Pre-tenure Faculty Research Articles

The Emotions of Pretenure Faculty: Implications for Teaching and Research Success

The current mixed-method study examined the emotions experienced by pretenure faculty regarding teaching and research, specifically their emotion frequency, antecedents, and relationships with perceived success. Interviews with 11 faculty identified 46 discrete emotions with the most common being enjoyment, frustration, excitement, happiness, and anxiety. A survey of 102 pretenure faculty found more enjoyment, happiness, pride, satisfaction, and relaxation regarding teaching; conversely more frustration, anxiety, worry, fear, envy, shame, loneliness, and hopelessness in research. Path analyses revealed faculty control, value, and positive/negative affect mediate the relationships of collegiality and balance with self-reported success. The results have implications for faculty development.

Seeking “better ways”: early career faculty researcher development

PurposeResearcher development is an important but underexplored topic with implications for knowledge production, graduate education, faculty development and equity in higher education. The purpose of this constructivist instrumental case study was to understand how the process of writing and publishing from qualitative dissertations sparked researcher development among two pre-tenure faculty members in higher education.Design/methodology/approachTwo researchers and seven data sources (i.e. six essays and one dialogue transcript) were used to construct the case. Researchers first inductively and independently coded the data sources. Researchers then collectively used the constant comparative technique (Charmaz, 2014) for data analysis.FindingsData analysis uncovered an iterative, three-phase process of seeking “better ways” (Evans, 2011) to translate dissertations into publications. This process included (1) recognizing one or more issues in the research design or conveyance of data, (2) rallying in a multitude of ways to seek better ways to address the issue(s) and (3) resolving the issue(s) by following internal voices and finding “better ways”.Originality/valueFindings offer implications for faculty members’ approaches to mentoring and graduate preparation, and for postdoctoral and early career scholars’ agentic approaches to publishing, teaching and reflecting on one’s own researcher development.

Prosocial behavior in the professoriate

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the relationship between college and university faculty collegiality, conceptualized as a set of prosocial behaviors, and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachA multi-level structural equation model was developed to examine the relationship between faculty collegiality and job satisfaction at the individual and institutional levels, the effects of gender and race/ethnicity, the effect of institutional type (i.e. research universities vs non-research universities), and whether institutional-level perceptions of faculty collegiality and job satisfaction influence perceptions of faculty collegiality and job satisfaction at the individual level.FindingsFaculty collegiality was highly and significantly related to job satisfaction at the individual level (0.86) and at the institutional level (0.93). At the individual level, pretenured women faculty and faculty of color indicated significantly lower levels of collegiality. At the institutional level, pretenured faculty interactions with tenured faculty colleagues were positively and significantly related to individual-level perceptions of faculty collegiality.Research limitations/implicationsStudy limitations include self-report data that were dependent upon accurate responses from faculty participants, and cross-sectional data. Future analyses could extend study findings by examining the influence of faculty collegiality upon such outcomes as faculty productivity and retention in future multi-level analyses.Practical implicationsIt is recommended that interventions be undertaken to embed prosocial behaviors into faculty research, teaching, and service activities, and to foster relationships between pretenured and tenured faculty members.Originality/valueThis paper underscores the importance of collecting nationally representative faculty data and conducting rigorous multi-level analyses to inform higher education policy and practice.

The Slow Breath to Tenure: Unwinding the University

Can we really afford the feverish pace the post-university seems to demand of us as pre-tenured faculty? Who or what does such frenetic activity ultimately serve? Without seeking recourse in romantic nostalgia, this article documents an optimistic demarcation of new chronotopic sites in the academe: "slow hours," taking time for personal journal writing, creating visual poetry. We hope our "slow breaths" on our journey to tenure will stand as invitation to our community of colleagues to also regularly partake of moments that shift the instrumental demands of productivity toward the immediacy of creative process as instances of scholarly endeavors.

