Fostering new and emerging researchers in vocational education: Insights from a peer-led initiative
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Authors
Dalgety, A.
Cameron, Kristie
Cameron, Kristie
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2025-12
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Conference Contribution - Oral Presentation
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New Zealand
institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs)
vocational teachers as authors
early career researchers
teacher capacity building
professional development
vocational education
mentoring in education
research and development partnerships
institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs)
vocational teachers as authors
early career researchers
teacher capacity building
professional development
vocational education
mentoring in education
research and development partnerships
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Dalgety, A., & Cameron, K.E. (2025, December, 1-5). Fostering new and emerging researchers in vocational education: Insights from a peer-led initiative [Paper presentation]. TP Rangahau & Research Symposium 2025 + OPSITARA 2025, New Zealand
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/7147
Abstract
Tertiary vocational education often prioritises practical training over research activity, despite the requirement for those teaching on degree programmes to be active researchers impacting community and industry. In these contexts, emerging and early career researchers experience a lack of support and mentorship, and opportunities to develop their research capability. Many have entered academia with extensive industry experience; transitioning from professional careers (e.g., nursing, trades, the arts), and working alongside researchers that have followed traditional academic routes. While industry professionals bring extensive practical expertise, a strength of the ITP sector, research is often perceived as an “add-on” rather than as fundamental to the role. Time pressures, heavy teaching loads, and a limited institutional focus on research further constrain research activity, creating challenges in developing research confidence and capability.
CRAFT (Community of Researchers of Applied and Future-Focused Training) was established as a forum to start to address this gap for emerging and early career researchers across ITPs. The aim is to create a supportive network that connects academics together; and to governance structures such as internal research offices and the Royal Society Te Apārangi Early Career Researcher Forum.
This presentation documents the formation and design of CRAFT, including structure, formats, and tools, and the meaning behind the name. It reflects upon engagement and participation, and the potential future benefits such as establishing peer support, building research confidence, publication support, and discipline-specific networking. We discuss the strengths of establishing a digital profile and the use of webinars as a source of connectivity. Furthermore, the challenges relating to variable institutional support and inconsistent expectations within and between institutions about research activity and their definitions of ECR’s and the pressures inherent to vocational research pathways are foci for providing strategies for improvement.
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