Institutional Supports of Autonomy, Competence, and Instructional Influence Among Teaching-Focused Faculty

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Toward Innovative and Supportive Teaching Practices

Abstract

Teaching-focused faculty often deliver lower-division STEM courses that enroll many first-generation and minoritized students yet face limited authority and clarity for shaping departmental teaching. Guided by Self-Determination Theory, this study examines whether teaching-focused faculty’s perceived teaching autonomy and expectation clarity relate to their perceived influence on their colleague’s teaching. Survey data from 179 teaching-focused professors at minority-serving institutions were analyzed with cross-sectional structural equation models. Teaching autonomy was indirectly associated with influence through occupational autonomy-satisfaction, and expectation clarity was indirectly associated with influence through occupational competence-satisfaction. Findings suggest that recognizing pedagogical choice and communicating transparent teaching criteria align with core need satisfaction and may strengthen faculty leadership in inclusive instructional reform.

Authors

• Meaghan Beth McMurran, University of California - Riverside

• Brian Sato, University of California - Irvine