School's out

School’s out

The end of the academic year is here. Much celebrating is to be heard in the offices of academics and in the student bars. For the finalists, the real world awaits. 

The prospects for graduates seem less bright than in previous years despite various schemes for placements or incentives for taught postgraduate programmes. 

Yet they remain optimistic, an attitude which does them credit, and they still celebrate the final exams with great enthusiasm. It is a sharp reminder that equipping our graduates with the skills and abilities necessary to be competitive in the jobs market, and to thrive in the workplace, has never been more important. We do them no favours by sending them out unprepared.

For academics, once we’ve leaned back and enjoyed the sigh of relief that signals the end of lecturing, marking and meetings for a few short months, the summer can be filled with research, conference trips and perhaps even holidays. It also provides welcome relief from the difficulties of finding a parking space on campus and battling for decent sandwiches in the lunch queue. 

The summer to-do list is long, and I intend to do far more than I could possibly hope to achieve. Nothing wrong with aiming high, but perhaps I should be aiming more for a beach view and a bit of R & R. 

The Undercover academic is a university lecturer in the UK