Becoming a Teacher Scholar: The Perils and Promise of Meeting the Promotion and Tenure Requirements in a Business School

Abstract

Many business schools continue to use contribution in teaching, research, and service as measures of faculty performance. There has been a long tradition of thinking of faculty as making their research contribution within a specific subdiscipline. We call these teaching and discipline scholars (TDS). However a growing number of faculty who, although they teach in a subdiscipline, are choosing to make their research contribution in the teaching and learning area. We call these persons teaching and learning scholars (TLS). A major hurdle facing TLS candidates is a promotion and tenure (P&T) system primarily designed for teaching and discipline scholars. This article takes a granular look at the typical P&T system within business schools. It proposes a way of thinking about what is typically meant by teaching ability and how it might be measured. It then discusses what is meant by research, how this definition might be applied to measure the output of TLSs and the special challenges for TLSs in having their research accepted as part of their P&T portfolio. Suggestions are provided for how the TLS may navigate the P&T process in light of these challenges.