On Entrenched Inequalities in the Research University: Activism and Teaching for Tenured Faculty Members

PMLA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-446
Author(s):  
Jorge Coronado
Keyword(s):  
Research University ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Tenured Faculty

From the Faculty Perspective: Defining, Earning, and Maintaining Legitimacy across Academia

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie D. Gonzales ◽  
Aimee Lapointe Terosky
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Research University ◽  
Faculty Evaluation ◽  
Academic Profession ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Faculty Preparation ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Cultural Rules

Background Research shows that the academic profession is largely held together by cultural rules and norms imparted through various socialization processes, all of which are viewed as sensible ways to orient rising professionals. In this paper, a critical perspective is assumed, as we utilized the concept legitimacy and legitimation to better understand the implications of various socialization tactics within academia. Purpose Specifically, the purpose of this paper was to study how faculty members, employed across different types of institutions, defined legitimacy and what it takes to be deemed legitimate in the context of the academic profession. Research Design A critical qualitative research design guided this study. Specifically, we collected fifty in-depth, semistructured, conceptual interviews from faculty members employed across two community colleges, two regional comprehensive universities, one liberal arts college, and one high activity research university. Data Analysis Our analysis of interview transcripts was largely guided by Saldaña's suggestions for affective, pattern, and elaborative coding. Findings We found that all faculty members, regardless of institution type, discipline, or tenure status, held ideas as to what constitutes legitimate work/legitimacy within academia. We interrogated these findings further through the lens of New Institutionalism and determined that professors spent most of their time describing professional legitimacy. Professional legitimacy seemed to be contingent on (1) research and (2) institutional type. However, faculty also described what can be understood as normative legitimacy, which is an endorsement granted when one conforms to implicit cultural rules and ideals held by any community of relevance (e.g., governmental leaders, administrators, tax payers/public). Normative legitimacy seemed to be granted to professors who presented themselves as selfless, ideal workers who could account for and maximize their productivity. Conclusions/Recommendations A number of specific policy and practice related recommendations are gleaned from this work. In terms of faculty preparation and socialization, it is imperative that faculty members acknowledge that both processes are steeped in relations of power, as they engender notions of who and what fits into academia. Several specific questions and small adjustments in terms of practice are noted in the paper. Also, in terms of faculty evaluation, a return to Boyer's work and newer iterations of Boyer's work by Henderson (2013) could be helpful.

scholarly journals An Action Research Approach helps Develop GIS Programs in Humanities and Social Sciences

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-32
Author(s):  
Laura Costello
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Research University ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Action Research Approach ◽  
Humanities And Social Sciences

A Review of: Kong, N., Fosmire, M., & Branch, B. D. (2017). Developing library GIS services for humanities and social science: An action research approach. College & Research Libraries, 78(4), 413-427.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.4.413 Abstract Objective – To develop and improve on geographic information systems (GIS) services for humanities and social sciences using an action research model.   Design – Case study.   Setting – A public research university serving an annual enrollment of over 41,500 students in the Midwestern United States.   Subjects – Faculty members and students in the humanities and social sciences that expressed interest in GIS services.   Methods – An action research approach was used which included data collection, analysis, service design, and observation. Interviews with 8 individuals and groups were conducted including 4 faculty members, 3 graduate students, and one research group of faculty and graduate students. Data from interviews and other data including emails and notes from previous GIS meetings were analyzed and coded into thematic areas. This analysis was used to develop an action plan for the library, then the results of the activity were assessed. Main Results – The interviews revealed three thematic areas for library GIS service: research, learning, and outreach. The action plan developed by the authors resulted in increased engagement including active participation in an annual GIS day, attendance at workshops, course-integrated GIS sessions, around 40 consultations on GIS subjects over a two-year period, and increased hits on the Library’s GIS page. Surveys from pre- and post-tests in the workshops increased participants’ spatial awareness skills. Conclusion – Using an action research approach, the authors were able to identify needs and develop a successful model of GIS service for the humanities and social sciences.

scholarly journals The Development of the Spirituality of a Technical University’s Lecturer in an Advanced Training System

2020 ◽  
Vol XVIII (3) ◽  
pp. 517-530
Author(s):  
Svetlana A. Bezklubaya
Keyword(s):  
Research University ◽  
Training System ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Thinking Styles ◽  
Advanced Training ◽  
Moscow Aviation Institute ◽  
Technical University ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Post Industrial

