Addressing the research challenges of early career academics: Evaluating a formal development programme

Higher education institutions (HEIs) often require early career academics (ECAs) to engage in the production of formal high-quality research. ECAs frequently face numerous challenges related to fulfilling this requirement. Using a pragmatic approach, we evaluated whether a formal ECA development programme at a research-intensive South African university addressed the historical challenges of research for the participants. We aimed to further identify and categorise the obstacles faced by such ECAs and to develop recommendations for improving institutional support provided to them. A two-stage qualitative study was conducted; first, an online questionnaire was administered to 25 ECAs across various faculties, and these findings were then corroborated in Phase 2, in which eight of the Phase 1 participants provided additional context through a focus group discussion. Although the participants receive support through various interventions in the formal development programme, traditional challenges still exist, such as a lack of access to and receipt of funding, increased teaching loads, high administrative burdens, a lack of guidance and mentoring, limited access to and awareness of resources, and various institutional constraints. Developers of formal programmes aimed at supporting ECAs should consider a focus beyond seed funding and generalised mentoring support.