The Making of Careers in Academia: Split Career Movements in Education Science

Abstract

In this article the authors discuss developments in the Europeanisation of higher education policy context of Sweden, and in particular certain changes within the field of education science. Detailed career narratives from 30 interviews have been produced and analysed. These narratives illustrate how research careers in education are formed and conditioned by institutional demands, forms of career capital and the actions of researchers. In the making of careers in academia, the authors point out how some researchers get access to resources that make them competitive and influential, and that those with an already strong research career capital tend accumulate more of this. They also point out that researchers with a background in teaching seem to find it harder to develop research careers as they seem to be bound to forms of career capital that are seen as more needed in teaching. Accordingly, two career profiles have been identified: the successful and the supportive researchers, respectively.