New initiative to improve career development at Health
Health is launching a new initiative to especially improve and support the careers of early career researchers. The new plan consists of seven elements, all of which are designed to clarify the researchers' development opportunities within their employment at Health and to help balance and clarify the individual employee’s expectations of their current and future career perspectives.
The faculty is introducing a new career development initiative aimed at academic staff in temporary positions, more specifically postdocs and assistant professors. The initiative will be launched during autumn 2023 as a continuous effort to ensure more clarity about the opportunities available to employees at Health.
Vice-dean for Research Hans Erik Bøtker has been the primary driver behind the new plan. He sees it as very positive that Health can now offer help to a group of employees who have previously been in a precarious situation.
"Being employed in a fixed-term position can be an unstable and insecure situation. Therefore, we’ve been focusing on making life a little easier for this group of employees. We can’t change the fact that this kind of employment is a fundamental condition in the world of academia, but we will do everything we can to create a stable and transparent career path for everyone," he says.
Dialogues, plans and designated career ambassadors
The new initiative consists of seven elements designed to support career clarification and career development for early career researchers: a dialogue on aligning expectations, a follow-up career development dialogue, a career development plan, a position and qualification description for postdocs, the possibility of receiving guidance from a career ambassador at each department, career-clarifying activities at the departments and participation in the career workshop held by AU Career.
"It's been particularly important to me that employees and the hiring parties discuss from the very beginning what the temporary employment should be used for, and what the employee can expect. I’ve experienced in my own career that, if you don’t talk about these things, the employees won’t know what their career prospects are or the degree of uncertainty they’re facing. This is not acceptable," says Hans Erik Bøtker.
Ongoing career development dialogues and career development plans will now make it easier for postdocs in particular to understand what employees at Health can do to qualify themselves for one career path or another.
"There’s been a general perception that an assistant professor position is the direct path towards an academic career, while the career opportunities for postdocs are less transparent. With this new plan, we’ve set up some qualification profiles you can use as guidance to achieve qualifications that can also be used in other contexts," says Hans Erik Bøtker.
Career development must be transparent for everyone
Hans Erik Bøtker is proud to be part of the project as one of the last things he does before leaving the position as vice-dean for research. He acknowledges that this area has been neglected.
"I think getting these things in place and implementing career development and career clarification as a permanent focus area will have a positive effect on the work environment. Both early career researchers and experienced researchers can see the need, and I'm pleased that we've now established a system at the departments and throughout the faculty," he says.
Dean at Health, Anne-Mette Hvas, also considers the new initiative a good way of making career development more transparent at the faculty.
"As a faculty, it’s important that we support early career researchers in their ambitions, competences and opportunities," she says and continues:
"It’s also about aligning expectations of what your current position at Health entails. It’s important to focus on your current employment and the goals for it, and then discuss what the next step could be. I think that the career ambassador initiative is an important supplement, as the ambassadors will be impartial people who the early career researchers can talk to about their further career opportunities".
The plan is to start rolling out the career development initiative locally at the departments during the autumn. More information about the process and the parties involved will be available after the summer holidays, including a new online career portal with information and resources on career development and career clarification.
The seven focus areas
The aim of Health’s new career development initiative is to give employees the tools to realise their potential and achieve their career goals. This has resulted in seven specific focus areas:
- Dialogue on aligning expectations
The immediate supervisor invites newly appointed postdocs and assistant professors to a dialogue on aligning expectations immediately after appointment. The purpose of the dialogue is to clarify opportunities, limitations and future perspectives in relation to the position and the employee's career aspirations.
- Career development dialogue
A career development dialogue follows up on the dialogue on aligning expectations and aims to help the employee clarify his or her own competences, strengths and values. Is there a match between the employee's competences and career aspirations, and how can the employee become more qualified for his or her next job? All new postdocs and assistant professors are offered a dialogue with their immediate supervisor within one year of employment.
- Career development plan
The career development plan for postdocs and assistant professors is a tool to clarify career goals and the skills required to achieve these career goals. The plan can be used in connection with the career development dialogue, although it is not compulsory.
- Position and qualification description for postdocs at Health
The framework outline is aimed at postdocs and their supervisors/managers, and describes what postdocs at Health can expect. This helps ensure transparency.
- Career ambassadors
A career ambassador (associate professor/professor) is appointed at department level. The ambassadors are available to postdocs and assistant professors who need impartial career guidance.
- Career-clarifying activities at the departments
Initiatives aimed at postdocs and assistant professors already exist at department level, e.g. networks. The departments are encouraged to engage in dialogue with their early career researchers with a view to organising more career development activities, e.g. theme meetings, workshops, mentors, company visits, etc.
- Career workshop by AU Career PhD & JR
All postdocs and assistant professors at Health are expected to participate in the ’Strategic Career Thinking’ workshop during their employment. The workshop lasts approx. 3 hours and is held several times a year.
Contact
Dean Anne-Mette Hvas
Aarhus University, Health
Mail: dean.health@au.dk
Advisor Tanja Hansen
Aarhus University, the Faculty Secretariat, Faculty of Health
Mail: tanja.hansen@au.dk
Phone: +4593508108