Lynn McAlpine is internationally recognized for her research, conducted in the UK, Europe and Canada, into PhD and post-PhD career trajectories both in and outside the academy.

She receives frequent international invitations to do workshops and keynotes that explore the implications of the research both from pedagogical and policy perspectives.

Research interests: Lynn’s research interest in PhD career decision-making has evolved over time.  Her early research in this area followed scientists and social scientists for up to seven years as they navigated their careers and personal lives during and after finishing the PhD. Seeing how many did not remain in the academy has led her more recently to studying post-PhD careers outside the academy. Recently, her particular interest focus has been how they navigate their own desires amidst global trends for highly skilled workers, national policy regimes and institutional affordances and constraints.

Some recent publications
  • Lokhtina, I., Colombo, L., Amelia, C., Löfström, E., Tammeleht, A., Sala-Bubare, A., Jazvac-Martek, M. Castelló, M., & McAlpine, L. (2022). Refining virtual cross-national research collaboration: Drivers, affordances, and constraints. Journal of Work Applied Management, 14(2), 302-315.
  • McAlpine, L., Chiramba, O., & Keane, M. (2022). African experiences of international PhDs: Negotiating careers within broader life considerations. Studies in Graduate and Postgraduate Education, 13(3), 281-296.
  • Inouye, K., & McAlpine, L. (2022). Writing across contexts: The relationship between doctoral writing and workplace writing beyond the academy. Innovations in Education and Teaching InternationalDOI: 10.1080/14703297.2022.2075431.
  • Bengtsen, S., & McAlpine, L. (2022). A novel perspective on doctoral supervision: Interaction of time, academic work, institutional policies, and lifecourse. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences15(1), 21–45.
  • McAlpine, L., & Inouye, K. (2022). PhD graduates in non-traditional roles: Harnessing communication knowledge to meet organizational goals. Studies in Graduate and Postgraduate Education13(2) 151-170.
  • McAlpine, L., Keane, M., & Chiramba, O. (2022). African experiences of international PhDs: Making sense of a spectrum of career mobility trajectories. CompareA Journal of Comparative and International Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2021.2017769
  • McAlpine, L., Keane, M., & Chiramba, O. African experiences of international PhDs: Making sense of a spectrum of career mobility trajectories. Compare.
  • McAlpine, L., & Inouye, K. (2021). What value do PhD graduates offer? An institutional case study. Higher Education Research and Development, https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1945546.
  • McAlpine, L., Skakni, I., & Inouye, K. (2021). PhD non-traditional careers: Integrating individual and structural factors for a richer account. European Journal of Higher Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21568235.2020.1870242.
  • Skakni, I., Inouye, K., & McAlpine, L. (2021). PhD holders entering non-academic workplaces: Organisational culture shock. Studies in Higher Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2021.1876650.
  • McAlpine, L., Castelló, M., & Pyhältö, K. (2020). What influences PhD graduate trajectories during the degree: A research-based policy agenda. Higher Education. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-019-00448-7.
  • McAlpine, L. (2020). What are postdocs? Drivers, purposes and outcomes. Higher Education in Russia and Beyond. 2 (23), https://herb.hse.ru/en/2020–2(23).html.
  • McAlpine, L., Skakni, I., & Pyhältö, K. (2020). PhD experience (and progress) is more than work: Life-work relations and reducing exhaustion. Studies in Higher Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2020.1744128.
  • McAlpine, L. (2020). Success? Learning to navigate the grant funding genre system. Journal of Research Administration. LI, 1. https://www.srainternational.org/blogs/srai-jra1/2020/05/05/success-learning-to-navigate-the-grant-funding-gen.

Funded Research Projects

  • Research (f)or impact? Integrating research and societal impact in the humanities PhD
    2020-2023
  • Early career researcher identity development: research within and beyond academia
    2020-2023
  • Global State of Young Scientists: Latin America and Caribbean Project Proposal. Germany: Global Young Academy.
    2019-2020
  • Researcher Identity Development: Strengthening Science in Society Strategies (RID-SSISS) (Castelló, M., et al.)
    2017-2019
  • Extending and reinforcing good practice in teacher development (Pleschova, G. et al.)
    2016-2019
  • Doctoral Supervisor Training - A Hub for Collaboration and Internationalization (Nieminen, J. et al.)
    2016-2018
  • Global State of Young Scientists in Africa’ (GloSYS Africa) (Coussens, A. et al.)
    2015-2018