Navigating academic career identity development: a collaborative autoethnography of three tenure-track faculty

Purpose This collaborative autoethnography explores how three tenure-track faculty members, who teach both disciplinary content and research methods courses, construct and negotiate their academic career identities within the intersecting contexts of institutional expectations, disciplinary demands and broader higher education shifts. Design/methodology/approach We employ collaborative autoethnography to explore our experiences as early-career faculty at a research-intensive institution. Through reflective discussions and thematic analysis, we identify influences on career identity formation, including mentorship, institutional expectations and the intersection of teaching and research. Findings For us, mentorship shapes faculty identity, influencing confidence and career trajectories. The findings also indicate faculty roles are fluid, with teaching, research and service overlapping, especially for faculty who serve as methodologists. Further, early-career faculty experience tensions between specialization and flexibility, balancing imposter syndrome with growth, calling for better institutional recognition of the complexity of the faculty role. Originality/value This study advances faculty identity and career trajectory research by providing first-hand perspectives into tenure-track experiences. It also highlights collaborative autoethnography as a valuable method for examining faculty identity development.