Faculty Development at Community Colleges in U.S. Rural Contexts

Abstract

Hundreds of community colleges exist in rural contexts across the United States, yet we know little about the work and career development of the thousands of faculty employed at such institutions. Through a review of current literature, this article demonstrates how faculty at rural community colleges encounter specific factors in their professorial development because of these rural contexts in which their home institutions reside. From that literature, one can determine that factors playing a role in rural community college faculty development include (a) isolation and institution size, (b) multiple and multifaceted roles, (c) joy of working and engaging with students, (d) recruitment and retention of women faculty and faculty of color, and (d) recruitment and retention of academically qualified individuals. From those literature review findings, policy and practice recommendations around rural community college faculty are provided, such as creating and enhancing professional development opportunities and increasing recruitment and retention efforts for women faculty and faculty of color. In order to contribute more knowledge to supporting the development of rural community college-based faculty members, this article ends with future research ideas.