As universities are undergoing transformations produced by trends towards marketisation, massification, new public management, and 'third mission' of socio-economic impact, higher education (HE) researchers are increasingly concerned with the implications of the HE sector change on academic practice, professional identities, and even wellbeing. This paper is situated within the complex interplay of policy incentives and governance mechanisms that appear to be resulting in the rising bifurcation and precariousness of academic careers and identities. In this context, drawing on a pilot study of 'third space' academic identities, and the methodology that combines work diaries and narrative interviews, it discusses the use(fulness) of (inter)action-, positionality-, and affect-driven methods in studying the academic identity construction. It argues that diverse methods that go beyond the usual interview- and questionnaire-based approaches are needed to better understand and support the existing and emergent academic practices and communities.