Career as an Academician

“Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops.” Fuelling your passion and talent by extending the boundaries of knowledge, a career in academia is one of the most demanded and loved professions of all times. Being a path which reaps many rewards, being an academician is one of the most competitive career paths today, as candidates come a long way right from undergraduate courses to post-doctoral studies. If you are an aspiring academician and want to pursue a successful career in research, then you are just in the right place. Through this blog, we are here to provide you with every little detail you need to know about a career as Academician.

Definition and Meaning

An academician is a professional who is associated with the field of education and dig deep into research paths in either science or arts to prolong the frontiers of knowledge. They are the ones who equip the students with the correct knowledge to enhance their research skills and all the necessary informational data in order to clear the fundamental, theoretical and applied concepts pertaining to the research area. An individual is known to be a good and strong academician when they are affiliated with an academy in the fields of science, arts or literature, and also holds an educational degree by working as a professor or a researcher in an institution. 

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Why Choose a Career as an Academician?

Being an academician is a noble profession and apart from it, there are other compelling reasons as well that make this profession one of the most sought-after ones. 

• Teaching: There are people who like to impact the lives of the students by teaching them all the knowledge they have gained throughout their life in their field of research.
• Following your passion: When you look forward to a successful career in research, the best thing about it is that the candidate has the freedom to choose their own field of interest. The people who do not like limiting themselves to a routine, research work keeps them on toes and demands its own time and duration.
• Travel: Education knows no boundaries. In order to start a career as an academician, a professional can be required to travel anywhere in the world extending their knowledge to international students.

Also Read: Research Assistant

How to get started?

For ones who aspire to be an academician needs to have a good starting point in order to bring specificity in their professional field. Choosing the right type of courses that match your interest is highly important. Below is the general educational path for an academician.

• Undergraduate and Masters Studies: Pursuing an undergraduate and masters degree in your own field of interest would make you aware of all the fundamental, theoretical and practical concepts imparted in there. You get to know what the research field really involves and assess yourself whether you possess all the skills needed to beat the competition.
• Doctoral Research Programs or PhD: For the students who really want to pursue a career as an academician, enrolling for a Doctoral or PhD program is one of the most important steps. When pursuing a PhD, the researcher gets to know about the ground realities of the academic career and makes a realistic assessment of the potentialities they possess.
• Post-Doctoral Research: Though a PhD degree is enough to get you a permanent job as an academician in an educational institute in some countries, getting a post-doctoral research degree adds brownie points to your career. Understanding the difference between the teaching roles and academic research career, at this step, you make your action plan on whether to go for lecturership or an alternative career. 
• Apply for Fellowship: After completing your education, you can apply for various postdoctoral fellowships which help in the funding of the research work of the scholars, so that they can carry their studies independently. Being immensely competitive in nature, fellowships can allow you to spend 4-5 years in your research work which heightens your chances of obtaining lecturership. 

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Career Prospects of an Academician

Mainly pertaining to academia and administrative work, the tasks of an academician may involve the following:

• Writing and publishing the research works 
• Teaching in educational institutes, seminars or conferences
• Administrative work
• Marking and assessing the progress of the students
• Data and analysis and preparation of reports
• Extending educational guidance and mentorship to the students
• Preparing lessons and setting examinations for the students

Academician Salary

The average salary of an academician is INR 63,045 per month.

Academician Synonyms

The following are the synonyms of Academician:

• Lecturer
• Professor
• Scholar
• Scholastic
• Pupil
• Educators

We hope that you have been enlightened with all the information pertaining to a career as an academician. If you are also thinking about entering this field and need guidance for your professional journey, reach out to us at Leverage Edu. Our mentors are there to guide you at each step towards your goal. Sign up for a 30 minutes free career counselling session and add wings to your dreams