New Faculty on the Block: Issues of Stress and Support

Abstract

The research reported investigated the experiences of new faculty in their first three years of employment in higher education administration programs. New faculty face stress relative to work-life integration, issues pertaining to gender or color, teaching responsibilities, and unclear expectations. The findings of this study highlight the role of graduate school socialization and identification as a "chosen" student targeting a faculty position as an influence on new faculty and their acclimation during their first years. Implications include the need for intentional mentoring, inclusive support for all students seeking faculty roles, and the need for specificity on the part of hiring committees and new departments regarding expectations. Key to new faculty success is obtaining a sense of work-life integration.

Enacting Efficacy in Early Career: Narratives of Agency, Growth, and Identity

“…Generally their experiences and stressors mirror those of other early career faculty -managing unclear expectations, balancing different demands on their work time, finding work/life balance, budget cuts, changing student demographics, generation gap between senior and junior faculty, extra service commitments for faculty of color, and extra work/family stressors for women (Eddy & Gaston-Gayles, 2008). Although faculty coming out of higher education administration doctoral programs often study faculty issues and academic governance, like most other early career faculty members they often do not fully understand the nuances of faculty life (Eddy & Gaston-Gayles, 2008).…”

Exploring and testing the predictors of new faculty success: a mixed methods study

“…associate and full) and is intended to recruit top candidates, provide job security, and promote academic freedom. 1 Several studies have alternatively focused on faculty shortly after transitioning to their new appointment, specifically within their first three years (Eddy and Gaston-Gayles 2008;Luce and Murray 1998;Olsen 1993). In fact, Boice (1992) reported that after three years faculty typically dislike the label of 'new' faculty.…”

New faculty issues: Fitting in and figuring it out

“…Indeed, Townsend and Twombly (2007) underscore the varied pathways to faculty ranks at two-year colleges and point out that possession of a Ph.D. is gaining traction, but that the master' s degree remains the coin of the realm for hiring in the sector. Coupled with the fact that recent research on faculty socialization (Austin, 2002;Eddy and Gaston-Gales, 2008) focuses on research university faculty versus those teaching at community colleges, community college search committees need to consider the match between candidate preparation and the skills required for successful classroom teaching. This chapter fi rst highlights how previous socialization and preparation affect the issues faculty face as they start their careers and then discusses the areas faculty developers and academic leaders have indicated as pressing for faculty in community colleges.…”