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Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools

Tracey Collett, Steven Capey, James Edwards, Darrell J. Evans, John C. McLachlan, Helen Watson, David Bristow

FEBS Open Bio, Volume: 11, Issue: 11, Pages: 2902 - 2911

Swansea University Author: Steven Capey

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/2211-5463.13304

Abstract

Driven by demand for high standards in university education, efforts have been made in the UK to address the perceived imbalance between teaching and research. However, teaching is still perceived by many as having less credibility and is attributed less importance. The purpose of our research was t...

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Published in: FEBS Open Bio
ISSN: 2211-5463 2211-5463
Published: Wiley 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58677
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The purpose of our research was to explore how distinct types of academic job profiles (&#x2018;research&#x2019; or &#x2018;education&#x2019; focused, or &#x2018;balanced&#x2019;) impact on biomedical scientists' perceptions of the lecturer role. Specifically, we investigated the experiences of biomedical scientists in &#x2018;post-1990&#x2019; medical schools, which are known for their commitment to excellence in both research and education. We conducted 22 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with biomedical scientists in five schools. Focusing on experiences of work, the interviews covered: &#x2018;motivations&#x2019;, &#x2018;role expectations&#x2019;, &#x2018;teaching&#x2019;, &#x2018;research&#x2019; and &#x2018;career&#x2019;. The recorded qualitative data were transcribed and then analysed thematically. 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spelling 2021-12-07T15:38:09.9642181 v2 58677 2021-11-15 Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools 8ac9bf46247e78eb5a130e90687a2da8 Steven Capey Steven Capey true false 2021-11-15 PMSC Driven by demand for high standards in university education, efforts have been made in the UK to address the perceived imbalance between teaching and research. However, teaching is still perceived by many as having less credibility and is attributed less importance. The purpose of our research was to explore how distinct types of academic job profiles (‘research’ or ‘education’ focused, or ‘balanced’) impact on biomedical scientists' perceptions of the lecturer role. Specifically, we investigated the experiences of biomedical scientists in ‘post-1990’ medical schools, which are known for their commitment to excellence in both research and education. We conducted 22 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with biomedical scientists in five schools. Focusing on experiences of work, the interviews covered: ‘motivations’, ‘role expectations’, ‘teaching’, ‘research’ and ‘career’. The recorded qualitative data were transcribed and then analysed thematically. Our results, offering an insight into the working lives of biomedical scientists in medical education, suggest that in settings with a dual emphasis on education and research, individuals on ‘balanced’ contracts can experience a strong pull between research and teaching. In addition to posing significant challenges with respect to workload management, this can impact profoundly on professional identity. In contrast to the balanced role, ‘research’ or ‘education’ focused roles appear to have clearer requirements, leading to higher employee satisfaction. We conclude that to assist the educational mission of Higher Education, attention should be paid to balanced contracts, to (a) ensure employee support, (b) mitigate against negative perceptions of teaching, and ultimately, (c) guard against staff attrition. Journal Article FEBS Open Bio 11 11 2902 2911 Wiley 2211-5463 2211-5463 career; education; medical education; medical school; professional identity 2 11 2021 2021-11-02 10.1002/2211-5463.13304 COLLEGE NANME Medicine COLLEGE CODE PMSC Swansea University 2021-12-07T15:38:09.9642181 2021-11-15T15:17:08.0285024 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Medicine Tracey Collett 1 Steven Capey 2 James Edwards 3 Darrell J. Evans 4 John C. McLachlan 5 Helen Watson 6 David Bristow 7 58677__21543__0e0d8006f58a4d36b4a62d75a1722258.pdf 58677.pdf 2021-11-15T15:19:17.0104257 Output 268151 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools
spellingShingle Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools
Steven Capey
title_short Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools
title_full Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools
title_fullStr Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools
title_full_unstemmed Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools
title_sort Teaching, research or balanced? An exploration of the experiences of biomedical scientists working in UK medical schools
author_id_str_mv 8ac9bf46247e78eb5a130e90687a2da8
author_id_fullname_str_mv 8ac9bf46247e78eb5a130e90687a2da8_***_Steven Capey
author Steven Capey
author2 Tracey Collett
Steven Capey
James Edwards
Darrell J. Evans
John C. McLachlan
Helen Watson
David Bristow
format Journal article
container_title FEBS Open Bio
container_volume 11
container_issue 11
container_start_page 2902
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 2211-5463
2211-5463
doi_str_mv 10.1002/2211-5463.13304
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Medicine{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Medicine
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description Driven by demand for high standards in university education, efforts have been made in the UK to address the perceived imbalance between teaching and research. However, teaching is still perceived by many as having less credibility and is attributed less importance. The purpose of our research was to explore how distinct types of academic job profiles (‘research’ or ‘education’ focused, or ‘balanced’) impact on biomedical scientists' perceptions of the lecturer role. Specifically, we investigated the experiences of biomedical scientists in ‘post-1990’ medical schools, which are known for their commitment to excellence in both research and education. We conducted 22 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with biomedical scientists in five schools. Focusing on experiences of work, the interviews covered: ‘motivations’, ‘role expectations’, ‘teaching’, ‘research’ and ‘career’. The recorded qualitative data were transcribed and then analysed thematically. Our results, offering an insight into the working lives of biomedical scientists in medical education, suggest that in settings with a dual emphasis on education and research, individuals on ‘balanced’ contracts can experience a strong pull between research and teaching. In addition to posing significant challenges with respect to workload management, this can impact profoundly on professional identity. In contrast to the balanced role, ‘research’ or ‘education’ focused roles appear to have clearer requirements, leading to higher employee satisfaction. We conclude that to assist the educational mission of Higher Education, attention should be paid to balanced contracts, to (a) ensure employee support, (b) mitigate against negative perceptions of teaching, and ultimately, (c) guard against staff attrition.
published_date 2021-11-02T04:15:23Z
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