Enculturation into academic culture through Active Participation in Professional Conferences

Abstract

Research on academic cultures and specifically on the activity of attending conferences is sparse. The aim of this article is to describe the academic cultural activity of actively attending professional conferences and to provide novice researchers with structured guidance. The data is based on my own experiences of attending several conferences. The main goals of Active Participation in Professional Conferences (APPC) are to spread research results, gain insight from other researchers and their research, networking and, attaining merits. APPC is presented here as comprising three main phases: pre-conference preparation, on-site participation and post-conference review. In this study, APPC is viewed as an activity through which the identity of a researcher is socially constructed, involving disciplinary processes of being enculturated into the scientific culture, its norms and values.