Social Justice as an Outcome of Mid-Career Faculty Vitality Supported by Institutional Opportunity Structures

• In Event: 66.039 - Faculty Careers in Different Contexts

Abstract

The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to identify factors that sustain mid-career faculty vitality. Theories regarding person-organization fit, mid-career and definitions of vitality comprised the conceptual framework. Data sources included a faculty questionnaire that measured vitality components. Faculty were given a vitality score which was the basis for selection of the 30 mid-career faculty interviewees from three public comprehensive universities in New England. Data analysis indicated that mid-career is prime time for implementing meaningful work projects that impact social justice. Analyses of interview data revealed that institutions offered autonomy, acknowledgements, space and resources that were vitality-enhancing. Faculty with high levels of grit pursued long term social justice projects that appear to be direct outcomes of mid-career faculty vitality.

Author

• Anne M. DeFelippo, Salem State University