The human side of the practitioner to academic pipeline

Universities are calling for more industry relevance, knowledge exchange and real-world impact in academia – and one way to do that is to hire experienced practitioners into academic roles, especially in applied disciplines like business, healthcare and creative arts.

Students benefit from current practice, employers get graduates who understand workplace realities and universities strengthen links with external partners – this sounds like a win-win for all.

Yet, there is a lesser-known story that many institutions don’t fully acknowledge: the human transition behind these hires. Moving from practitioner to academic is rarely just a change of job. It’s also a shift of identity and belonging, and it’s here that confusion can arise over what to focus on and prioritise.

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• How mentor and mentee can help each other

I’ve been thinking about this, being a second-career academic myself – we’re sometimes called “pracademics” – who enter higher education mid-career. 

From my observation so far, the issue is not necessarily capability. Many of my peers were highly competent and accomplished before they transitioned into academia. The issue is conversion – specifically, whether their knowledge, credibility or ways of working are valued inside academic systems. This was what I found in my recent study on the subject.

The  unseen challenge of  a ‘successful’ hire

In corporate settings, expertise is often visible through revenue generation, cost saving or project delivery. Academia signals legitimacy through different markers such as publications, grants and industry engagement.

Adapting to this change in expectations may create friction. A person can walk into academia with years of expertise, and still feel like a novice in adjusting to the ways that count.

This is more about cues than egos – who gets listened to in meetings, what is “real” work, which outputs are praised, what language is used to describe quality. These culminate in perfect storm conditions for impostor syndrome to creep in.

When these cues consistently devalue professional capital, people start to question whether they belong and whether they can thrive without becoming someone else.

Three common transition paths

One way to make sense of this situation is to recognise that second-career academics respond in different ways as they navigate academic life. I see three broad patterns in the study I conducted.

1. The assimilators

These types try to fully adopt academic norms. They pursue doctorates, prioritise publishing and reorient their identity towards disciplinary expectations. This can be a smart strategy, particularly in research-intensive environments where academic capital is the main currency.

But assimilation can come with a cost. It requires distancing from a professional past that originally built their personality.  It can also create strain or even burnout when institutional pressures are high and support is limited. The person might fit on paper, while feeling less grounded in their own strengths.

2. The integrators

These individuals actively merge their professional and academic identities. They bring prior expertise into teaching, curriculum design, applied research, student mentoring and external engagement. They are effective connectors between industry and academia, especially in roles focusing on knowledge exchange and impact.

This is the trajectory that many universities might want, but the catch is recognition. Hybrid contributions can be unevenly valued, promotion pathways can be unclear and unwanted internal comparisons may surface. This is where senior leadership does the balancing act.

3. The resistors

This type rejects academic norms, or struggles to reconcile their academic and professional selves. Resistance is not always stubbornness – it can be a rational response to gatekeeping, misrecognition or a sense of injustice. In some cases, it can lead to withdrawal, particularly when contracts are uncertain and institutional guidance is limited.

It’s important to recognise that these trajectories are not fixed personality types. People can move between them. A resistor can become an integrator in a supportive environment, while an assimilator can easily become disillusioned if misrecognition continues.

That is why culture matters so much. Hiring the right person is one part of the process. The bigger challenge is creating the conditions so that the person can authentically become and remain an academic.

What universities can do without diluting academic standards

One debate is whether valuing professional expertise will water down academic rigour or identity. In practice, the opposite is often true. Second-career academics can strengthen academic culture by broadening what excellence looks like and enhancing connections between scholarship and industry.

A few practical considerations can really make a difference:

Make recognition visible: If external engagement and practice-led research are genuinely valued, they need to show up in performance management and promotion criteria. There needs to be distinction between what counts and what’s just nice to have.

Clarify what ‘good’ looks like: Many second-career academics struggle with vague or shifting expectations. Good onboarding is critical to give clarity on what is expected in teaching, research and service, and how faculty evaluate success. 

Build peer legitimacy: Belonging is won or lost in everyday moments such as feedback in meetings, invitations into projects or informal conversations with colleagues. Formal mentorship helps but peer communities sustain for the longer term. How can institutions set the scene for this to happen?

A reframing that helps

Hiring second-career academics goes beyond being a workforce strategy. It’s a cultural decision about how institutions actually define academic identity.

If universities want to benefit from the expertise that second-career academics bring, they need to create spaces where hybrid contributions are valued. This can include shifts in hiring practices, promotion criteria, mentoring structures and the communication about what is deemed as excellence.

It’s easy to celebrate “real-world experience” in an academic job advertisement. The hard work is in making that experience convertible into a sense of belonging once the person arrives. That is where long-term value is won.

Asrif Yusoff is senior lecturer and employability lead at the University of Greenwich.

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