Gender and Race Differences in Faculty Assessment of Tenure Clarity: The Influence of Departmental Relationships and Practices

The authors look at how the intersection of gender and race influences pretenure faculty members’ perceptions of the clarity of tenure expectations. The authors also seek to identify potential predictors (assessment of mentoring, relationships with peers, feedback on progress toward tenure, and of fairness in tenure decision making and evaluation) of perceptions of tenure clarity for four intersectionally defined groups, including historically underrepresented minority women (URMW). The authors use an intersectional perspective and the gendered and racialized organizations’ theoretical lens to interpret the results. The data set comes from the Harvard University Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education survey of tenure-track faculty job satisfaction (2011 and 2012). Bivariate results reveal no significant differences in URMW’s perceptions of tenure clarity compared with all other faculty members. However, findings show that compared with white men (WM), URMW are less satisfied with the relationships with peers and with the fairness in the evaluation of their work. Moreover, they are also less likely to agree that mentoring is effective, that tenure decisions are fair, and that messages about tenure are consistent. The multivariate results indicate that the proposed explanatory model does not explain URMW’s perceptions of clarity of tenure expectations as well as it explains white women’s and WM’s perceptions of clarity of tenure expectations.

Trauma, Harry Potter, and the Demented World of Academia

The following text presents my personal experience of psychological trauma as part of regular and ongoing processes of institutional (re)socialization into academe as a pre-tenure faculty member of color. In giving voice to this experience of trauma, the paper adopts a testimonio narrative function to highlight the shared nature of this experience even while foregrounding the uniqueness of my situation as a member of a marginalized and gendered body living in a specific geographical context and socio-political time. Though testimonio provides structure to my narrative, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels—a series about individual and collective trauma at the mortifying hands of resocializing institutions—provide an incidental, but integral, narrative lens through which I make meaning and offer advice on surviving traumatic experiences in institutional spaces.

SIGCSE 2018 new educator workshop

A successful career as a computer science educator involves more than a deep understanding of a research area. Yet many new CS educators experience relatively little educator training - and face more questions than answers, e.g., What different career-path choices do CS educators pursue? How do I choose an institution or career path that is right for me? How can I balance teaching, research, service, and a life beyond all those things? What are the balancing acts involved in working effectively with colleagues and managing the advancement and tenure process? What tips could help me organize a course, deliver engaging lectures, and build lasting relationships with students? The New Educators Workshop (NEW) is a pre-symposium event at SIGCSE 2018 that, through presentations, discussions, and small-group community building, will tackle all of these questions. NEW is designed to assist aspiring and early-career educators in exploring the non-research facets of an academic career. It will run on February 21, 2018 from 9am to 5pm, and is open to graduate students who are considering teaching-related careers, as well as pre-tenure faculty members seeking guidance and/or networking support. The 2018 NEW is one of several career-focused, SIGCSE-affiliated workshops that have served more than 200 educators over the past decade.

A Critical Co-Constructed Autoethnography of a Gendered Cross-Cultural Mentoring Between Two Early Career Latin@ Scholars Working in the Deep South

Multicultural mentoring has been suggested to support Latin@ faculty success in their careers, yet current literature on effective mentorships of Latin@ faculty is limited. This critical co-constructed autoethnography draws on critical race theory (CRT) and latin@ critical race theory (LatCrit) frameworks to highlight the lived experiences and key elements of an effective gendered cross-cultural mentoring relationship in a Latin@ pretenure faculty dyad working in a predominantly White institution of higher education located in the Deep South of the United States. Drawing upon a methodological rhythm of sorts, a Black scholar acts as a muse providing testimonios and interpretations of a relationship existing among Latin@ scholars in predominantly White intellectual spaces. Findings from this critical co-constructed autoethnography note that a safe colored space supports effective mentoring, familismo, personalismo, enabling effective cross-cultural mentorship.

Testing a Model of Pretenure Faculty Members’ Teaching and Research Success: Motivation as a Mediator of Balance, Expectations, and Collegiality

ABSTRACTWith the aim of advancing the growing research literature on faculty development, a model of pretenure faculty success in teaching and research was proposed. Building from the early-career faculty literature and self-determination theory, we hypothesized that balance, clear expectations, and collegiality predict success by supporting autonomy, competence, and relatedness that, in turn, promote intrinsic motivation and success for teaching and research. The model was evaluated using path analyses on 105 pretenure faculty members' survey responses from two research universities. With respect to teaching success, the benefits of collegiality were mediated by relatedness. For research success, the advantages of good balance were mediated by autonomy and competence. Satisfying these needs within their respective domains positively predicted intrinsic motivation that, in turn, led to greater perceived and expected success. These results have implications for both pretenure faculty development and achievement motivation research literatures, as well as institutional efforts to promote faculty development.

