I thought it might be useful for those considering a career in academia but not actually involved in it yet to see what I do on an average working day. Then they can decide whether the working lifestyle appeals or not. Of course there is no such thing as the ‘average working day’ in academic life; every day is different. I do two sorts of work: those days I go into university and those days I work from home. So this is what a day in my life looks like….
This is a typical Tuesday in Manchester!
5.50am get up, pack bags up to about 10 kg of weight. Prepare breakfast.
6.30 catch train to Manchester, eat breakfast around Wolverhampton, watch sun come up in Stafford! Start work about 7.15, doing anything from marking, preparing notes for seminars, reading over lectures, editing other people’s work, reading in preparation for next book or studying papers ready for meetings.
9am arrive in Manchester, walk the mile to my building. Wait ages for computer to fire up and then rush to answer emails. Fight colleagues for use of the photocopier, hoping that it doesn’t break down before I have finished.
10am deliver lecture on ‘Cowboys and Indians’, a new course, so completely untried, fingers crossed that the powerpoint doesn’t do anything funny!
10.55 deal with numerous student queries about forgotten deadlines, lost work, absences etc.
11am and 12pm two back to back seminars for ‘Cowboys and Indians’, tiring, especially if the students are not very forthcoming but very rewarding if they have been inspired by your lecturing.
12.55pm Quickly grab a sip of water and a banana, by which time I am starving!
1pm I take a seminar for first year course run by another lecturer. This means less admin work to do, and less preparation as the course ran in an identical format last year, so I just repeat seminars given this time last year.
2pm office hour: I finally get chance to sit down, have a drink and eat lunch. Because it’s an office hour I have to be available to students, so my door is open (literally) and I get all sorts of questions. One or more of my third year dissertation students usually pops in to ask advice on the direction of their work. This is one of the nicest parts of my job, working on a one to one basis with the final year students.
3pm Last seminar of the day, my third year Modern America group, who are usually talkative and happy to ask questions and discuss among themselves.
4pm Dash to get the train home, often via the library which is on the way. Unless, that is, I have a meeting scheduled, in which case going home is pushed back. On the journey back if I am feeling lively I’ll do more work, if not I’ll allow myself to relax with the local free paper.
6.30pm Arrive home. Do one final check of emails for the day, deal with anything really urgent, and then go ‘off duty’ for the evening.
For many academics the teaching timetable is not as tight as this, but I try to pack all my teaching into just a few days at university so I can dedicate the rest of my time to working on preparation and research at home. If you live near your university it’s probably nicer to teach over three or four days with lots of spare time during each day to do admin work and meet with colleagues. But this is the way I do it and I am so lucky to have landed a job I love. If you like the sound of this sort of day, then lecturing could be for you!
I received this comment from an anonymous PhD researcher who wishes to become a university lecturer…
I am a PhD. researcher who has, unusually, published 18 respected articles in academic journals and newspapers. When I worked as a school teacher for 20 years, I was a key contributor to ensuring Arts Council England reprinted their “lost” national-curriculum styled publication “Drama in Schools” (2003) which contains the only nationally recognised Levels of Attainment for assessing children aged 5-14 on drama as a performance art.
Since leaving teaching I have tried to pursue a career in university teaching. I signed up to my university full-time (which I felt might incline the University to give me some teaching or teaching-assistant opportunities – especially given my academic specialism and my very successful school teaching career, commended as I was by OFSTED).
My own vision of every university allowing PhD researcher students (who wish to teach)to REGULARLY contribute as teaching assistants to lectures, demonstrations and other events in their departments could, I am sure, provide a more inclusive and holistic approach to university classes which could transform the way universities facilitate and develop careers for teachers.
School teachers now have secretaries in their school offices. They have teaching assistants (often parents) in their classrooms. They have specific data which informs them how to plan lessons which can meet the individual learning needs of each individual student in their classrooms.
All these things can transform University teaching. The opportunity is there now to not only transform how Universities can SUPPORT and take shared responsibility for developing the careers of their teachers, but also to transform the facilities available to university teachers which will make their job MUCH EASIER.
University Departments can be transformed once PhD research students are placed in contact with undergraduates. My own experience is that traditional university departments still maintain the myth that PhD researchers “work alone” in isolation except for the privilege of having contact with supervisors. This is absurd for practical research. It also overlooks action research in the Humanities and Education which clearly demonstrates that INCLUSION inspires imaginative research and inspires working class and ethnic minority undergraduates to take up post-graduate research.
I spent many years as a university research assistant, doing all the running around as needed by my professors, and I can certainly attest to the busy schedules they adhered to. It is an enjoyable and rewarding life for those who love the work, and the field they are researching/lecturing in.
Really, what ends up mattering most is that you are doing what you love. Then the long hours and busy schedule aren’t so bad.