Relationships in Academia: Sources of Learning and Sustenance for Faculty

• In Event: 31.041 - Mentoring, Relationships, and Collegiality

Abstract

In this study, we examined the presence and purpose of relationships within the lives of 50 faculty members. Informed by the academic profession scholarship, we asked if institutional type, gender, and/or career stage seemed to matter in terms of relationship formation and purpose. Our analysis suggests that relationships are an important matter to the professors in our study, and that most (47) had access to meaningful relationships. Such relationships were a key source of learning across all types of institutions (community and liberal arts colleges, comprehensive and research universities). However, among women professors in the comprehensive and research universities, and in line with Martinez Alemán’s theory of friendship, women relied on relationships for affirmation.

Authors

• Leslie D. Gonzales, Michigan State University

• Aimee LaPointe Terosky, Saint Joseph's University

• Jared Halter, Clemson University

• Joshua Power, Saint Joseph's University