Pre-tenures remain survival wise: How to survive your first year in a tenure-track nursing faculty position

Objective: There are many challenges when starting a nursing tenure track position. This experience exchange paper reflects on a pre-tenured faculty member’s experience during their first year in their position in a university setting.Methods: Tips for surviving the first year of a pre-tenured faculty position using Grylls’ four survival priorities are reflected. Bear Grylls’ advice for outdoor survival adventures can be applied to academia. The survival priorities of Protection, Rescue, Shelter and Water (Food) (or Pre-tenures Remain Survival Wise) are discussed in terms of knowledge gained, development of relationships and the pursuit of opportunities and resources available.Results: It is essential to maintain a positive attitude and learn as much as possible to launch an academic career successfully. Practical tips are explored and exchanged.Conclusions: It is important contemplate in this academic survival scenario, enacting in nursing tenure-track position, the concept of the Darwinian theory of evolution. Reminding us the continued existence of organisms that are best adapted to their environment, with the extinction of others who are not. There is a need to be flexible, resourceful and open-minded when entering academic position.

'Truth and Reconciliation': A Critical Step Toward Eliminating Race and Gender Violations in Tenure Wars

We will not withhold forgiveness Even from those who do not ask. (1) INTRODUCTION Women and other underrepresented groups have fought valiantly to render legal education inclusive regardless of one's race or gender. Clashing with a status quo denying access to individuals in underrepresented groups, they battled first just to gain admission to law schools as students and then to be admitted to the Bar. (2) The struggle continued as they also sought to be hired on the permanent faculty at various institutions. (3) After securing faculty appointments, candidates from underrepresented groups have continued to wage tenure wars for decades, just for their survival in the academy. (4) They confront many obstacles, (5) including inconsistent application of rules and requirements, (6) micro-aggressions, (7) and overt hostilities (8) to their successes. In other words, individuals from underrepresented groups appear to be in a war to obtain tenure and otherwise succeed at their institutions. (9) While it has been said that, All is fair in love and even in war there are rules of engagement. (10) Therefore, in tenure wars, rules apply too. (11) Actually, the American Bar Association requires law schools to employ clear rules of engagement in tenure evaluations, (12) akin to how the United Nations collectively prescribes rules of war between nation states as well as punishes violations committed on the battlefield. (13) When innocent nations are attacked by illegal acts of aggression, a coalition of the willing allies within the United Nations defends against the aggression. (14) Unfortunately tenure candidates from underrepresented groups may find themselves at schools lacking such a coalition of willing allies to defend against aggression inflicted upon them. (15) The war-like attacks during tenure bids appear to be part of a battle to maintain the racial and gender status quo of underrepresentation in the academy. (16) This resemblance to war-like assaults compelled Professor Kupenda to compare the tenure bid for women and other underrepresented groups as requiring war-like strategies in response. In Academic War Strategies for Nonviolent Armies of One, Professor Kupenda utilized lessons learned from unsuccessful military war efforts to explore how pre-tenured faculty, especially those from underrepresented groups, could improve their chances of success by seeing their preparation and application for tenure as a war-like effort. (17) Employing tactical strategies similar to those suggested by Kupenda (18) and others, (19) many have fought for tenure one decision at a time. Slowly, faculty tenure victories have increased the diversity of law faculty and brought more diverse voices into legal education. (20) Through many tenure victories, faculty from underrepresented groups confronted various discriminatory violations (21) of the rules and surmounted struggles with gender and/or racial inequality. Just as the country adding a person of color to a high position does not make the country itself post-racial, similarly, the ivory tower is not automatically made post-racial with the addition of some faculty from underrepresented groups. While a given minority warrior may obtain tenure despite a bloody institutional war, obtaining tenure for this person does not mean that the academy, or her institution, is now welcoming. Actually, racial and gender tensions within the legal academy generally, and within legal educational institutions more specifically, continue to linger. (22) Therefore, in this Article, the co-authors confront one of the next generation issues for underrepresented groups in legal education: what happens after tenure victories, especially for the victors in a war wrought with gender and racial inequities? Even if all is fair in love, war, and tenure battles, it remains most troubling when, even in this century, acts of racial and/or gender aggression are targeted at qualified tenure candidates. …

