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2025 AOM Annual Meeting

OB

Session: 25701: Hi, I’m New Here: Novel Insights on Newcomer Experiences and Socialization

19277: The Role of Workgroups and Leaders for Early Career Academic Success: A Qualitative Investigation (session 25701)

Monday, July 28, 2025
10:15 - 11:45 CEST (GMT+2)
Location: Bella Center: Hall B- B2-m9
Session Type: Paper Session
Orientation: Practice,Research
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/ZK8AXW
The wellbeing and professional development challenges faced by those in the early stages of their academic career (i.e., early career academics; ECAs) are well documented (Christian et al., 2021; Shaw et al., 2015). However, for the most part, research has failed to consider how workgroups may contribute to the ECA experience, including how they might be best harnessed to improve staff retention, professional development, and wellbeing. Informed by the social identity approach, we explore this issue in a qualitative investigation of workgroup memberships to understand their contribution to the experiences of ECAs in the higher education sector. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 57 ECAs. Using inductive reflexive thematic analysis, our findings corroborate previous research highlighting the structural challenges of working in the sector — notably, job precarity, excessive demands, and being undervalued — reflected in our first theme of early career inhibitors. We also advance previous research with our remaining two themes capturing the enabling capacity of groups, and the make-or-break influence of academic leaders. Combined, these themes evidence the dual potential of workgroup memberships and academic leaders in shielding (or exacerbating) the impact of these inhibitors for ECA wellbeing and career development. Where positive, workgroup memberships and effective leadership exposed avenues of protection, guidance, and connection, reducing some of the challenges of working in the sector. Where such positivity was lacking, which for some included exposure to toxic groups and leaders – ECAs were vulnerable to the full force of the sector’s structural challenges, undermining their wellbeing and professional development. Combined, our findings shed light on the group membership dynamics that if harnessed effectively, could enhance the wellbeing and careers of the academics in ways that enable them to shape the future of science and higher education.

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