Academic career management intervention at a South African university: A modified Delphi study

Abstract

Orientation: Understanding the components for an academic career management intervention programme, to enable the development of the required academic pipeline to achieve the strategic objectives of higher education institutions.Research purpose: A consensus view across subject experts for a career management intervention programme to enable the progression of academic careers.Motivation for the study: While academic career literature captures an array of normative designs of career management programmes to cultivate the required academic talent consortium, literature indicates a lack of a comprehensive and systematic approach for career management to provide a framework for successfully managing academic careers.Research design, approach and method: A modified Delphi technique was employed, by presenting an expert panel with the findings of a broader research project to initiate the consensus-seeking methodology - a systematic approach to obtain concordance on the experts’ opinions through two rounds of structured questionnaires.Main findings: The identified components are structured and presented in five main themes (categories), including: (1) institutional, (2) individual, (3) overlapping, (4) cultural and (5) external. The results show a strong agreement among the experts on the first four categories. The fifth (external) offers the lowest level of agreement, reminding that the higher education system is part of a broader contextual system; it should be understood within its operational context and time.Practical/managerial implications: Offering talent management practitioners and higher education leaders expert observations of the factors to consider while planning and implementing career management intervention programmes to enable academic career progression.Contribution/value-add: A comprehensive and systematic approach for career management, providing a framework for successfully managing academic careers across the various career stages.