Settling in: The Role of Individual and Departmental Tactics in the Development of New Faculty Networks

Network formation is a key element of newcomer socialization; however, little is understood about how newcomer networks are formed in higher education. Drawing on a series of interviews with 34 new pre-tenure faculty members, we propose that just as individual and organizational socialization tactics interactively influence newcomer adjustment (Gruman, Saks, & Zweig, 2006), so too will they affect new faculty experiences with network formation. Our findings support this proposal; that is, individual employee characteristics, the practices of specific departments within the larger university, and the interaction between the two, create different degrees of network integration for faculty. Further, we find that in the context of university departments, organizational tactics may have a more significant effect on network development (and potentially other socialization outcomes) than those that stem from the individual. Building upon these findings, we also identify factors that facilitate new faculty network development and use these factors to suggest practical guidance for universities striving to enhance new faculty integration.

The Pre-Tenure Years: Survive, Succeed, and Thrive

Pre-tenure faculty members often find it stressful and difficult to determine the best path to academic success in their new institution. This article offers an assessment, advice, and a perspective on the early stages of an academic career. Although there are variations in the types of institutions, programs, and departments, there are also similarities. Academic administrators and colleagues may be somewhat vague in their description of the expectations that they have for new hires. Nonetheless, engaging in research and publishing, good teaching, and relevant service are important. While sensitivity to the environment can help junior faculty develop an appropriate strategy, a commitment to research is essential.

Co-mentoring: The Iterative Process of Learning about Self and “Becoming” Leaders

Two pre-tenured faculty members at dissimilar institutions found themselves in similar positions – both were assigned to administrative positions that they did not seek. This self-study is an investigation of their processes of becoming leaders and how they aligned and/or conflicted with their espoused beliefs. A review of the literature that guided them is also included. Throughout the process, the two served as co-mentors for each other as they navigated the unfamiliar territory of educational leadership at the university level. Together, they strove to remain committed to shared ideals of democratic practice, transparency, and collaboration. As evidenced in the data, tensions existed as they learned and performed their new roles. Administrative duties and their enactment at times conflicted with their ideals of effective leadership. Electronic journals kept throughout the process were the main data source, which they then revisited to chart their own and each other’s learning and growth while leading. Looking back at their progression, they were able to identify four iterative phases in their development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Discussions of each phase, with examples, are focal points of the study. The co-mentoring model is one that, while not typically or formally used, was shown to be effective for these two new leaders. Leading each other’s learning helped them align ideals of leading (in teaching and scholarship) with traditional ideas of administration (management tasks and leadership enactments). This study provides clear recommendations for new leaders and those who support them in becoming leaders.

A Conceptual Model of Professional Socialization within Student Affairs Graduate Preparation Programs

Prior research exploring professional socialization in student affairs has been grounded in models that do not fully capture the distinct features of the field. Moreover, these studies have primarily focused on the transition into full-time work positions, and they have captured what happens to new professionals rather than how individuals understand their socialization experiences. With these gaps in mind, this conceptual paper presents a new model of professional socialization in student affairs graduate preparation programs that draws upon literature in the helping professions (i.e., nursing, social work), research on doctoral students and pre-tenure faculty, and the theoretical frameworks of sensemaking and self-authorship to highlight the dynamic relationship between individuals and organizations during the socialization process. Specifically, this model attempts to illuminate the cognitive mechanisms that undergird how individuals interpret their professional socialization. In doing so, the model proposes different ways individuals may make sense of their student affairs graduate training experiences based on (a) whether or not they encounter discrepancies and (b) their developmental capacity for self-authorship. The conceptual model presented here has implications for shaping graduate level coursework and fieldwork within student affairs preparation programs.

