Being a Higher Education Professional Today: Working in a Third Space

This section not only provides a snapshot of the contemporary professional workforce in higher education, but also aims to identify emergent trends and indicators in relation to roles and identities, collectively and individually. To introduce the range of perspectives that follow, this chapter reviews current thinking about what it means to be a professional in higher education today, including a converging relationship with academic roles and identities, and illustrates ways in which higher education professionals are pushing the boundaries of their domains. Key themes that emerge in the chapters that follow are the fluidity of identity, a sense of transition and “work-in-progress” as new fields of practice evolve, and issues around building confidence and recognition, particularly for staff working between professional and academic domains