, but you will also see advertised university teacher, professional law teacher, research fellow, postdoctoral research associate, etc. Which job you apply for depends on what you actually want to do. For example, most lectureships now will require teaching, research and admin. More research focused roles, such as research fellowships, will not have any, or very little, teaching requirements. Further, it may be that some roles are permanent and some are fixed-term, particularly more so for research focused positions. It is very important to read the advert carefully and understand what you are applying for. It may be that you want to engage with both research and teaching, and a lectureship which allows for both is ideal. It may be that you want to be more teaching or more research focused, and teaching only position or research fellowship are better suited to you. Consider what you want out of your career and which role is best placed to get you there.
I knew that I wanted a more traditional lectureship, as I equally enjoy teaching and research. I felt I had strong applications and met the criteria for most lectureships. To help prepare for the applications, I made a mind map of all the criteria in the job specification and added my experience and skills to each. This helped with drafting the application, so I could quickly pick out examples to support where I had met the criteria, and I had it handy in job interviews in case they wanted an alternative. Do not feel like you have to meet everything completely and exactly. I didn’t have any big bids when I was applying (I was a PhD student after all), but I had got publishers to donate prizes for a postgraduate conference rather than that coming from the university. I hadn’t led a module, but I had supported module leaders in the design of new modules and helped to design lessons. All of this was valuable experience at entry level. At this point, you may be desperate to get a job, but remember, you are interviewing the school as much as they are interviewing you. Make sure the job fits your needs also. Will you have mentors there to help you navigate the early years? Does your research fit into the community? Remember your worth, you have trained hard for this job and are highly skilled.
Promotion can be more difficult. There will come a time when you decide whether you want to progress through the ranks of academia. Some academics are more than happy to stay at senior lecturer, and there is definitely value in that. Most people go into academia to teach, not to manage and have heavy admin responsibilities. Staying as a senior lecturer allows some people to continue what they love doing. This is not a lack of ambition, but an active and reasoned choice. For some, promotion feels like a natural journey, and they have an idea of where they want to go. This links to academic career agency, comprised of personal agency (an academic’s family relationships and manage multiple personal roles) and professional agency (fulfilling various professional roles and meeting career aims) (Nguyen et al 2023; O’Meara et al 2008). Managing your agency early is key, but also influenced by other factors, such as gender (Cooper 2019).
When it comes to promotion, some decisions need to be considered early. Do you want to go down the teaching or research route? What do you need to get there? What is your timeframe? Once you know this, you need to start identifying the criteria and seeing what gaps you have in your skills and experience. Universities usually have several steps to promotion. First you need to get through your faculty or school stage. For this, you will most likely need the support of your head of school, and they will be able to guide you as to when is appropriate to apply. There is a risk to applying prematurely, especially if your institution has a rule as to how many applications you can submit within certain periods. Once you get through the first stage, the next is the university panel, which is often the hardest hurdle to pass. If they approve your application, it then goes out to references. Identifying references can be a difficult task. At some institutions they have strict requirements, and it cannot be anyone you have worked closely with, such as your PhD supervisor, co-author on a publication, or anyone at your institution, but it needs to be someone who knows your work well enough to speak to you work. Make sure you know what the rules are at your institution regarding referees and, as you get closer to promotion, think carefully as to who this could be. If it can’t be someone you have worked closely with, avoid publishing with them until after the decision has been made.
Saying all of this, the goal posts of promotion often change each year, and this is why it can be difficult to achieve. There is a conception that it is easier to get promoted if you move institution. For some people this is beneficial, but that is not suitable for everyone, for example those with family and caring responsibilities, and internal promotion remains the popular route (Francis and Sulz 2020). Some also feel that getting promoted through the teaching route is more difficult. This route, though based on learning and teaching, still requires research and income generation (Bull et al 2024), something that those focused on learning and teaching may not engage with, nor feel they should. Getting promoted can take a few rounds, but perseverance and effective guidance will get you there.
