Junior faculty perspectives on the academic environment: A call for development and onboarding

Abstract

Background: One challenge in dental education is new faculty members can be hired with limited teaching experience or understanding of pedagogy. Recent publications document increasing initiatives of faculty development in US and Canadian dental schools. This study evaluates full-time faculty perspectives of their develop and academic environment.Methods: A 33-item questionnaire distributed to senior administrators and forwarded to faculty, collected data on demographics and satisfaction, utilizing a 5-item Likert scale, multiple choice, and binary yes/no questions. Responses were descriptively and statistically analyzed utilizing an analysis of variance, chisquare, and two-sample t-test. Results: There were 183 faculty respondents (37.7% male/62.3% female), age ranges were 20-29 (2.2%), 30-39 (53.5%), and 41-49(44.3). Respondents reported race/ethnicity: Caucasian (60.7%), Asian (19.1%), Hispanic (12.6%), Black/African American (5.5%), two or more races (2.2%), and Native American 0%. Length of employment was significantly associated with primary responsibility (p = 0.0023), recent publications (p < 0.0011), and short-term intent to remain in academia (p = 0.046). There was a statistically significant difference between age and satisfaction with professional development (p = 0.0411),career objectives (p = 0.0151), well-being (p = 0.0492), access to resources for scholarly interests (p = 0.0114), communication (p = 0.0058), and assessment training (p = 0.0249). Non-Caucasian faculty reported greater dissatisfaction with being treated respectfully (p = 0.0302), departmental commitment to diversity and inclusion (p = 0.0075), and departmental cooperation/teamwork (p = 0.0323). Conclusions: A significant number of junior faculty have interest in academic dental careers. Institutions should invest in improving onboarding and professional development. Improve the early experiences of faculty, and foster diversity and inclusion and faculty well-being.

Reshaping dental faculty development using collective healthcare experiences

“…10,11 Young faculties are typically excited and intent to remain in academia regardless of the perceived challenges. 3 This factor is likely related to hopeful future planning, that is, naturally related to a younger age group, creating opportunities for institutions to direct this positive attitude with formal mentoring. Despite the age or academic rank, formal training based on the required skills for a given academic position is necessary for career growth.…”

“…Other health careers note that investing in faculty training reflected on the quality of education. 3 Academic health careers are traditionally associated with a positive work-life balance leading to a satisfactory profession. Academic positions in dental schools similarly offer an enriching environment.…”

“…Academic positions in dental schools similarly offer an enriching environment. 3,4 Sharing ideas with colleagues, supportive institutions, promoting the next generation of dental graduates, ethical practice, learning, and teaching technology are common positive attributes of a dental career in academia. 4 For several decades, US dental institutions have been balancing high standards of education, technological advances, and improving the educational environment with restricted operational budgets.…”

“…To compensate for the lack of organized institutional faculty mentorship, other academic health careers utilize private entities that tailor mentoring programs for faculty. Other health careers note that investing in faculty training reflected on the quality of education 3 …”

Ethnic diversity in academic dentistry in the United Kingdom

“…Thus far, we have focused on the data drawn from the United Kingdom academic sector and the subsequent responses in the literature. A similar debate is underway in the United States of America [29][30][31] where routinely collected data about the demographics of dental academics is publicly available through the American Dental Education Association. 32 This has led to the creation of a faculty diversity toolkit.…”