Faculty Perception of the Contribution of Start-up Packages to Professional Development

Abstract

Although it seems reasonable to assume that start-up packages are important for faculty success, the contribution of start-up packages to faculty professional development is understudied. The aim of this study was to explore how the number of benefits obtained in start-up package agreements (number of benefits), faculty satisfaction with the start-up packages (faculty satisfaction), and faculty perception if the university honored the start-up package agreements (honored packages) influenced faculty perception of the contribution of start-up packages to faculty professional development (contribution to professional development). Professional development is a planned activity that improves faculty member’s knowledge and skills that are essential to their performance. Faculty at all ranks (N = 121) from a public research university from the southeastern U.S. completed a Start-Up Package Satisfaction Survey. To measure the contribution to professional development, we asked participants to rate their level of agreement with the following statement, “My start-up package has helped me or contributed to my professional development.” Multiple mediation analyses revealed that: (1) number of benefits was positively associated with contribution to professional development, (2) both honored packages and faculty satisfaction mediated the link between number of benefits and contribution to professional development in a parallel fashion, and (3) honored packages and faculty satisfaction also sequentially mediated the link between number of benefits and contribution to professional development. The findings are valuable for university practice because they provide evidence of the importance of faculty satisfaction with start-up packages as well as faculty perception of university fair treatment and accountability.