An academic is someone who holds an advanced
degree and works as a researcher at a college or university. A career in
academia is a very pleasant prospect, and you may find as you're working or
studying that you wish you could be more of an academic. This article will
approach becoming an academic as more than just studying - it's a way of life
and a way of thinking.
Steps
1
Choose your discipline. There are very few people who can study
lots and lots of subjects at once. Choose a subject you're interested in so you
can focus your studies on it. This might be Chemistry, English, History or
Foreign Languages. You can also do interdisciplinary research,
which draws from several different disciplines.
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2
Become Literate.
Get hold of some books and start reading. Get books in your particular subject
if possible, but also try and take in classical novels such as those of Charles
Dickens. Try and enjoy them, as this makes it easier to remember them.
3.
3
Take in Some Culture. Not only do you need to read
extensively, but culture is important too. Try and make it to plays and theatre
productions to sample some good old-fashioned culture. Not all of being an
academic is centred around being a bookworm.
4.
4
Look it up! A major part of being the academic is
being curious, investigative and eager to learn. If there's a new word you
discover, a book you'd not heard of, or a snippet of history you'd like in
context, look it up! In the modern age, this doesn't necessarily mean whipping
out a history book or dictionary, but it means looking around on the internet.
5.
5
Become Fluent. A major part of being academic is
extending your vocabulary and grip of language. If you notice mistakes in your
grammar, take steps to correct them. If need be, invest in a grammar book. Not
knowing where to put your apostrophes and what synonyms are will make people
think you're a very cheap sort of academic! You should also make a habit of
checking spellings - if there's a word you aren't sure of the spelling for,
check the dictionary.
6.
6
Study. If you're in work, see if you can enroll on some part-time
college or university courses. If you're in school, try and really get into
your classes, and get involved in extra study-based activities. Studying
properly is another key to being academic! Some topics, like the sciences,
require hands-on work that you can only really get at a college or school,
which makes it extra important if you have made science your topic of choice.
In order to become an academic, you will need to earn an advanced degree. In
the US, these are, in order of completion, associate's degree, bachelor's
degree (awarded for completion of undergraduate study), master's degree, and
doctorate (awarded after graduate or postgraduate study).
7.
7
Apply yourself. Keep working at it. If you want to
really be an academic, keep focused and keep studying. Losing interest for a
while makes it a much harder mountain to climb when you start again.
8.
8
Get a job in it. If you're really committed to the
academic way of life, get an academic job. Apply at colleges and universities.
The chances of doing this are very small, with only about 1 teaching job
available for every 10 PhDs produced. (This is because every academic typically
trains around 10 new PhDs, as in a pyramid scheme). The rest typically spend up
to 10 years wandering between low paid and low security short term contracts,
before quitting and starting a new career at the bottom rung, such as school
teaching.
9.
9
Seek tenure. The ultimate achievement for a US academic is to achieve
tenure, which means you can never lose your job without just cause. The purpose
of tenure is to allow academics to pursue research and education without fear
of losing their job because someone does not agree with their findings or
teachings
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