Network and Support, Mentor Connection

• In Event: 16.048 - Breaking the Code: Developing a Mentorship Network for Minority Faculty in Academic Settings

Abstract

1. Objective: To discuss ways to establish alternative and or additional network that supports research, teaching, and services; and to share resources and facilitate connections among mentors/mentees.

2. Theoretical Framework: Social capital theory (Coleman, 1990) and social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) concerning the role of learning and development through observation and modeling.

3. Mode of Inquiry: Narrative Inquiry - Connelly and Clandinin (1990) describes narrative inquiry in "education and educational research as the construction and reconstruction of personal and social stories" (p. 2). We drew from the tenets of narrative inquiry to inform our process and method.

4. Data Sources: Narratives and Literature Review

5. Point of View:

Five key issues consistently emerge as particularly important to early career faculty: getting started, excelling in both teaching and research, navigating the tenure track, building collegial and professional networks, and balancing work and life outside work.

Among the challenges for new faculty is that teaching is a primary source of anxiety. Many begin their first academic positions with little or no preparation in teaching adult learners and sometimes there is a disconnect between students’ perspective as a consumer versus the professor's academic goals. Other factors impacting new faculty’s teaching experiences in IHE, include their own insufficient preparation, heavy teaching loads, a more diverse student body (e.g., academic preparation, race, class), distrust and lack of understanding of the process of student evaluations, and the lack of a teaching community Hamlin, Marcucci, & Wenning (2000).

In addition, the transition early career faculty navigate involves three phases: challenge, confusion, and adaptation (Hill & MacGregor, 1998). They, over time, continuously identify the conditions and requirements of the tasks they need to complete, consider their current skills and knowledge, determine what they need to learn and have in order to succeed, and finally to find ways to gain knowledge and develop strategies to deal with new situations. It is a process of development in needed professional competencies (Hall, 1996). It includes “knowing what, knowing why, knowing when, knowing how, knowing where, and knowing who’’ (p. 15). It is particularly important for new faculty, when they navigate the tenure track, to build coll egial and professional networks, which can be a mix of formal and informal mentorship within and outside their home institutions, and learn to balance/re-balance work and life outside work. Presenters will share their personal stories and strategies on seeking resources and building networks.
6. Scholarly Significance:
Institutes of Higher Education (IHE) continue to struggle with recruitment and retention of minority faculty, especially women in academia (Turner, Viernes, & Myers, 2000; Wu, Thorsos, & Kern, 2016). There is a disparity between the percentages of men and women faculty with tenure (48.6% and 34.6% respectively) and the low rate (28%) of women faculty who advance in rank to full professors (Curtis, 2011). The importance of mentoring networks for minority faculty in supporting their successful advancement toward tenure, promotion and leadership has been well documented (Agosto et al., 2015).

Author

• Laurette Maria Stacy Bristol, UWI School of Business & Applied Studies Ltd (UWI-ROYTEC)