Healthy nursing doctoral programs: relationship between perceptions of the academic environment and productivity of faculty and alumni.

Abstract

Indicators of the environment of doctoral programs in nursing were examined in relationship to productivity. Student and faculty perceptions of the academic program environment were correlated with outcome measures of productivity for both faculty and alumni. Twenty-five of the 29 eligible doctoral programs in nursing participated in the study; results are based on the responses of 326 faculty, 659 students, and 296 alumni. Environmental and productivity indicators were primarily measured by the Graduate Program Self-Assessment (GPSA) instruments developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) for studying dimensions of quality in doctoral education. Significant relationships were found between faculty perceptions of the environment's scholarly excellence, available resources, and student commitment and motivation and faculty productivity. Students consistently viewed the environment more positively when greater percentages of the faculty were at the associate, rather than the assistant, professor level. There was minimal relationship between faculty and student perceptions of the environment and alumni productivity.