Titles, experience, identities, and time: How the early career stage is defined by educational developers

Abstract

This article reports perceptions of what constitutes the early career stage by newer educational developers in contrast with those experienced in the field. We collected participants’ thoughts about what constitutes early career for educational developers using an online survey, and qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis (per Braun & Clarke, 2006). Aligning with Super’s (1990) lifespan career development model, this exploratory research suggests there is no single, universal definition of what it means to be an early career professional in this field, and our research suggests that self-concept is crucial in determining means to be an early career professional in this field. Further, there is a distinction between being new to the field of educational development and being ‘early career’ in a broader sense; the research findings suggest that those who come to educational development as a second or third career understand the notion of ‘early career’ differently than those for whom educational development is a first career. We discuss key themes that emerged around how participants constituted the notion of ‘early career’ and offer some common vocabulary to identify and discuss experiences of early career professionals in educational development. This research may provide new opportunities for supporting onboarding and community building, and raises areas for further exploration.