The problem considered in the article is relevant for a post-industrial society, which sees a guarantee of self-preservation in the upbringing of professionally competent and highly spiritual technical specialists. The process of humanitarization of advanced training programs ensures the growth of spirituality in the educational environment of a technical university for faculty members. The development of the educator’s spirituality is a transcendence of the alienation of the technical from morality in education. The purpose of the study: to determine how to develop the spirituality of an educator in an advanced training system. Research method: culturosophical, allows us to consider spirituality as the development of the highest value senses of culture. The theoretical part of the study in relation to a technical university considers: the multi-dimensionality understanding of spirituality; humanization as the essence of the manifestation of ‘human spirit’ in education, and humanitarization as a way of its implementation; humanitarization as a factor in the development of spirituality and a strategy for the formation of an understanding of the moral meaning of the engineering profession; humanitarian environment as the basis for the formation of spiritual, moral and cultural qualities of a person; dialogue as an imperative of the development of spirituality. The practical part of the study describes the results of the introduction by the author of a new program with a humanitarian component at the Center for Advanced Studies of Scientific and Pedagogical Workers of the Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University): humanization and humanitarization create a highly spiritual environment; the technocratic narrowness of engineering education is overcome by interdisciplinarity; the connection of all subsystems of the spiritual sphere of society is revealed. The complexity of realization the program is due to the difference in thinking styles (technical versus humanitarian) and the psychology of perception of unaccustomed information. Overcoming the antinomy of knowledge leads to dialogue and the development of the spirit.

The Academic Vocation

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R. Schwehn
Keyword(s):  
Research University ◽  
The United States ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
University Education ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
College And University ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
The One ◽  
The University ◽  
Number Of Classes

In this chapter, I shall try to advance our thinking about college and university education in the United States through a critical study of contemporary conceptions of the academic vocation. Current reflection upon the state of higher learning in America makes this task at once more urgent and more difficult than it has ever been since the rise of the modern research university. Consider, for example, former Harvard President Derek Bok’s 1986–87 report to the Harvard Board of Overseers. On the one hand, Bok repeatedly insists that universities are obliged to help students learn how to lead ethical, fulfilling lives. On the other hand, he admits that faculty are ill-equipped to help the university discharge this obligation. “Professors,” Bok writes, “. . . are trained to transmit knowledge and skills within their chosen discipline, not to help students become more mature, morally perceptive human beings.” Notice Bok’s assumptions. Teaching history or chemistry or mathematics or literature has little or nothing to do with forming students’ characters. Faculty members must therefore be exhorted, cajoled, or otherwise maneuvered to undertake this latter endeavor in addition to teaching their chosen disciplines. The pursuit of knowledge and the cultivation of virtue are, for Bok at least, utterly discrete activities. To complicate matters still further, the Harvard faculty, together with most faculty members at other modern research universities, would very probably resist the notion that their principal vocational obligation is, as Bok suggested, to transmit the knowledge and skills of their disciplines. They believe that their calling primarily involves making or advancing knowledge, not transmitting it. How else could we explain the familiar academic lament “Because this is a terribly busy semester for me, I do not have any time to do my own work”? Among all occupational groups other than the professoriate, such a complaint, voiced under conditions of intensive labor, is inconceivable. Among university faculty members, it is expected. Never mind the number of classes taught, courses prepared, papers graded, and committees convened.

scholarly journals Reference Management Practices of Postgraduate Students and Academic Researchers are Highly Individualized

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Kimberly Miller
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Member ◽  
Research University ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Student Interview

