Welcome to our Community of Pracademics
About the Community of Pracademics
Welcome to the Community of Pracademics
The Community of Pracademics aims to be a supportive and inclusive network for professionals transitioning from industry into academia. Whether you are taking your first steps as a lecturer, developing your academic identity, or seeking connections with others who share a
similar journey, you belong here. The aim is to bridge professional expertise and academic excellence.
The Community of Pracademics aims to create a thriving hub where pracademics can learn from one another's experiences and feel supported throughout their academic journey. Through contributions from community members, the aim is to build a rich collection of
practical resources, real-life stories, top tips, teaching materials, and guidance that reflects the realities of working in higher education.
Alongside this, we aim to develop mentoring opportunities that connect experienced and new pracademics, and to facilitate events that foster collaboration, networking, and a genuine sense of belonging.
Most importantly, this is a community shaped by its members. Whether you have recently joined academia, have years of experience to share, would like to become a mentor, are looking for a mentor, or simply want to connect with like-minded colleagues, there is a place for you here.
So come and join the Community of Pracademics. Share your story, contribute your insights, support others, and help us build a vibrant and inclusive network that celebrates the unique value of pracademics. Together, we can connect, learn, grow, and make a lasting difference to higher education.
What is a Pracademic?
A pracademic combines professional expertise with academic practice, bringing valuable industry knowledge into higher education. Pracademics enrich student learning through real-world experience, bridge the gap between theory and practice, and contribute fresh perspectives to teaching, scholarship, and research.
The Community of Pracademics was created to support those making the transition from industry to academia and to champion the important contributions we make across the higher education sector.
Why I Created the Community of Pracademics
My journey into academia began after a successful career in professional practice. Like many people who enter higher education from industry, I arrived with extensive experience, professional knowledge, and a passion for supporting others to learn. What I did not anticipate was how different the culture, language, expectations, and systems of academia would be.
I still remember sitting in meetings and hearing acronyms that everyone else seemed to understand, trying to navigate unfamiliar processes, and wondering whether I was the only person feeling out of place. I knew how to lead teams, manage projects, solve complex problems, and engage stakeholders, yet I often felt like a novice again. There were moments when I questioned whether I truly belonged in academia.
Over time, I realised that many others shared the same experience.
As I spoke with colleagues from professions including healthcare, business, engineering, education, policing, and the creative industries, a common story emerged. We were all bringing valuable professional expertise into the university, but many of us were learning the hidden curriculum of higher education through trial and error. We were building new academic identities while trying not to lose the professional identities that had shaped us.
These experiences became the foundation of my Professional Doctorate research and later informed my book, A Field Guide to Working in Higher Education: Transitioning from Professional Practice to Academia (Kitchener, 2025) The book was written to help unpack and demystify the day-to-day realities of academic life for professionals entering higher education. The guide specifically focuses on supporting new pracademics as they navigate teaching, student support, research, academic development, and the wider academic role.
However, during my research, it became clear that a book alone was not enough.
What people needed was connection. They needed a place where they could ask questions without judgement, share experiences, learn from others who had walked a similar path, and recognise that the challenges they faced were not personal shortcomings but a normal part of a significant professional transition.
That is why I am creating the Community of Pracademics.
This community exists to ensure that no one has to make the journey from industry to academia alone. It is a place to find support, encouragement, practical guidance, and a sense of belonging. It is also a place to celebrate the enormous contribution that pracademics make to higher education by bringing real-world expertise, professional insight, and authentic learning experiences to students.
I believe that the future of higher education is strengthened when academic knowledge and professional practice work together. Pracademics sit at that intersection, translating theory into practice and practice into learning.
My hope is that this community becomes more than a website. I hope it becomes a network of colleagues, mentors, collaborators, and friends who support one another to thrive, grow, and make a lasting impact on students, professions, and society.
Because when pracademics succeed, students, universities, and the professions we serve all benefit.
I welcome you to join me at the Community of Pracademics
Dr Mary Kitchener SFHEA SFSEDA
Associate Professor in Educational Development
Co-Acting Director, Oxford Centre for Academic Enhancement and Development, Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Head of Academic Development
Mentoring
Join a network of like-minded professionals who understand the opportunities and challenges of moving into higher education.
Access practical resources, mentoring, and guidance to support your academic journey.
Share experiences, build confidence, and develop your academic practice.
Celebrate the unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives that pracademics bring to teaching, research, and student success.
Together, we're shaping the future of higher education through the power of professional experience.
Join our community today and discover the strength of learning alongside fellow pracademics.
Community Resources
As the Community of Pracademics develops, we will share resources to support you in your academic role and help you navigate the opportunities and challenges of working in higher education. Our aim is to create a growing repository of practical guidance, teaching resources, insights, top tips, and real-life experiences contributed by pracademics from a wide range of professional and academic backgrounds.
We warmly welcome contributions from our community. If you have a resource, article, case study, teaching tool, template, or practical advice that could benefit fellow pracademics, please click the button below to submit it for consideration.
To ensure resources can be shared openly and ethically, please only submit materials that you have created yourself or that you have permission to share. By submitting a resource, you confirm that you have the appropriate authority to do so and that it can be made available to the community under a Creative Commons or similar open-sharing approach.
