Professional Role Confidence and the Meanings of Success Among Higher Education Faculty

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Promoting Early- and Mid-Career Faculty Success

Abstract

Higher education in the United States has been undergoing dramatic changes, and faculty members’ ability to succeed in this new environment depends on multiple factors, including their perceptions of professional expectations and how to meet them. Accordingly, researchers are seeking to understand the professional roles, identities and decision-making processes of faculty. This qualitative study contributes to the discourse by exploring a concept that has not yet been studied among faculty members: professional role confidence. Based on in-depth interviews with faculty at various ranks and appointment types across several disciplines at a large public research university, we analyze faculty definitions of success and perceptions of factors that influence their confidence in their ability to succeed in the current climate.

Authors

• Sarah Jane Brubaker, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Maike I. Philipsen, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Mary Moore, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Jennifer Reed, Virginia Commonwealth University