Beyond doctoral completions: researcher development expectations for promotion to associate professor in Australian universities

To reach the position of associate professor in Australian universities through internal promotion, aspiring academics need to demonstrate specific experience, knowledge and skills typically associated with teaching, research and service. Within the research component, beyond quantifying attainment of higher degree by research student completions, the researcher development role that is expected to achieve promotion to associate professor has been given limited scrutiny in the extant research. Little is known about the prevalence of articulation of this researcher development role, or the scope and nature of the expected role for associate professors in Australian university frameworks and documents associated with promotion. This is problematic given that aspirants to the associate professor role need promotion clarity in order to mount a successful case for promotion. To address these research gaps, expectations for this academic level were identified in Australian university documents supporting level D promotion and subject to a hybrid approach to content analysis. Expectations beyond completions were articulated in the majority of cases (78.3%), and the role was found to be broad and diverse across the sample, reflecting both traditional and emerging research priorities. This article contributes to a promotion clarity agenda, while also highlighting implications for future research.