Technical Staff as Partners
Part of the Technical Careers Resource Hub
Explore videos and resources that improve collaboration between technicians and academics, and information on how to create a central hub for technical opportunities.
Two projects within the Career Pathways Action Group (CPAG) explored the benefits of empowering technical professionals to consider how they collaborate with stakeholders and other partners.
Working with Academics
Collaboration between technical professionals and academic colleagues can be complex, with common challenges including clarifying expectations, valuing technical expertise appropriately, and creating effective ways of working. The team behind this project has created a practical toolkit designed to support technical professionals in navigating these challenges with greater confidence and clarity.
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Project title: Working with Academics
Collaboration between: The Institute of Cancer Research, Oxford University, London South Bank University, and Queen Mary University London
Challenge: Technical staff and academics often work together reactively, responding to immediate needs rather than engaging in structured, forward-looking collaboration.
Approach: The team conducted a national survey to understand the challenges technical and academic staff face when collaborating, to identify their needs and improve collaborative working. Three key themes emerged: setting expectations, respect and recognition, and inclusive collaboration and engagement.
Outcomes: The toolkit is designed to improve communication and collaboration between academics and technical staff, addressing real gaps in research culture and project alignment.
Impact: Direct feedback from users has highlighted that the toolkit has given technical staff more agency, and that the resources help with accountability and setting clearer expectations.
Lessons learnt: Cultural change is dependent on support at multiple levels, whether it is line manger engagement or institutional support, ongoing conversations across all levels is crucial. Taking small steps has helped technicians build confidence (whether that’s by empowering technicians to start conversations or try new approaches) and encourages more collaborative habits over time.
Technical Staff as Partners: Strengthening Collaboration Through Conversation
A short video featuring technical and academic staff sharing practical insights on building effective, respectful, and collaborative working relationships based on their personal experience.
Enhancing Collaboration Between Technical Staff and Academics: A Conversation Toolkit
The toolkit brings together accessible resources, including:
- A conversation toolkit with structured prompts and downloadable cards to encourage open and inclusive dialogue.
- Expectation-setting guidance with role clarity tools.
- Email templates to support productive conversations at the early stages of a project.
- Real-world case studies and a video that showcase positive examples of inclusive practice led by technical staff and successful technical-academic partnerships.
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Access the resources that feature in the ‘Enhancing collaboration between technical staff and academics: a conversation toolkit’ directly.
Creating a Hub for Technical Opportunities
Technical staff often face significant barriers to development, from limited visibility of progression routes to restricted access to opportunities. This project tackles this directly, using a dedicated hub to generate, advertise, and centralise development opportunities for technicians. By making the process more visible and accessible, it aims to break down siloed working practices and foster greater collaboration across institutions.
Read more about this project:
Project title: Creating a Hub for Technical Opportunities
Collaboration between: University of Salford, University of Durham, King’s College London, British Geological Survey, and ITSS.
Challenge: There are many barriers preventing technicians from personal improvement including, visibility of progression routes, lack of funding, and accessibility of development opportunities.
Approach: The project’s aim is to enhance technical development opportunities provision, by creating an accessible, web-based information hub. This hub provides greater access to development activities for technicians, with the aim of breaking down siloed working practices across institutions.
Outcomes: Across our project institutes and partnered professional bodies we have created eighteen development opportunities.
Impact: 12 development opportunities were taken by technicians, with 100% of technicians recommending the opportunity in a survey, highlighting the benefits of attending development activities to upskill themselves and institutional practices.
Lessons learnt: More effort should be made to share developmental opportunities across regional institutions to break down logistical barriers. A central hub will increase opportunity visibility and lead to greater access to developmental activities.
Technical Opportunities (TOP) experience
In this video, Helen, a technician at the University of Salford, shares her positive experiences and professional development from participating in the Technical Opportunities programme at the British Geological Survey.
Technical Opportunities (TOP) hosting experience
In this short video David shares his experience of hosting a TOP development opportunity at British Geological Survey.
Technical Opportunities (TOP) Report: Changing the Culture Around Career Development
This report outlines how the TOP (technical opportunities) pilot project aims to transform the culture surrounding technician career development across higher education by increasing visibility, accessibility and diversity of development opportunities. Through collaboration between multiple universities and professional bodies, the project created a shared hub offering job shadowing, mentoring and specialist workshops to the technical community.
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