Ok, here goes..

Years ago, did an English degree. Mid-ranking uni. Should have gone somewhere better, but other than surprisingly good grades at the end, school was a bit crap; no-one in my family had ever studied etc etc. No career ideas, just wanted to 'escape' really. Early on, I looked at one of my lecturers, thought ‘I could do that...’ so I asked, and he put me in the picture: lack of funding, sacrifices, few jobs...

I thought ‘sod that’, did what I had to essay-wise to get a 2.1 but mainly focussed on extra curricular and part-time work and ended up working in marketing. But it just didn’t ‘do it’ for me. Maybe I should have stuck with the academic thing, I thought. Hatched a plan. No money for more study so what’s the ‘nearest thing’ I can do? The college up the road, work there. Jacked job in > PGCE > school teaching > job came up at said college > got it. Then I enrolled on a part-time Master’s in Education; finished that and now I’ve applied for an EdD at my local uni, where I’ll be looking at creative approaches to teaching literature at post-16 so I can still work full-time and get the qualification.

So I'm 'one step closer', and still hanging in there because I want to be proud of myself and do something good with my life. But is it a dream? I’ve looked at staff profiles in different uni departments and they’re ‘straight arrow’ types whereas I got a bit way-laid. But then I think ‘I’ll find a way in, by hook or by crook’. It has to happen for someone, or is it a closed door?

I don’t know. Has anyone else taken this sort-of work-based route and succeeded in getting an academic job? Or got similar qualifications and experience and turned it into a rewarding career?

Any tips / advice? Anyone?

If your aim is to be a HE lecturer/researcher then it's worth bearing in mind that whoever you are, whatever your background, the career prospects suck right now. For everyone. So I think the most likely determinant of whether you succeed or not will be structural issues beyond your control, rather than any personal attributes (actual or perceived) that you have.

The redeeming factor in your situation is that it sounds like your topic would give you a solid plan B if your EdD doesn't yield the dream job you want. Many PhD students who fall at the post doc hurdle are then stuck as it's hard for them to convince non-academic employers of their skill/expertise, but there are obvious applications for that topic outside of academia. So as long as you are going to have a funding stream/income while doing the EdD then you might as well give it a go.

Hi HazyJane

Thanks for the reply, I didn't expect anything half so quickly. Yes, I do try telling myself that, about the awful jobs market in the sector right now. It doesn't stop me from feeling envious of those who have beaten the odds, sadly, but I know what you say is very true.

That is a benefit of the EdD. That maybe I might get to the end of it and have to say 'well, that's as close as I'm going to get' and use it in a different way - either to climb the ladder in my current sector, or move into something new. I'd kind of like to be a sort of freelance workshop leader / teacher / consultant type of thing as a plan B, but that might be just as hard to earn a living from, I don't know.

Regarding funding, as long as I can stay in teaching then I'm fine for month-to-month outgoings. And I've been disciplined enough to save pretty much all money I've earned from exam marking over the last ten years to cover the fees. So I've nothing to lose in that sense, except a bit of pride and the knowledge I could have bought a bloomin' nice motor instead, but things like that don't really matter to me anymore really.

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/thread-34211 thought this thread might be interesting reading for you. In addition to what I wrote then, I can only add that the education department where I am has really suffered from losing a lot of PGCE places, so one thing to consider is how viable the department offering the EdD is, given it takes a good few years part-time. I get the impression some have suffered more than others.

Hi Bewildered

Yes, that is a consideration. To be honest though, the uni I've applied to are just about to open a huge, brand new education building so I'm kind of thinking that they wouldn't have bothered for it to close in the next five years... hopefully not anyway. As you say, some places seem to have suffered more than others, it seems a really mixed picture.