Settling In: The Role of Individual and Departmental Tactics in the Development of New Faculty Networks

Network formation is a key element of newcomer socialization; however, little is understood about how newcomer networks are formed in higher education. Drawing on a series of interviews with 34 new pre-tenure faculty members, we propose that just as individual and organizational socialization tactics interactively influence newcomer adjustment (Gruman, Saks, & Zweig, 2006), so too will they affect new faculty experiences with network formation. Our findings support this proposal; that is, individual employee characteristics, the practices of specific departments within the larger university, and the interaction between the two, create different degrees of network integration for faculty. Further, we find that in the context of university departments, organizational tactics may have a more significant effect on network development (and potentially other socialization outcomes) than those that stem from the individual. Building upon these findings, we also identify factors that facilitate new faculty network development and use these factors to suggest practical guidance for universities striving to enhance new faculty integration.

Five ways to support interdisciplinary work before tenure

Academic institutions often claim to promote interdisciplinary teaching and research. Prescriptions for successfully engaging in interdisciplinary efforts, however, are usually directed at the individuals doing the work rather than the institutions evaluating them for the purpose of tenure and promotion. Where institutional recommendations do exist, they are often general in nature and lacking concrete guidance. Here, we draw on our experiences as students and faculty participating in three interdisciplinary water resource management programs in the USA to propose five practices that academic institutions can adopt to effectively support interdisciplinary work. We focus on reforms that will support pre-tenure faculty because we believe that an investment in interdisciplinary work early in one’s career is both particularly challenging and seldom rewarded. Recommended reforms include (1) creating metrics that reward interdisciplinary scholarship, (2) allowing faculty to “count” teaching and advising loads in interdisciplinary programs, (3) creating a “safe fail” for interdisciplinary research proposals and projects, (4) creating appropriate academic homes for interdisciplinary programs, and (5) rethinking “advancement of the discipline” as a basis for promotion and tenure.

Taking an Attention‐Grabbing “Headlines First!” Approach to Engage Students in a Lecture Setting

AbstractLet's face it. Traditional lectures do not consistently capture our students’ attention, especially when they are PowerPoint‐driven and lack student/instructor interaction. Most of us have had the unfortunate feeling that our students were not fully engaged in our lectures, despite hours of preparation on our part. This sense of “wasted” investment of time can be especially frustrating for pretenure faculty, who must balance teaching, research, extension and administrative (as well as personal) responsibilities in order to be successful. How can we engage students in our course content, given limited time and resources to prepare lecture material and demonstrations? Active learning strategies are a possibility, but shifting courses from a lecture format to problem‐based learning or a flipped format requires a significant time and effort investment from the instructor. Why not start by making lecture more fun and engaging for our students? Storytelling is an effective and efficient means of getting and maintaining our students’ attention and interest during lecture to drive home key points. The BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) 5E Instructional Model provides a conceptual framework that emphasizes the primacy of student engagement in science education (Bybee). Our goal here is to provide practical examples and external references to show how “Headlines First!” storytelling can be used effectively to engage students in the science classroom.

Straddling Cultures, Identities, and Inconsistencies: Voices of Pre-Tenure Faculty of Color in Educational Leadership

Drawing on the notions of biculturalism, or double consciousness, and hybridity, this qualitative study explored how 12 pre-tenure faculty of color (FOC) in the field of educational leadership working at universities in the United States negotiated their self-identified cultural identities within their predominantly White departments. Results indicated that participants were more bicultural in nature than they were in self-authoring a new hybrid identity. Nonetheless, bicultural skills equipped FOC with a better sense of how to help their departments critically examine and move beyond White-dominant notions of educational leadership preparation to more culturally responsive approaches.

The role of mentoring relationships in counseling programs

Purpose – The goals of a mentoring relationship are important to the development of mentees. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the specific needs of students and junior faculty in counseling programs. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a psychological phenomenological research approach to understand the role and significance of a mentor and the mentoring relationship. In this qualitative research study, pre-tenured faculty, doctoral- and master’s-level students in counselor education programs in the USA were interviewed (n=30), to explore the mentorship needs. Findings – In the study, the authors identified 28 codes that emerged from the participants’ lived experiences, which then were organized into seven meta-codes. The seven meta-codes were: relationship between mentor and mentee; communication style or patterns; preferred gender of mentor; introduction to the relationship; mentee needs; mentee benefits; and experiences as a mentee. Originality/value – In the paper, the authors sought to explore the mentoring needs of students and junior faculty in counselor education programs and how these needs can begin to be addressed effectively.