A comparative study of occupational stress among African American and white university faculty: A research note

This paper is a comparison of levels of occupational stress among African American and white college and university faculty members in U.S. institutions. Using survey data collected from a national sample of faculty, an analysis of reported occupational stress levels was undertaken to determine if issues raised in previous research regarding extra-academic assignments given to African American faculty limits their access to the more traditional faculty roles, creating pressure to perform in ways not expected of white faculty. To test these assertions, scales measuring stress from teaching, research, and service activities were constructed for African American and white faculty from a larger faculty stress index. Results of the analysis indicate that African American faculty report generally higher levels of occupational stress than their white counterparts, especially in the areas of research and service activities.     

Peer Coaching: Professional Development for Experienced Faculty

The professoriate, as a whole, is growing older and more experienced; yet institutions often overlook the professional development needs of mid-career and senior faculty. This article, based on a review of the literature and the development of a peer coaching project, examines peer coaching as a professional development opportunity for experienced faculty that meets many of their immediate needs and offers a variety of longer-term benefits to their institution. Six recommendations for creating a peer coaching program emerge from the literature and the authors’ experience.

Correlates of Work-Life Balance for Faculty Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Very few studies have examined issues of work-life balance among faculty of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Utilizing data from Harvard University’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education project, this study examined predictors of work-life balance for 2953 faculty members from 69 institutions. The final sample consisted of 1059 (36%) Asian American faculty, 512 (17%) African American faculty, 359 (12%) Latina/o faculty, and 1023 (35%) White/Caucasian faculty. There were 1184 (40%) women faculty and 1769 (60%) men faculty. The predictors of worklife balance included faculty characteristics, departmental/institutional characteristics and support, and faculty satisfaction with work. While African American women faculty reported less work-life balance than African American men, the reverse was true for Latina/o faculty. In addition, White faculty who were single with no children were significantly less likely to report having work-life balance than their married counterparts with children. Faculty rank was a significant positive predictor of work-life balance for all faculty. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of department and institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible. Institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible was consistently the strongest positive predictor of perceived work-life balance for all faculty. In addition, satisfaction with time spent on research had positive associations with work-life balance for all faculty, highlighting how faculty from all racial/ethnic backgrounds value being able to spend enough time on their own research.     

Institutional characteristics and faculty/administrator perceptions of outcomes: An exploratory analysis

Linkages between faculty/administrator perceptions of student outcomes and selected institutional characteristics were examined using data drawn from a survey of 320 four-year institutions and the HEGIS database. A particular focus of the study was to investigate the contribution of institutional culture variables on perceptions of effectiveness, independent of more traditional institutional characteristics such as size, type, selectivity, and control. Independent effects were established for perceptions of student satisfaction and student personal development, but were not demonstrated for student academic development or student career development. The study also confirmed relationships between institutional culture and faculty/administrator perceptions of a number of educational process variables generally held to be linked to student outcomes, for example, the frequency of student/faculty contact and the degree to which information and feedback are valued in decision making. Results suggest that institutional culture may be a powerful determinant of perceived effectiveness regardless of its structural setting.     

Literature review: the gap between mentoring theory and practice for diverse women faculty

Mentoring remains a beneficial resource for faculty career advancement. Yet, women faculty across African, Latinx, Asian, and Native American Diasporas often report their career advancement needs are unfulfilled by mentors. As a result, a gap exists between mentoring theory and practical application in higher education. Some scholars identified one factor contributing to this gap is Caucasian mentors not addressing faculty gendered and ethnic intersectional identity and the implications of that identity in the professoriate. Also, mentoring literature discussions omit the importance of facilitating learning, particularly when exploring the needs of women faculty across ethnic groups. I explored the gap between the proposed functions of mentoring and the challenges of cross-cultural mentoring and learning as a component of mentoring. The aim is to bridge the gap between theory and practice by providing readers with key mentor behaviors identified in qualitative and quantitative research that facilitate learning.     

Academic ideologies and styles of research among academic researchers

This article focuses on the extent to which styles of research could account for academic ideologies, concerning both faculty and student affairs, among academic researchers in sociology, psychology, political science, and education. The hypothesis maintains that researchers in all four fields who favor styles of research which compete successfully are likely to take a conservative attitude toward student and faculty affairs. In contrast, researchers who favor styles of research which compete less successfully are likely to take an attitude favoring changes. The results confirm the hypothesis mainly among faculty in psychology and very little among faculty in other fields. The data are based on a secondary analysis of data collected by Ladd and Lipset in their 1975 Survey of the American Professoriate.     

Socrates: The First Professor

History provides us with many heroes after whom we can model our actions. The professoriate has its own historical figures who may be called heroic professors. This article proposes Socrates as an archetype of the heroic professor. An analysis of the career, character, and teaching methods of Socrates is used to identify essential qualities which define the professoriate. Further, the example of Socrates can inform and inspire our teaching today.     