A Review of: Melles, A., & Unsworth, K. (2015). Examining the reference management practices of humanities and social science postgraduate students and academics. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 46(4), 250-276. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2015.1104790 Objective – To understand patterns in reference management practices of postgraduate students and faculty members at one institution. Design – Mixed methods online survey and semi-structured interviews. Setting – Public research university in Australia. Subjects – The survey included responses from 81 postgraduate students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 postgraduate students and 13 faculty members. Methods – The researchers distributed an 18-item survey via email to approximately 800 people who previously registered for EndNote training sessions. Survey participants were also recruited via a website advertisement. The researchers recruited postgraduate student interview participants from the list of survey respondents. Librarians invited faculty members to participate in the semi-structured interviews. Interview audio recordings were transcribed and coded for data analysis. Main Results – The survey found that 71.4% (n=55) of respondents used reference management software (RMS) and 29% (n=22) did not. Over half of the students who did not use an RMS described other ad hoc or “manual” (p. 255) methods for organizing and tracking references. The majority of participants reported using EndNote (67.53%, n=52), while few respondents reported using other RMS tools like Zotero (1.3%, n=1) or Mendeley (1.3%, n = 1). Software awareness (49.32%, n=36), recommendations from faculty members (30.14%, n=22), and University support (47.95%, n=35) were the primary motivations for choosing a specific RMS. Other important factors included ease of use (32.88%, n=24) and integration with Microsoft Word (46.58%, n=34). Students preferred RMS features that support the process of accessing and using references in a paper, and reported that technical problems were the most common frustrations. The researchers found that student interview respondents were more likely to use RMS (75%, n=6) than were faculty member respondents (31%, n=4). Interview respondents varied in which RMS features they used, like importing references, PDF management, or “Cite While You Write” plug-ins (p. 258). Few interviewees used the RMS’s full functionality, either due to variations in workflow preferences or lack of awareness. Similar to survey respondents, interviewees who did not use an RMS reported their own personal practices for managing references. The time and learning curve necessary to become proficient with a particular RMS, as well as how the RMS fit into a particular task or workflow, influenced respondents’ decisions about software selection and use. Faculty members were split with their advice to students about using an RMS, with some respondents advocating that an RMS can save time and trouble later in their writing processes, while others took a more cautious or hands-off approach. Conclusion – The authors conclude that measuring RMS use or non-use does not reflect the real world complexity behind student and faculty member reference management practices. They suggest that librarians may want to rethink focusing on RMS as the sole reference management solution. Librarians should also recognize that institutional availability and support may influence users’ RMS choices. A user-centred approach would account for RMS and non-RMS users alike, and librarians should “develop a more flexible perspective of reference management as part of an approach to researchers that aims to understand their practices rather than normatively prescribe solutions” (Melles & Unsworth, 2015, p. 265). Instruction workshops should help students and faculty members select features or systems that match their existing research processes, rather than exclusively demonstrate the mechanics of a particular RMS.

Are Psychology Departments Dealing with the Tenuring-in Problem? a Survey of Department Chairpersons

1976 ◽  
Vol 39 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1321-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Perri ◽  
Mark M. Zipper
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Tenured Faculty ◽  
Department Chairpersons ◽  
Faculty Positions

The issues of steady-state staffing and the regulation of tenured faculty positions represent significant concerns for psychology departments. 171 chairpersons responded to a questionnaire surveying the parameters and possible solutions to the “tenuring-in” problem. The results indicated that two out of every three faculty members in psychology departments hold tenured positions and that the most common step being taken to deal with this situation is to set more stringent criteria for the granting of tenure.

“I Do Not Speak as Freely”: Gendered Views on Campus Carry at a Research University

2021 ◽  
pp. 001312452110472
Author(s):  
Pat Somers ◽  
Huajian Gao ◽  
Z. W. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Research University ◽  
State Legislature ◽  
The State ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Personal Safety ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Second Amendment ◽  
Educational Spaces

As campus carry policies are implemented at colleges and universities across the country, the concern for the safety of students, faculty members, and campus community members has heightened. In the state of Texas, broad sweeping campus carry policies were recently enacted by Texas State Legislature that allows individuals to conceal carry firearms within educational spaces on campus. Within these educational spaces, faculty members are often relied upon to deliver educational content without having their Second Amendment speech rights chilled by the prospect of loaded firearms within a classroom. Given this tension, this study fills an important gap in the research and explains how faculty members view campus carry as it relates to their personal safety and professional work. This study employed a mixed methods design (survey and qualitative) to expound upon the attitudes toward campus carry of 226 faculty and staff members working in a large research-intensive university within the state of Texas. Results suggest strong gender differences between how faculty members view campus carry policies and their safety on campus, with women often reporting feeling less safe and less able to perform their job duties under the pressure and anxiety of campus carry policies. Ultimately, this study’s results imply that women faculty members may more less safe, more marginalized, and further victimized by campus carry laws than men faculty members, transgressing gender equity progress in the professoriate, as women have been traditionally underrepresented on college faculties.

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