Developing a Research Agenda

Abstract

After the completion of a higher degree,1 the next step in building a research career is to develop your personal research agenda through taking an appropriate research job. The direct research route into academia is to seek a postdoctoral research fellowship but, in fact, almost all academics in lecturing posts in universities also engage in research, as chapter 5 indicates. Alternatively, there are opportunities to work as a professional researcher in the private, public or voluntary sectors. Many researchers move between the academic and non-academic worlds in the course of their careers, but this chapter focuses on the development of a research agenda while working within universities. This chapter presents the professional and personal implications of some of these alternatives from the perspective of two women academics with differing experiences and training. These arise from their respective academic disciplines - one a sociologist and one an economist - and differing levels of experience, family responsibilities, work histories, social class and age (one in her thirties the other in her fifties).