Contrasting views of induction

This article focuses on the induction experiences of new academic staff and the roleof their head of department in this process. Respondents reflected on personalexperiences and their narratives give a fine-grained account of the same event fromtwo contrasting perspectives. We expected to find that the heads would be keyfigures in the induction process, but we discovered a more complex situation inwhich contributions were largely hidden or indirect. We encountered manycontradictions as each party recalled events. Meaningful communication had beensporadic at best, and professional and personal relationships were left undeveloped.In all cases, there was little genuine understanding of the potential of induction,and this was particularly evident in the lack of personal action displayed by thenew academics. Some heads had developed a deeper theoretical position on inductionbut few of their ideas were realized in practice. We propose that this was mainlydue to the heads’ lack of experience and because induction outcomes werenot systematically evaluated