A variety of funding sources are available to assist in financing research training. Such grants are usually required to implement and sustain an active research program. It is helpful if one can acquire background in education methods and theory in preparation for an academic career. For those interested in administration, formal training in managerial skills is beneficial. A degree in public administration, an MBA, or similar training is helpful.
Most academic positions are full-time and lead to a tenured position.
The last two generally are associated with tenure, conferring some degree of job security. Alternately, faculty may be appointed to fixed-term positions. A contract is negotiated for a given number of years and may or may not be renewed depending on the needs of the institution. Those appointments usually do not require productivity in all dimensions required of a tenure track position. One may concentrate almost exclusively on teaching or research.