The Professoriate in Liberal Arts Colleges: Early Career Faculty Socialization and Learning

Abstract

The majority of PhD recipients earn their degree in research universities in which the primary focus of doctoral training is on research. Yet, scholars have revealed that such training is inadequate for the myriad academic roles faculty members engage in or for the variety of institution types in which newly minted PhDs earn faculty appointments. The focus of this chapter is on the socialization of early career faculty members in liberal arts colleges (LACs). Specifically, it relies on socialization as well as and career cycles and learning frameworks applied to analysis of data from a longitudinal, mixed methods study (Initiative for Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges) to explore the applicability and extendibility of the Weidman et al. (Socialization of graduate and professional students in higher education: A perilous passage? ASHE-ERIC higher education report, 28. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED457710.pdf, 2001) socialization framework to the early career faculty experience. Findings are shared from the IFDLAC study to provide more insights into the early career faculty experience in LACs which supports an extension of the Weidman et al. socialization framework to the early career faculty experience. The chapter includes recommendations and implications on how to effectively socialize faculty into new environments.