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
- McAlpine, L., Keane, M., & Chiramba, O. (in press). African experiences of international PhDs: Making sense of a spectrum of career mobility trajectories. Compare.
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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.
- Skakni, I., del Carmen Calatrava Moreno, M., & Corcelles Seuba, M. & McAlpine, L. (2019). Hanging tough: Post-PhD researchers dealing with career uncertainty. Higher Education Research and Development. 38 (7), 1489-1503.
- McAlpine, L., & Austin, N. (2018). Humanities PhD graduates: Desperately seeking careers? Canadian Journal of Higher Education. 48 (2), 1-19.
- McAlpine, L., Pyhältö, K., & Castelló, M. (2018). Building a more robust conception of early career researcher experience: What might we be overlooking? Studies in Continuing Education. 40 (2), 149-165.
- McAlpine, L., & Austin, N. (2018). Humanities PhD graduates: Desperately seeking careers? Canadian Journal of Higher Education. 48 (2).
- McAlpine, L., Pyhalto, K., & Castello, M. (2018). Building a more robust conception of early career researcher experience: What might we be overlooking? Studies in Continuing Education. 40 (2), 149-165.
- McAlpine, L., & Amundsen, C. (2018). Identity-trajectories: Ways of understanding post-PhD career choices. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
