Influences of the Doctoral-Granting Institution on the Experiences of Early-Career Faculty

• In Event: Roundtable Session 23
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Faculty and Practitioner Issues in Graduate Education

Abstract

This study considers the influence of the PhD-granting institution on the institution of the first faculty position. Given the decreasing availability of tenure-earning positions, how are questions of prestige balanced with questions of salary, location, and opportunity? The physical location of a campus, as well as the cultural, social, and economic ties experienced by its faculty and students, shape the ways in which doctoral graduates experience their entry into the academic labor market. Interviews were conducted with 41 individuals who received a PhD from a top 100 American research university. The findings suggest a nuanced portrait of contemporary faculty. A common theme evidenced in this study was the choices that doctoral students made in terms of their future employment.

Author

• Karri A. Holley, The University of Alabama