4Ps for building a career in the universities

Inspired by the 4Ps of Marketing, here is my version of the 4P model to help individuals identify the best universities to work for. While some criteria may be specific to private universities, most would apply to all kinds.

1. PEOPLE

a. Investor profile: Valid in the case of privately-funded universities, it is essential to know the company’s history and financial health and the background of the investors who have funded the university.

b. Founder profile/s: Knowing the founders’ motivation to start an institution can tell you a lot about how a university functions. Note that not every founder is driven by the purpose of creating impact through education.

c. Faculty profiles: Study the backgrounds of the faculty affiliated with the university, their educational backgrounds, institutions they have studied at, number of years of experience, their research areas and publications, and number of years they have been affiliated with the university.

d. Student profiles: The students will be the primary beneficiaries of your teaching and mentoring. Knowing the demographics of students, the board of their K-12 education, UG degrees etc., helps you evaluate your fit better.

e. Alumni profiles: The career pathways of alums are an excellent measure of how the university ensures industry or entrepreneurship readiness in students.

f. Advisory Board: A university needs guidance to navigate toward its mission. The Advisory Board serves this purpose. Thus, the profile of board members provides an external validation of the university’s vision.

2. PLACE

a. Clear Vision & Clean Purpose: A well-defined and well-practiced vision acts as a guiding star for the institution. The degree of future orientation of a university can be assessed based on the university’s focus areas in the present situation.

b. Work Culture: Culture underpins all the elements of a work set-up. Universities that are student and faculty-centered provide a good balance of teaching, research, and administrative workloads. Faculties are given autonomy, and they feel empowered to navigate their aspirations. Talking to existing faculties about their experiences is always helpful.

c. Practices and Malpractices: Teaching and mentoring is and should always be a clean profession. It is very unfortunate to see some (or many) universities use unclean (unethical) ways to publish papers or forge documents to accelerate their accreditation paths to get the best rankings. It is important to do a dip-stick check on the authenticity of the research work produced by the university.

d. Campus Vibe: A large and peaceful campus with state-of-the-art infrastructure boosts the learning for students and provides an unhindered environment for faculty to focus on their research. A visit to the university campus will help clear out many apprehensions.

e. University Rankings: Working in top-ranked universities has several advantages, the most significant being getting research grants. The brand value of such universities definitely aids the positioning of the faculties. However, a higher rank may not always imply a great workplace.

3. PRODUCT

a. Academic Programs: The type and the number of programs offered by the university and their performance indicate the goals of the universities. The nature of programs offered should be mapped to the experience and extent of the faculty pool. An extensive menu of courses without an optimum number of relevant faculties may imply demand creation for revenue generation rather than true educational value transmission.

b. Student Intake: The number of students in a university has direct implications on teaching and learning. Faculties in universities, where the founders are driven by the need to maximize their return on investment and, therefore, control costs, may feel burnt out due to a higher number of teaching hours and mentoring large numbers of students in a class.

c. Research outcomes: The quality and quantity of the research papers are key metrics to assess their research performance. However, most universities are driven by the volume of publications since they aim to showcase substantial evidence to the accreditation bodies. Very few universities imbibe the culture of research for creating a genuine impact on individuals, society, business, or the environment.

4. PROMOTION

a. Website: The information on the website and its appeal can be both leading and misleading for the viewers. Since most of the traffic on the website is parents and students, “Jo dikhta hain, wo bikta hain” is the underlying principle. However, it is also a source of critical information for a prospective faculty member.

b. Social Media: Social media profile provides a broader perspective of several aspects of a university. Information about events, guest talks by industry stalwarts, research publications, student achievements, and similar information helps develop an impression of the workplace. Do visit the LinkedIn profiles of a few faculty members to get some idea about their work, motivations, and aspirations.

c. Academic Events: Faculty participation and representation in highly recognized conferences, editorial boards of reputed journals, and industry forums suggest the university’s positioning in the external world.

P.S. The views expressed above are truly personal and have been articulated based on my short experience with academia for the past six years.