Advice for autistic people considering a career in academia

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Jones, S. C. (2023). Advice for autistic people considering a career in academia. Autism, 27(7), 2187-2192. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231161882

Journal or book title
Autism
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
27
Issue
7
Pages
2187-2192
Publication date: 23 Mar 2023 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Sandra C. Jones *

Abstract

Academia is underpinned by an apprenticeship model, with increasing recognition of the need for a ‘cognitive apprenticeship’ model in which the methods and strategies of academic success are learnt through participation in a community of inquiry. Autistic people face systemic barriers in academia, as in other professions, and these may be exacerbated by a model based on learning by observing and modelling. This study sought to obtain specific practical advice for autistic people considering a career in academia, from the perspective of those already working within the academy. Thirty-seven autistic academics provided written reflections on the advice they would give a young person considering a career in academia. Five key themes were generated from these reflections: know the role, find the right people, know (and value) yourself, remember well-being and proceed with caution but with passion. Lay abstract One of the recognised strengths of autistic people is their ability to absorb and retain large amounts of information; autistic children and adolescents are often described as ‘little professors’. So, is the life of a university researcher or teacher the ideal career for an autistic person? In this study, 37 autistic people working in universities and colleges provide advice to young people considering a future career as an academic. They emphasise the importance of understanding the complexities and requirements of the role, understanding and valuing yourself and your strengths, and finding the right people to work with and learn from. They also discuss the importance of maintaining a balance between work and well-being, and between caution and passion. The life of an academic can be ideally suited to an autistic person, but it can also be very challenging.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 07:51.

Cited references
28
With a DOI
28
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
0
4 / 28 (14.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 28 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
28 / 28 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
0
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
91
From DOI or external metadata
91
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
52 / 91 (57.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 39 / 91 (42.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
11 / 91 (12.1%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 11 / 52 (21.2%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 10 / 84 (11.9%).
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