UNSW showcases Education Focussed success to more than 50 global universities

Professor Anne Simmons and Associate Professor Cath Ellis have travelled to the Royal Academy of Engineering in London to present on the successful introduction of our new Education Focused career pathway.

Over 50 universities, including Harvard and MIT, attended the two-day event that culminated in the launch of the Academy’s new Career Framework for University Teaching. The Framework helped inform the roles and expectations of the five different levels in our own Education Focused (EF) model and the career progression opportunities now available to an EF academic at UNSW.

“It was an honour to present our EF model to our global peers,” said Anne. “Everyone was extremely interested to learn about our journey, the process we have undertaken and the success our model has had to date.”

Since its launch in mid-2017 as part of the 2025 Strategy’s Academic Excellence program, 210 academics have moved into an EF role, representing 12% of our academic population.

Asked why our EF career pathway had been so successful, Cath explained: “Our model offers EF academics a rewarding career pathway that can take them all the way to full Professor. All EF academics are able to focus their attention on delivering a world-class educational experience for our students.”

To help with the development of their Career Framework for University Teaching, the Royal Academy of Engineering partnered with 15 universities in 12 countries. Of this group, nine universities road-tested the Framework, either adopting it in full or – as was the case with UNSW – using it to guide existing plans. UNSW was one of four partner universities invited to London to present their experience and share learnings.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is keen to continue our partnership to work on a follow up study, demonstrating best practice. 

“It’s incredibly important that we work to harness the full spectrum of academic talent we have here at UNSW,” said Anne. “Our focus now is on continually improving the EF model, while nurturing and expanding our EF cohort.” If you are considering an Education-Focused career pathway, please download the Education Focused Careers Information Pack for more information on the EF model and the EOI process.