New and junior faculty stress: Research and responses

Abstract

An interesting paradox can be found in the literature on new and junior faculty. Nearly all newcomers report high levels of satisfaction with their careers. When asked to identify aspects of academic life that consistently afford satisfaction, most new faculty describe their work as providing personal autonomy, a sense of accomplishment, the capacity to have an impact on others, and the opportunity for personal and intellectual growth (Turner and Boice, 1989;Sorcinelli, 1988). At the same time, however, virtually all of the same faculty rate their work as stressful. Words such as tension, pressure, anxiety, and worry stand out in an even cursory reading of the literature (Fink, 1984;Turner and Boice, 1989;Sorcinelli. 1988; Whin, 1991).Unfortunately, the tensions of the first year do not appear to be offset by experience. As reported in detail in Olsen and Sorcinelli (this volume), a colleague and I have followed the career development of one cohort of new faculty over a five-year period via interviews and questionnaires (Sorcinelli, 1988;Olsen, 1990). Our longitudinal study found that the proportion of newcomers reporting their work life as very stressful rose dramatically, and even among highly satisfied individuals, work stress steadily eroded satisfaction.While life can be stressful for all academics, researchers also have noted that untenured faculty report higher levels of stress than do their tenured colleagues. In a national study of 1.920 faculty members at 80 doctoral-granting institutions, Gmelch, Wilke, and Lovrich (1986) found that five distinct dimensions of stress appeared throughout the academic career. It is particularly noteworthy that there were statistically significant differences between tenured and untenured faculty in each of the five (2). 1-4.

Canadian University Academics’ Perceptions of Job Satisfaction: “…The Future Is Not What It Used to Be”

“…The study provides support for previous fi ndings in the literature that lower ranking academics operate under more stressful working conditions, primarily due to being embedded in ongoing professional legitimisation processes (Sorcinelli 1992 ;Castle and Schutz 2002 ) . For those who have already attained the highest rank in Canadian universities, those at the full professor rank, it is not unreasonable to expect that the absence of promotional pressures and the attainment of the highest position in departmental hierarchies would lower overall stress levels and usher in a more favourable opinion of personal and professional circumstances.…”

Weaving Together Undergraduate Research, Mentoring of Junior Faculty, and Assessment: The Case of an Interdisciplinary Program

“…Termed "the scholarship of engagement" (Boyer 1996), these activities combine teaching, service, and research in efforts to prepare students to be more effective citizens. Gelmon and Agre-Kippenhan (2002) and Sorcinelli (1992) discussed the ways in which this movement is affecting promotion and tenure decisions. New faculty might have become familiar with such scholarship if they were part of a preparation program for new faculty during their doctoral training.…”

Understanding New Faculty Background, Aspirations, Challenges, and Growth

“…The literature includes, for example, discipline-specific research on new geography faculty (Fink, 1984;Solem & Foote, 2004), planning faculty (Hamlin, Marcucci & Wenning, 2000), dental educators (Schenkein & Best, 2001), and nursing educators (Luce & Murray, 1998;Nugent, Bradshaw & Kito, 1999). Work includes studies of early career faculty in single institutions (Luce & Murray, 1998;Sorcinelli, 1988Sorcinelli, , 1992, multiple campuses in one university system (Trotman & Brown, 2005), and multiple institutions (Finkelstein, Seal & Schuster, 1998;Rice, Sorcinelli, & Austin, 2000;Tierney & Bensimon, 1996;Trower, 2005). Finally, there are qualitative case studies of junior faculty (Reynolds, 1992;Whitt, 1991), and longitudinal studies that have tracked new faculty over several years using both interviews and surveys (Boice, 1992;Menges, 1999;Olsen, 1993;Olsen & Crawford, 1998;Olsen & Sorcinelli, 1992).…”