Retired professors and professional activity: A comparative study of three types of institutions

This study compares the professional activities of retired professors from liberal arts colleges, a comprehensive university, and a major research university. Results show that a large majority of faculty continue to perform professional roles and that strength of ties to colleagues and professional organizations outside the institution are correlated with professional activity at all types of institutions. Major differences among institutions are: (1) liberal arts college and research university faculty show consistency between pre- and postretirement professional activity levels, whereas comprehensive university faculty do not; (2) university faculty show higher levels of participation in a number of professional activities than do liberal arts college faculty; (3) rated importance of research or other creative work is related to professional activity for comprehensive university faculty and rated importance of consulting and university service are related to professional activity for research university faculty.     

Culture and identity in higher education research

The aim of this article is to develop a cultural approach in higher education studies. It will be argued that the cultural approach is rooted mainly in two different intellectual starting points to analyze academic communities as cultural entities: studies of disciplinary cultures and institutional cultures. Notions of disciplines as cultural entities have been developed in Europe in relation to the two cultures topic and to issues developed in the sociology of knowledge. The institutional studies tradition is, in turn, rooted in the American intellectual tradition, where cultural concerns emerge from institutional level phenomena whether they concern students, faculty or higher education institutions. The article discusses the pros and cons of these traditions in order to find new avenues for future research. It will be argued that academic identity provides a seminal perspective for cultural studies in higher education.     

Emigration,internationalization, and “brain drain”: Propensities among British Academics

This research links two important higher education phenomena: potential brain drain among academics abroad and the U.S. academic labor market. The inquiry draws on the brain drain literature and is grounded primarily on a secondary analysis of a major survey (1989) of British university and polytechnic faculty members. The anlaysis shows that fully 40.0 percent of university faculty are seriously considering a move abroad with the substantial majority favoring the United States as a destination. Faculty characteristics—including academic field, research versus teaching orientation, rank, age, gender, and political identification—are correlated with faculty members' professed interest in emigration. The analysis also compares (former) polytechnic to university faculty as well as to a subset of Oxford and Cambridge faculty.     

Strategies for infusing curricula with a multicultural perspective

We describe pedagogical strategies for infusing a multicultural perspective into courses across a variety of disciplines; these methods have proven effective with students who are predominantly Anglo and oriented toward careers in the human services. The strategies include personalizing information through vicarious learning and case studies; inculcating critical thinking skills; simulations; literary analysis; and cooperative learning in large classes. Changes were documented in student attitudes, emotions, knowledge, professional skills, and the classroom environment. We review lessons learned about the process of curriculum revision, especially the importance of faculty support systems and impediments to implementation.All of the authors are faculty members in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State University; Drs. MacPhee, Oltjenbruns, and Kreutzer are Associate Professors and Dr. Fritz is a Professor. Each of the authors is a trainer for the multicultural infusion project. David MacPhee holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His primary research interests include primary prevention for at-risk youth and families, and multicultural and gender issues. Kevin Oltjenbruns completed her doctoral degree in educational and psychological studies at the University of Colorado. The principle focus of her work has been on grief and loss, career development, and student retention. As Associate Dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences, she spearheaded the multicultural infusion project described in this article. Janet Fritz's graduate work was completed at Cornell University. Her research interests include cognitive development, children's self-worth, stress and coping, and cross-cultural variations in socialization. Jill Kreutzer earned her Ph.D. in education from Colorado State University. She is interested in adolescent development, especially resilience among at-risk youth, and career development.Portions of this work were presented at the 5th Annual National Conference on Racial & Ethnic Relations in American Higher Education (June, 1992).Requests for curriculum and training materials should be directed to the Dean's Office, College of Applied Human Sciences.     

Transforming U.S. higher education: An organizational perspective

Scholarly work on organizational change within colleges and universities is relatively unknown among campus administrators and policy makers. To counter that low visibility, this essay reviews existing theories and research evidence on the topic. The goal is to provide some general guidelines for those who seek to refine purposes, develop programs, and improve effectiveness and efficiency on their campuses.James C. Hearn is Professor of Higher Education at the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia. He has his A.B. from Duke University and M.A. in Sociology and Ph.D. in the Sociology of Education from Stanford University. A former policy analyst and college administrator, his teaching and research focus on postsecondary organization and policy. Currently he is examining connections between institutional governance and the changing demography of university faculty.An earlier version of this article was first presented at the conference on Justice, Participation, and Sustainability in Higher Education, University of LaVerne, LaVerne, CA, September 17, 1994.     

