Sinking or swimming in the deep end? Developing professional academic identities as doctoral students chairing large classes

Much of the burden of undergraduate teaching in Australian higher education institutions falls to sessional staff and postgraduate students. These members of staff assume high teaching loads and administrative management responsibilities. This paper explores the perspectives of two female academics in the unique position of being the subject co–ordinators for large first–year psychology units (around 1600 students) whilst still being doctoral (PhD) candidates. This situation raises interesting issues around the creation of academic identity. Using the metaphor of sinking or swimming in the deep end, we explore strategies to navigate the often turbulent waters of working in academia without drowning in teaching and administration, whilst attempting to stay afloat with doctoral research.