Characteristics of Christian College Faculty Who Prioritize Students’ Development of Vocational Calling

Abstract

Interviews were conducted with 15 faculty members across three Christian U.S. university campuses in seeking to identify the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of faculty who had been identified by institutional leaders in the area of calling and vocation as prioritizing the development of a sense of vocational calling in their students’ lives. This study led to the identification of four personal experiences of participants and four types of interactions with students as major themes. Specifically, the four experiences that emerged during data analysis were a recognition of God’s activity in calling; an appreciation of the influence of others on their vocational choice; an understanding of calling as a process; and the perception of pressure felt by students to consider their vocational calling. Participants also reported engaging in certain types of interactions with students. In specific, they displayed an attitude of helpfulness in matters large and small, integrated their personal faith with their teaching, shared their personal stories of faith and vocational calling with their students, and promoted experiential education to their students. Each of the themes was examined in light of existing higher education research. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are presented. This study contributes to the literature related to the role of calling and vocation in the lives of college students and faculty and proposes a theory and model describing opportunities for influence by Christian college faculty on students’ development of a sense of vocational calling.