47.044 - Faculty at Mid-Career: A Time of Reinvention and Intentional Growth

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

At a time when higher education institutions in the United States are the subject of increased media scrutiny and nearly continuous loss of funding by resource-strapped state legislatures, a greater understanding of higher education’s bulwark resource—mid-career research and teaching faculty—is more important than ever. Faculty at mid-career comprise the largest segment of academia. For some, this is a time of significant productivity and creativity, yet for others, it is a time of disillusionment and stagnation. Revealing impediments and pathways to faculty job satisfaction and productivity will strengthen higher education institutions by protecting, fostering, and maintaining this vital workforce. The aim of this symposium is to deepen our understanding of this vital resource: mid-career faculty.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education / Division J - Section 4: Faculty, Curriculum, and Teaching

Chair

• Anita Gale Welch, Ball State University

Papers

• Mid-Career Faculty: Who Are They? - W. Michael Terwillegar, Ball State University; Jocelyn H. Bolin, Ball State University

• The Sea Change in Locus of Control for Mid-Career Faculty: From External to Internal - Anne Marie DeFelippo, Salem State University; Jay R. Dee, University of Massachusetts Boston

• The Academic Mother at Mid-Career: Integrating Motherhood, Academia, and Life to Obtain Satisfaction and Well-Being - Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw, University of Memphis; Jillian L Wendt, University of the District of Columbia

• Reinvention: An Institution's Responsibility, Not Mid-Career Diverse Women's - Carrie Graham, Catawba College