Book Review

Build An Academic Career

Dr. Uqbah Iqbal*

Managing Director, Pitas Agriculture, Kampung Mempakad Darat, 89100 Pitas, Sabah, Malaysia

Submission: April 04, 2024; Published: June 18, 2024

*Corresponding author: Dr. Uqbah Iqbal, Managing Director, Pitas Agriculture, Kampung Mempakad Darat, 89100 Pitas, Sabah, Malaysia, Email id: druqbahiqbal.aia@gmail.com

How to cite this article:Dr. Uqbah Iqbal. Build An Academic Career. Ann Soc Sci Manage Stud. 2024; 10(3): 555789. DOI: 10.19080/ASM.2024.10.555789

Introduction

The creation of this book was developed based on the title of the author’s lecture titled, How to Climb the Career Ladder in Academia which the author has delivered in a series of Workshops on Leadership and Career Development for Young Academics. The author has conducted academic staff career development workshops especially for young academic staff in three faculties at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and several groups of academic staff at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Melaka throughout the years 2008 to 2010 [1]. The main purpose of the course is to guide young academic staff to plan their career path and implement the career plan effectively and more strategically. Some may think this is just common sense. The reality is that many academic staff lacks the understanding of the real academic career and they do not do this important thing. As a result, their career achievements do not go anywhere and many also end their careers in the academic world in a situation where they do not have the highest qualifications required or remain at the position of Senior Lecturer or Associate Professor only.

One thing that is certain to happen in the life of academic staff is change. The higher education sector has also witnessed rapid and drastic changes. The tasks and challenges faced by academic staff today are quite large and challenging. Therefore, every academic staff needs to understand this situation and make various necessary preparations. This requires them to take a more strategic approach to academic careers. With that, they will not only be able to perform their duties as well as possible, but their careers will also improve to a better level from time to time. This book is expected to help them plan and manage their careers more wisely through general guidance and guidance or tips given, especially those the author cites from well-known career experts, who have been found very helpful over more than 30 years the writer is involved and involved in the academic world. However, this book does not talk about how to be the best teacher, the best researcher, the best journal paper writer or how to succeed in a promotion interview because these things can be learned through further reading or taking relevant courses to improve and develop professionalism as an academic staff. The author hopes that the publication of this book can be a useful reference material for university lecturers who are building their careers and further contribute to religion, nation and country. earn a decent salary like any other field of professionalism. In fact, the academic staff employment scheme cannot guarantee and make someone really rich. This is where the uniqueness of a career as an academic staff is laden with idealism and struggle, in line with the universal concept and idea of academia, namely academic freedom. This is where many scholars from a historical perspective emerged who developed various fields of knowledge including philosophy, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geoinformation, engineering, history, political science and so on.

In many studies, there are many reasons why a person chooses to become an academic. The findings of the study show that the main reason is a deep love for science and the desire to contribute to the development of society through the sharing of knowledge. This is the main reason why many people are attracted to this career field. In conclusion the academic career is one of the dynamic, interesting, and satisfying careers for academics. Nevertheless, various transformations have taken place in the field of higher education at the national and global level involving the offering of postgraduate programs and research, accreditation requirements, quality assurance, e-learning, lifelong learning, the National Higher Education Strategic Plan, and the Malaysian Education Development Plan. The country’s leadership also intends to make Malaysia an international education hub in the Southeast Asian region. All of these have a great impact on the career as an academic. Therefore, this career requires the skills of academic staff who act as field experts, educators, researchers, managers, and leaders at the same time. Accordingly, academic staff need to take a strategic approach to their academic career. At the same time, organizations should also plan career development for the benefit and development of staff. But the reality is, many among the academic staff do not really plan their career path. As a result, they often miss the opportunity to advance to a higher level in this career path. In that context, the publication of this book is expected to help young lecturers in planning their respective career paths and managing them more wisely and strategically through the general pointers and guides highlighted by this book. This book is suitable for use as a useful reference material for graduates, prospective lecturers, and university lecturers who are building their careers as academics.

References

1. Mohd Azraai Kassim (2014) Membina Kerjaya Akademia. Johor Bahru: Penerbit UTM Press.