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Teaching as a Postdoctoral Scholar

The postdoctoral period is a pivotal stage in your academic career. It is a time of intensive research training, professional growth, and preparation for the next stage of your career. For many postdoctoral scholars (postdocs), that preparation likely involves some aspects of teaching, whether in a faculty position in a university setting or in an industry position that requires mentoring and communication skills. 

Yet teaching development can be challenging to pursue during the postdoc years. It is often regarded as something to pursue if time allows, rather than as a deliberate part of professional development. It is important to note, however, that postdocs who engage in teaching development as part of their fellowships show no significant differences in publication rates or research productivity compared to those who do not; in some cases, postdocs who engaged in a structured teaching development program have shown to secure faculty positions at a greater rate than those in a national sample (Rybarczyk et al., 2011). 

In general, teaching development has often shown to lead to positive outcomes such as finding a community of peer support, gaining increased teaching confidence and self-efficacy, and developing an awareness in evidence-based pedagogy (Haley et al., 2018; McAlpine et al., 2017; Nowell et al., 2018). Teaching experience, in other words, does not cost you your research career. Rather, it enriches it. 

This guide is designed to help you navigate the landscape of identifying and building teaching experiences during your postdoctoral period. It covers how to align teaching opportunities with your career goals, how to manage competing responsibilities, where to find teaching experiences, how to recognize the teaching you are already doing, and how to document your growth as an educator. Read on to learn more about practical tips and strategies you can adapt and apply to your own context.

Cover page titled “Teaching as a Postdoctoral Scholar,” featuring an overhead photo of four people standing in a circular architectural space with curved walls and a light‑colored floor. Rutgers–New Brunswick Institute for Teaching, Innovation, and Inclusive Pedagogy logo appears at the bottom.

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References 

  • Haley, K. J., Hudson, T. D., & Jaeger, A. J. (2018). Career coherence, agency, and the postdoctoral scholar. In A. J. Jaeger, & A. J. Dinin (Eds.), The Postdoc landscape: The invisible scholars (pp. 121-142). Academic Press.
  • McAlpine, L., Wilson, N., Turner, G., Saunders, S., & Dunn, B. (2017). How might we better design support for postdocs?.
    International Journal for Academic Development, 22(4), 375-379.
  • McGugan, S. A. (2013). Academic development through teaching: A study into the experiences of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers (Publication No. 13835955) [Doctoral dissertation, The Open University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
  • Nowell, L., Ovie, G., Berenson, C., Kenny, N., & Hayden, K. A. (2018). Professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars: a systematic review of the literature. Education Research International, 2018(1), 1-16.
  • Rybarczyk, B., Lerea, L., Lund, P. K., Whittington, D., & Dykstra, L. (2011). Postdoctoral training aligned with the academic professoriate. BioScience, 61(9), 699-705.