Promotion and tenure in nursing education: Lessons learned

Abstract

Current nursing faculty spend part of their careers in service settings before they move to the academic milieu. The promotion and tenure of process may not be familiar to novice nurse educators prior to their entry into the academy. Fewer nursing academics successfully achieve tenure than other disciplines outside of allied health. These low numbers have been attributed to underperformance in the domain of scholarship by these female professionals socialized to practice and service. This article explains the essential components of the tripartite process necessary for achieving success in the promotion and tenure process. The authors draw on their own experiences and that of their colleagues locally and nationally to demystify this career path. Intended as a primer on the promotion and tenure process for new nurse educators the article concludes with eight bulleted admonitions and commentary to inform and streamline successful achievement of career goals.