One of the main barriers to getting promoted is not having a clear thread through your work. You need to be able to establish yourself as an expert in a certain field, especially for professor. This is difficult to do if you are spending your time on projects and tasks which take you away from your main focus. As a new lecturer, you often want to be helpful and establish yourself as a good member of staff and the teams you work in. This can be beneficial, to help gain experience on larger projects or gain some low-level management experience, but there is a risk to saying yes to everything. You can end up overworked and not spending time on what you actually want to work on. There was a time when I felt resentment for the amount of weekends and evenings I was working, often taking more time reading and providing feedback on other people’s work, rather than writing my own. Take stock each year of what you have enjoyed working on, what has been beneficial for your professional development, and what you have felt less passionate working on. Be strict with your time and make sure you are taking breaks and having a life outside of work. What you don’t want to do, however, is be the person who always says no to tasks and roles, and just selfishly focus on your research. Not only does this give you a bad reputation in the school, you miss opportunities for skills development and growth. There is a balance to be struck, and this comes with experience and time. This is where good mentors are useful, to advise whether an opportunity is worthwhile or not.
Some of the best advice I have ever been given, and I refer to often, is that the REF is a waste product of what we do. Yes, be strategic with your research, but if you are working on projects that you are not passionate about, they are not worth your time. Your research and teaching should matter to you. What you spend your time on is important. If that contributes to the REF, that is a great side benefit. Research shows that when academics exercise agency over their work, it can lead to increased job satisfaction, promotion and research productivity (Kuvaeva 2019). This job is already too busy to do too much of what doesn’t bring you joy.
Where Next?
If you’re working on a job or promotion application you will likely be balancing multiple different responsibilities in what can be A Juggling Act. Make sure to leave enough time to write applications, they always take longer than you think. Make a plan of what you need to include to meet the criteria and ask trusted colleagues to provide feedback on applications.
Or
Transitioning to a new job or a new institution can result in feeling like you are Beginning your Career in Legal Academia all over again. Have a look at some of the other paths which you might navigate through the early career stage and make a professional plan with clear goals.
Or
Reflect on your pathway through legal academia and view the Afterword to this guide to hear more about the history, purpose and support of the ALT.
Where After?
Make sure you are familiar with job application and promotion criteria. Try to engage with tasks that will help you fulfil the criteria and not say yes to everything that comes your way because you feel like you should.
And
As you are going through your career, it is important to identify one or more people you trust who can provide you with mentorship. This should ideally be someone at a higher level who can guide you through promotion and read draft applications.
Sources:
Bull, S., Cooper, A., Laidlaw, A., Milne, L., and Parr, S. ‘You certainly don’t get promoted for just teaching’: experiences of education-focused academics in research-intensive universities’ (2024) 50(2) Studies in Higher Education239–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2333946
Cooper, O. ‘Where and What are the Barriers to Progression for Female Students and Academics in UK Higher Education?’ (2019) 23(2-3) Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education 93–100. doi:10.1080/13603108.2018.1544176.
Francis, L., and V. Stulz, ‘Barriers and Facilitators for Women Academics Seeking Promotion: Perspectives from the Inside’ (2020) 62(2) The Australian Universities’ Review 47–60
Kuvaeva, A. A, Women faculty agency: A case study of two universities in Russia (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, Ann Arbor 2019) ProQuest dissertations & theses A&I database (13902929).
Nguyen, H. T. L., Adi Badiozaman, I. F. bt and Ling, V. M., ‘Agency in academic promotion: self-oriented and socially-oriented strategies among Australian academics’ (2023) 48(11) Studies in Higher Education 1609–1623. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2205877
O’Meara, K., A. L. Terosky, and A. Neumann ‘Faculty Careers and Work Lives: A Professional Growth Perspective’ (2008) 34(3) ASHE Higher Education Report 1–221. doi:10.1002/aehe.3403.
Thornton, M. Privatising the Public University (Routledge, 2011)
Further Reading:
Hollywood, A., McCarthy, D., Spencely, C. and Winstone, N. ‘‘Overwhelmed at first’: the experience of career development in early career academics.’ (2019) 44(7) Journal of Further and Higher Education 998-1012
Mahat, M. and Tatebe, J., Achieving to Academic Promotion (Emerald Group Publishing 2019)
Sutherland, K.A. ‘Constructions of success in academia: and early career perspective.’ (2015) 42(4) Studies in Higher Education, 743-759 Vitae, Research Development Framework (2025): https://vitae.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Researcher-Development-Framework-RDF-Vitae-4.pdf This is useful to show
