Cathy A. Trower

Toward a Greater Understanding of the Tenure Track for Minorities

Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) conducts an annual survey of tenure-track faculty. Through surveys and in focus groups and interviews, hundreds of tenure-track faculty members tell us what affects their workplace satisfaction and, ultimately, their success. The clarity and reasonableness of the criteria and standards for achieving tenure, institutional and collegial support for teaching and research, the effectiveness of workplace policies and practices, departmental climate and collegiality, and work/life balance are among the issues addressed. In 2009, for the first time, COACHE had collected enough faculty respondents who self-identified in each racial and ethnic category (see Figure 1), in proportions similar to their representation in the faculty population nationally, to look at each group separately and see how their experiences of academe differ. An examination of the different groups’ experiences of faculty life is important to the welfare of our students. The percentage of American college students who are minorities has been increasing: in 1976, 15 percent were minorities, compared with 32

Young Faculty and their Impact on Academe

This volume, part of the TIAA-CREF Institute Series on Higher Education, is based on a national conference convened by the Institute in November 2007. The generational issues that were the focus of the conference raise both risks and opportunities with the potential to profoundly affect our cultural environment, both inside and outside academe.

Comparison of Attitudes between Generation X and Baby Boomer Veterinary Faculty and Residents

Understanding the characteristics and preferences of the different generations in the veterinary workforce is important if we are to help optimize current and future veterinary schools and teaching hospitals. The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of different generations of veterinary faculty and those of faculty and house officers. A survey administered to faculty and house officers asked respondents to identify their level of agreement with a series of statements addressing work and lifestyle issues and feedback preferences. In addition, the survey included an open-ended question on non-monetary rewards for hard work. Thirty-eight of 48 faculty members (79%) and 45 of 54 house officers (83%) completed the survey. Among faculty, there were no significant differences between the Generation X and Baby Boomer subgroups or between genders. More faculty than house officers responded that delayed gratification is acceptable (p = 0.03) and that it is difficult to balance home and work life (p < 0.001). Compared to faculty, house officers preferred more frequent (p = 0.03) and critical (p = 0.02) feedback. The most common responses to the question on effective non-monetary rewards for hard work, from both faculty and house officers, were recognition and time off. No attitudinal differences were detected between generations within the faculty group, but a number of significant differences emerged between faculty and house officers. Increased awareness of the importance of balance and rewards for hard work, as well as modification of feedback styles, may be beneficial in teaching and mentoring current and future generations.

Data, Leadership, and Catalyzing Culture Change.

27 As the national economy has worsened, a large cadre of tenured senior faculty is graying and staying at their institutions. This has left an older set of full professors who began their careers in a very different era, an overworked and underappreciated set of associate professors, and a group of assistant professors who are wondering, “What have I gotten myself into?” By and large, tenure-track faculty want what they have always wanted: clear and reasonable tenure requirements; support for teaching and research; an environment that allows them to juggle responsibilities at work and home; and a set of colleagues to whom they can turn for mentoring, collaborations, intellectual stimulation, and friendship. But several key differences between the past and present affect these faculty dramatically: • new methods and technologies for knowledge production and dissemination; • longer lead times for getting published in top-tier print journals and cutbacks in university presses and the books coming out of them; • state and federal budget cuts; • increased competition for grant funding; • mounting pressures for accountability and transparency; • more trustee involvement in the academic side of things; • a ratcheting up of expectations for teaching, research, service, and outreach; and • changing student demographics and learning needs. DATA, LEADERSHIP, AND CATALYZING CULTURE CHANGE

Making the Academy More Attractive to New Teacher-Scholars

The majority of faculty members in veterinary medicine are white men; the student base, however, is increasingly composed of white women. Faculty and students of color are few. Part of the problem in attracting and retaining new teacher-scholars is that the current generation has different beliefs about the importance of work and home, places dissimilar weights on various workplace dimensions, and has more complicated lives than prior generations of faculty. Thus, a culture clash arises when young faculty work in academic institutions with outmoded policies and practices. This article explores the key aspects of the structure and culture of the academy and offers ideas for making the workplace more attractive to new faculty.

SOCRATES, THOREAU, AND THE STATUS QUO

In this volume, higher education leaders explore the challenges facing colleges and universities operating in today’s environment with constrained budgets and discuss a variety of strategies and solutions being employed to help ensure the ongoing vitality of America’s colleges and universities.