Pixel International Conferences

The aim of the paper is to point out the moments that are associated with the beginning of the professional career of the academic staff, but there are different options permeating. It is possible to become an academic in parallel with a formal entry into a given position at the university. But what are actually perceived moments connected with the personal feeling of becoming an academic? Two cases were followed when selecting participants for this qualitative study.The first is academics who seriously considered this profession already during their studies at the university. The second case is academics whose early career at the university was influenced by other motifs and they originally did not consider it. The research method used is an in-depth interview. The specifics of the participants are their joint activities at the faculty preparing future teachers of kindergartens and elementary schools. They are, therefore, in the role of teachers of future teachers. This seems to be one of the factors that creates a strong commitment to deciding whether an academic profession is an adequate choice in this case. The results show the processes that determine the transition from other roles (such as the role of the student) to the role of the university teacher and researcher.

Keywords: University teacher, professional career, role transformation;