Thinking about what I have done at work this week, I am struck by the fact that the job title ‘lecturer’ doesn’t really cover the activities that I do! Now, conferences, research etc are certainly part of my job, even though I am called a ‘lecturer’ – read an average lecturer’s contract or job description to prove it.
During the teaching terms I suppose I spend about a quarter of my life on teaching preparation (the other quarters on admin, marking, and actual contact time with students). So, ‘lecturing’ itself takes up a little of my time, writing lectures a little more, but the majority even during teaching terms is spent preparing tutorials, marking, keeping records, counselling students etc.
And the summer term? Well of course marking is a huge part of the job, as I mentioned in my post a couple of weeks ago. But what about other things? Personally last week, I spent one day in an Oxford college library (complete with ancient books, stained glass window, no chairs, no computers or photocopiers….bliss!) looking at a late 16th century book. I was interested not in the book itself but in some notes its owner had scribbled inside the cover. Now this is minority stuff…if you’re not an historian, even an early modern historian you’re going to find this dull. But you can still relate to the fact that I am out there in the field, doing some original research.
Non-academics however are a different matter. They assume that because I am not in my university ‘lecturing’, that I must be on holiday, doing stuff for fun, perhaps being a little too self-indulgent! Friends and relatives outside university life can’t seem to grasp that I am being paid to be a researcher in my field too. Equally when I go to conferences, it’s not just an all-expenses-paid holiday! I am representing my university and showing that I can disseminate my research among my peers. Don’t worry, I am not playing the ‘poor academics’ card here…simply saying that if you think it looks like we’re having too much fun, we’re probably still working very hard!
