NETWORKING AND ACADEMIC CAREER: THE WAY FORWARD

The motivation to write this article is rooted on the inspiration I had while I was on my way back home from school. While some students endeavour to make new connections to widen their academic career opportunities, some others believe they can single-handedly make a forest. Although some students aspire to network amongst themselves and beyond, others assume this aspect of life is so irrelevant. Siemens (2005), theory of connectivism supports the perception that a networked association is of immense importance in maintaining a collaborative linkage to promote information sharing and communication. But the question is; of what benefit is networking on academic pursuits of students?

Stenken and Zajicek (2009), recommend that the core aspect of developing any career of which academic is the bedrock, is possessing the skills to explore and utilize opportunities as they emanate. Exploring these opportunities requires taking some sort of risks, taking some bold steps and sometimes requesting for a lot more than has initially been offered. Networking is the formal and informal relationships between groups of individuals in order to foster excellent career of which Goza and Ryabov (2009), agree that peer network can greatly influence the academic outcomes of individuals. Although some studies suggest that peer networking pose a negative influence on the performance of students however, the above authors agree that there are positive connections between networking and academic success like acquisition of good grades, honors, studying hard and future working career.

It is apparent that most academics overlook their colleagues who are committed networkers however, they fail to acknowledge that connections are very paramount for a successful academic career too. It is noteworthy that being intelligent and studious is not sufficient enough to attain a great academic height as well as potential work careers. Apart from high academic performance, good human relationship and cooperation, networking also determines the course of future professional careers. For example, upon acquiring a doctorate degree, valuable performance in the form of writing, submitting articles for publications, conferences and networking to a larger extent determines if an aspirant will secure a professorship position. Despite the overwhelming benefits of academic networking, most academicians are still oblivious of these great benefits.

Over the past years, commercial sector has witnessed a tremendous improvement in organising events to promote networking however, in academia most individuals have shown minimal interest to this very pertinent aspect of life. The point is that being connected and carrying out research in a symbiotic union boosts one’s possibility of reaching a spectacular height in life. But a major concern is that some individuals are of the opinion that networking and building relationships appears too crafty and intrusive into other people’s affairs. But this is a misguided opinion and to a larger extent, holds no water. Honestly, networking and collaboration with others both locally and internationally is highly invaluable for any student who aims to broaden his or her career.

If you want the outer world to learn more about you, your skills and area of professionalism, then there is great need to sharpen your networking skills so as to widen career opportunities. This supports Yu et., al. (2010) statement that networking amongst academicians is a great avenue for obtaining information, sharing knowledge, rendering support and becoming socially acceptable which in return, leads to higher level of performance proficiency, self-esteem and actualisation.

Getting acquainted with fellow academicians especially the leading ones, can be quite intimidating. Some researchers and lecturers are already used to working independently and just the idea of working mutually or going public does not sound appealing at all to them. They strongly believe in themselves that they can achieve it all, all on their own.

Since this article is targeted at encouraging academicians to network with each other, the way-forward is rooted on Isaac Newton’s (1675), statement thus; “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants“. To this effect, academicians ought to endeavour to stand on the shoulders of giants so as to see further. Both mentors, lecturers, supervisors, director of studies and examiners are already giants for a great start to see further. They are already experts, experienced and in a better position to help boost student’s career thus the need to establish and maintain a healthy relationship with them.

Academic networking spans beyond face to face communication and presently, social media has shown an immense advancement in the manner people associate with one another. According to McLoughlin and Lee (2008), social software tools have created an enhanced platform for learners to deeply relate and engage with their peers, colleagues, instructors, experts and the community at large. Through these social platforms, people can create, share and grow knowledge either through photos, emails, messages, publications and online bookmarks. Although these medium of information exchange encourage personal expression of views, it also boosts social propagation of active support, assistance and cooperation by allowing comments, reviews and discussions by members of like-minded community members sharing resources.

With the availability of online social networking, several digital platforms have been allocated specifically to academia for scholarly practices (Jordan 2014). Academic social network sites such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, About.me, Scribd and reference sharing sites such as Bibsonomy, Zotero, Mendeley, CiteULike and ISSUU allow scholars to upload their works in a graceful format for online viewing and publication of their research works. With millions of users across the globe, these significant platforms promote scholarly communication, networking, academic information sharing and connection with one another. Thus it is highly imperative to recognize the part these social platforms play and the advancement they can present to the field of academic careers. This supports Dawson (2008), opinion that an individual’s position in the social network climate is symbolic of their level of adaptability within the academic atmosphere which determines the level of support needed by such individual for future academic career advancement.

For academic networking to be effective, scholars must be willing to adopt the give and take philosophy, precept of reciprocity, ample time for relationship building, realizable goals, synergistic mindset, skills improvement, involvement in academic activities, involvement in publications and attendance to conferences. Through these avenues, the contacts built while networking can help connect individuals to the right person that will move them forward and give them the right direction for a brighter future.

REFERENCES

Dawson S. (2008), A Study Of The Relationship Between Student Social Networks And Sense of Community, Educational Technology & Society, International Forum of Educational Technology & Society (IFETS), issue 11, vol. 3, p.236.

Goza F. and Ryabov I. (2009), Adolescents Educational Outcomes: Racial and Ethnic Variations in Peer Network Importance, Journal of Youth Adolescence, issue 38, pp. 1264-1265,

Jordan K. (2014), Online social networks and networked academic identity. In: Internet Research 15.0 Doctoral Colloquium Daegu, South Korea, p.19.

McLoughlin C. and Lee M. J. W. (2008), The Three P’s of Pedagogy for the Networked Society: Personalization, Participation, and Productivity, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 20, No. 1, p. 17.

Newton I. (1675), Wikiquote, Accessed online; {http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton}, Date {14/12/2014}.

Siemens G. (2005), Connectivism: A learning theory for a digital age, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, issue 2, vol. 1, Accessed online; {http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm}, Date {14/12/2014}.

Stenken J. A. and Zajicek A. M. (2009), The Importance Of Asking, Mentoring And Building Networks For Academic Career Success – A Personal And Social Science Perspective, p.542.

Yu A. Y., Tian S. W., Vogel D. and Chi-Wai Kwok R. (2010), Can Learning Be Virtually Boosted? An Investigation Of Online Social Networking Impacts, Computers and Education, 55 (4), pp. 1494-1503.