DISCRIMINATORY ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS AND BLACK SCIENTISTS ON POSTSECONDARY FACULTIES

Severe underrepresentation of African-Americansamong postsecondary faculty is often linked toeducational pipeline supply problems,while institutional variations in demandfor black faculty labor and barriers to theirrecruitment and retention receive less empiricalattention. Using a nationally representative sample ofcollege faculty from a wide array of institutions andscience disciplines, this study investigates linksbetween internal organizational conditions and blackfaculty representation. Hypotheses derive from competingexplanations of the role of race in academicorganizations: institutionalized discrimination to protectdominant group privileges; statistical discriminationbased on expectations of racial group differences inacademic preparation; labor supply and politicalconstraints on black faculty recruitment. A multivariateanalysis examines organizational conditions that promoteor curb these dynamics and their relationship to blackappointments at different tenure levels. Results indicate that although the discipline-specificblack doctoral labor supply is a powerful constraint onthe representation of black faculty, selectiveorganizational contexts are substantial influences as well. Although we find little evidence thatinsulation from competition or segmented faculty labormarkets influence the racial composition of faculties,black faculty are more often found whereinstitutionalized discrimination may be checked by greaterformalization and black constituencies on campus.Consistent with statistical discrimination, blackfaculty are poorly represented at research-orientedinstitutions, even controlling for the scholarly reputationof doctoral credentials.     

The dimensions of academic scholarship: Faculty and administrator views

Faculty and administrators responded to 32 activity statements related to scholarship on a frequency basis and on the characteristicness of the role. Approximately 1,000 faculty members in 24 colleges and universities and 55 administrators from 5 of the schools participated. Factor analysis revealed 6 dimensions of scholarship — professional activity, research (publishing), teaching, service, artistic endeavor, and engagement with the novel, the last being a new conception, one valued highly by both faculty and administrators in all types of colleges and universities. Significant differences appeared with respect to faculty and administrative views on the importance of research in regional universities.     

Faculty research involvement and instructional outcomes

Faculty members in the natural-mathematical sciences (N=93) and in the social-behavioral sciences (N=90) were rated on research involvement by department heads and on teaching outcomes by students. Differences in teaching outcomes for members of the two disciplines confirmed several common stereotypes. Those heavily involved in research appeared to establish higher academic standards for students than did the relatively uninvolved, but the two faculty groups generally did not differ on student progress ratings. However, for four of ten criterion measures, a significant interaction occurred. Student ratings were positively related to the degree of research involvement for faculty members in natural-mathematical sciences but negatively related to research involvement on the part of social-behavioral scientists.     

More Than a Pipeline Problem: Labor Supply Constraints and Gender Stratification Across Academic Science Disciplines

Employing a nationally representative sample of science faculty in U.S. colleges, we investigate 3 explanations for persisting differences in women's faculty representation across science fields even after adjusting for women's variable representation among doctoral recipients. First, we examine labor market factors: (a) differential growth rates and critical mass in the supply of women doctoral recipients, (b) growth or contraction in academic and nonacademic job opportunities, and (c) presence of foreign-born scholars. Second, we control for institutional explanations such as differential rates of faculty unionization and less receptivity to women at prestigious or research-oriented universities and fields that are applied, soft, or nonlife sciences. Third, gender role explanations are addressed by controlling for gender differences in work experience, work interruptions, and the prestige of doctoral credentials. After finding that none of these explanations account fully for distinctive patterns among science fields in the faculty gender composition, we discuss how they may reflect differences in academic cultures.     

Evaluating women's homemaking and volunteer work experiences for college credit

This project developed methods and materials to assist colleges in evaluating the competencies which women acquire from their nonmarket (volunteer work and homemaking) experiences. Competencies were identified through interviews and questionnaires of women's activities. Next an informal task analysis of each activity was conducted to develop a list of the competencies involved, the I Can lists. A twelve step counseling process, based on the use of the I Can lists, is described. The paper also discusses methods of dealing with faculty and administrative concerns about this type of experiential learning evaluation.The author wishes to thank Marlaine Lockheed and Abigal Harris for their assistance in this research.Paper presented at the conference on Continuing Education Programs for Women—Issues and Trends, Columbus, Ohio, May 12, 1978.     

Enrollment management and career services: Translating concepts into practice

Summary We in career services must move from feeling that enrollment management is not our job to the realization that much of what we already do positively impacts recruitment and retention. We must become more proactive in our efforts, and more demonstrative of our impact. Our image with students, parents, staff, faculty and alumni should include what we do to help bring students to our campus, and what we do to help make them successful learners, both while on campus and throughout their work life.     

Career alternatives: Providing a cafeteria of choices through career alternative dollars

Part of the crisis in higher education is due to the age and tenure distribution of the faculty and their escalating future salary costs. Universities must find ways to gain financial and academic flexibility. This will require a program ofcareer alternatives which provides inducements to leave the university for faculty who are not due to retire until the years 2000 to 2010. The money saved can be used to the mutual benefit of the individual and the university. The university's share of the savings may be used to hire new junior faculty and to reduce the total cost of the salary budget. The faculty member's share may be redeemed at a career alternatives cafeteria. This paper outlines the offering that such a cafeteria may provide and the mechanisms that may be used to establish one.