Gender Differences in Faculty Member Job Satisfaction: Equity Forestalled?

Guided by Hagedorn’s (2000) theory of faculty job satisfaction, mindful of social and organizational structures of higher education, and acknowledging recent changes in the academic labor market, this study examines satisfaction for approximately 30,000 tenured and tenure-track faculty members in 100 US colleges and universities. Findings revealed similarity between female and male faculty members in some aspects of work satisfaction, but difference in other areas in which women reported lower satisfaction. Findings also revealed that perceptions of department fit, recognition, work role balance, and mentoring are more important to women faculty’s satisfaction than male peers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Information encountering and management in information literacy instruction of undergraduate,students

The nature of the information-rich environment of the 21st century has affected the ways in which students’ access information. Students no longer have to seek information; they acquire it passively through their everyday use of the Internet. This paper presents findings of a study involving the information encountering experiences of undergraduate students and the potential role of personal information collection, management, and retrieval in information literacy instruction. Undergraduate students enrolled in an information literacy course were surveyed regarding their experiences online with information encountering and personal information management. Survey questions were adopted from the information encountering scale developed by Wise & Erdelez (2012) and consisted of twelve questions focused on the noticing, stopping, examining, and capturing steps of the Information encountering model (Erdelez, 2004). The study indicates that the vast majority of the undergraduate students responding to the survey were frequently encountering unexpected information while online, but were not capturing this information for future use using built-in, web-based tools. While information literacy courses teach students to identify, seek, analyze, and use needed information, they do not prepare them to manage and retrieve unexpected information encountered while using the Internet.     

Research productivity of foreign- and US-born faculty: differences by time on task

Similar to trends in postsecondary education across the world, today’s US universities are an increasing mix of native and foreign-born scholars. US institutions are experiencing a growing number of international faculty members, but there is limited literature examining foreign-born faculty who work in US institutions and how outputs from foreign-born faculty compare to US-born natives. Using data from the 2004 National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04), this study examines difference in faculty members’ research productivity at doctoral-granting institutions by foreign/US-born status controlling for select individual and institutional characteristics. Findings show that foreign-born faculty members spend more time on research and less time on undergraduate instruction than US-born peers, and this may contribute to their higher levels of production. Implications are discussed that consider how to ensure diverse faculty communities that lead to strong research and knowledge production.     

Tenure troubles and equity matters in Canadian academe

The focus of this article is the tenure review process in Canadian universities, a rigorous and high-stakes evaluation of junior academics that serves as a prime exemplar of ‘disciplining academics', our project's title. In-depth interviews in seven Ontario universities with 30 knowledgeable informants such as senior managers and faculty association personnel provide the data. Literature on tenure and the persistence of equity issues suggests that we might expect some concern on those grounds to be raised by participants, especially as the faculty complement slowly grows more ethnically diverse and more gender balanced. Although not usually raised without direct questions, some discourses around equity did appear in the interviews. We argue that apparently equal outcomes in the tenure review process may be obscuring differential experiences of evaluation that need further examination.     

Blended university teaching using virtual learning environments: conceptions and approaches

This paper reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into blended university teaching using virtual learning environments (VLEs). Interviews with 25 Computer Science teachers in Greek universities illuminated a spectrum of teachers’ conceptions and approaches from ‘teacher-focused and content-oriented’, through ‘student-focused and content-oriented’, to ‘student-focused and process-oriented’. Using VLEs was described as a means of supporting: A—information transfer; B—application and clarification of concepts; C—exchange and development of ideas, and resource exploration and sharing; D—collaborative knowledge-creation, and development of process awareness and skills. The study suggests that pedagogical beliefs and circumstances underpinning face-to-face teaching are more influential in shaping approaches to blended VLE use than VLE system features. The authors propose that the findings could be used to inform educational enhancement initiatives and that there is a need for further discipline-focused research on blended teaching.     

The Use of Learner-Centered Assessment in US Colleges and Universities

Over a decade ago, Barr and Tagg (Change Mag 27(6):12–25, 1995) declared that a shift had occurred in higher education from an instruction paradigm to a learning paradigm. A central element in this new paradigm is learner-centered assessment. While a growing body of literature suggests that this approach to assessment is a best practice in higher education pedagogy, it is still unclear whether faculty members have embraced it fully. Using data from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, this study examines the extent to which faculty members employed learner-centered assessments in postsecondary classrooms at two points in time, 1993 and 2004. Findings show similar to higher rates of use for some assessment techniques in 2004 compared to reports from 1993, as well as differences by faculty gender, age, discipline, and institution type. Implications for faculty members, student learning, and institutional policy are discussed.     

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES IN DEFINING AND ASSESSING TEACHER DISPOSITIONS

Teacher preparation programs are required by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) to assess the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teacher candidates. Dispositions and the personal values that support them are defined differently by NCATE and other experts in the fields of education and business. In order to better understand dispositions the researchers examined the relationships between the personal values and dispositions of teacher candidates and successful teachers. Using the Rokeach Value Scale, results showed significant relationships between values and dispositions for teacher candidates and successful teachers.     

‘Stick to Soccer:’ fan reaction and inclusion rhetoric on social media

Abstract

In the wake of the United States Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide, social media reflected a range of support and dissent. US Soccer posted a photo featuring an eagle and the phrase ‘One Nation, One Team’ in rainbow font on their official social media accounts. This paper explores the reaction to those posts by social media users. We examined comments made about the post and, using elements of grounded theory, found five themes emerge: (1) resistance to the intertwinement of politics and sport and pushback to that resistance; (2) patriotism/nationalism; (3) the symbolic importance of out gay players, coaches and fans; (4) general negative comments; and (5) general positive comments. We contextualize these themes in light of (1) the tension around the role of politics in sports, (2) US Soccer’s historical heterosexism and its manifestations and (3) the changing landscape of women’s sports in regards to homosexuality.     

Let's talk about what we're watching: Parental mediation of children's television viewing

A random telephone survey of Washington state parents of children between the ages 2 and 17 assesses patterns of interaction with children regarding television viewing. The children's gender did not affect the way parents coviewed or mediated with them about television. Parent's gender, however, did matter. In addition, it was found that the ageof children had a significant effect on how parents coviewed and mediated. A linear relationship showed that coviewing decreased as children aged. A different trend was seen regarding children's age and negative mediation.