scholarly journals Mind the Gap: Transitioning from Doctoral Graduates to Early Career Faculty

10.28945/4409 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 543-566
Author(s):  
Kate McCormick ◽  
Libba Willcox
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Doctoral Graduates ◽  
Early Career Faculty ◽  
Doctoral Socialization

Aim/Purpose: Graduate programs aim to prepare students for future professional roles, yet doctoral graduates often earn faculty positions at institutions that differ from those in which they were socialized. Navigating this “preparation gap” can produce feelings of uncertainty, tension, and, ultimately, dissonance. This collaborative autoethnographic study explores the gap as it was experienced by two early career faculty in a U.S. context. Background: The landscape of academia is rapidly changing, meaning graduate programs cannot prepare each graduate student for every potential professional role offered to them. Therefore, as doctoral graduates emerge from their respective graduate programs, an inevitable gap in preparation exists. This gap in preparation mirrors a gap in the graduate socialization literature, which is limited in describing how early career faculty are socialized into their first positions. Methodology: The paper discusses a year-long collaborative autoethnographic study conducted by two tenure-track early career faculty in Education & Arts fields at universities in the U.S. The study employs Clancy’s (2010) theory of Perpetual Identity Constructing as a theoretical framework to examine the perceived dissonance produced during the transition from doctoral graduates to early career faculty. Contribution: This collaborative autoethnographic account of two early career, tenure-track faculty members’ transition from doctoral graduate to assistant professors expands the literature on doctoral socialization, academic identities, and the potential of qualitative modes of inquiry. Specifically, it recognizes that doctoral graduates experience dissonance and undergo identity construction during the first year. Findings: Our findings revealed three categories repeated in our collaborative autoethnographic data that potentially serve as a window to illuminate the complexity of the dissonance across the gap: support, connection, and control. Each category includes varying levels of dissonance with the self, department, institution, and fields of which we were part. Using Perpetual Identity Constructing theory, each category was examined through the three-stages of academic identity construction. Recommendations for Practitioners: The study has implications for practitioners, specifically those who help to prepare doctoral students for positions at teaching-intensive universities. We recommend doctoral granting institutions expand formal and informal socialization programming to enhance students’ awareness and preparation for the contexts and tensions they may encounter. Recommendation for Researchers: Additional fine-grained studies, like ours, are warranted to further illuminate the complex interaction between the gap in socialization and the academic identity construction process as early career faculty. Impact on Society: Awareness that deconstruction and reconstruction of identity continues beyond doctoral socialization could better prepare future faculty for the perpetual identity work across a career; it has the potential to produce better adjusted early career faculty who improve student outcomes and conduct research that impacts society. Future Research: Based on the findings of this study, future areas of research should further investigate the experiences of early career faculty, in particular their socialization experiences during the transition from candidacy to first career positions.

scholarly journals The Socialization for Teaching: Factors Related to Teaching Career Aspirations for Doctoral Students of Color

10.28945/4805 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 449-467
Author(s):  
Jeffrey K Grim ◽  
Heeyun Kim ◽  
Christina S Morton ◽  
Robert M DeMonbrun
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
Academic Leaders ◽  
Teaching Career ◽  
Doctoral Socialization ◽  
Teaching Faculty ◽  
Phd Program

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of our study was to gain a better understanding of the socialization factors that contribute to the aspirations of doctoral students of Color to pursue teaching careers. Background: Internationally, there has been a renewed call to diversify the professoriate. While the literature often examines early pathway issues and hiring bias, one efficient solution is to continue encouraging the socialization of those doctoral students of Color already interested in pursuing a teaching career. Methodology: We used a sample of 2,717 doctoral candidates of Color from over 221 doctoral-granting institutions in the USA who completed a survey about their graduate experiences. The sample of participants indicated they aspired to a teaching career at the beginning of their doctoral study, yet not all were interested in the same career choice by the end. To analyze our data we used Logistic Regression Modeling (LOGIT) to test which socialization factors (i.e., anticipatory, formal, informal, and personal) contribute to teaching career aspirations. Contribution: We found that factors associated with anticipatory and personal socialization contributed greatest to the continued aspiration of being a teaching faculty member, along with teaching experience. These results are somewhat different than previous literature and practice that places a greater emphasis on formal and informal socialization experiences as contributing to a future teaching faculty career. Findings: Anticipatory (publishing before the start of a PhD program), formal (teaching experience), and personal socialization (sense of belonging) were most related to aspirations to pursue a teaching faculty career, while more factors more traditional in the literature (e.g., relationship with advisor, career and research support, etc.) were not significantly correlated with the desire to pursue a teaching faculty career. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend that faculty advisors, graduate education administrators, and academic leaders pay close attention to the personal and social development of doctoral students of Color in order to sustain their interest in teaching in higher education. In addition, it is important for academic leaders to recognize doctoral socialization begins before a student enters a PhD program, so more attention should be given to the opportunities for undergraduate students of Color to learn about the academy through research and publication. Recommendation for Researchers: Doctoral socialization as a topic of study has continued to be of interest to scholars, but there are more quantitative and mixed-method scholarship that could be used to influence academic leaders and policymakers. In addition, scholars should continue to complicate and refine graduate socialization theory in order to understand and represent racially diverse populations. Impact on Society: Multiple interventions will be needed in order to increase the amount of faculty of Color in the professoriate but improving pre-PhD experiences and sense of belonging for doctoral students of Color could be a targeted policy intervention for academic leaders. As researchers and practitioners in the field are looking for ways to better support doctoral students of Color, a nuanced understanding of developmental needs is essential not only for graduation but for intended career aspiration. Future Research: With these findings, we offer opportunities for future research to further our understanding of socialization for doctoral students of Color. Future studies should include more robust measures of socialization factors along with longitudinal research designs in order to understand the temporal developmental needs for students of Color along multiple pathways to the professoriate.

scholarly journals Who Creates a Google Scholar Profile?

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-520
Author(s):  
Hannah June Kim ◽  
Bernard Grofman
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Google Scholar ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Tenure Track Faculty ◽  
Early Career Faculty ◽  
Citation Counts ◽  
Science Departments ◽  
Highly Cited

ABSTRACTThis article uses data collected from Google Scholar to identify characteristics of scholars who have chosen to create a Google Scholar profile. Among tenured and tenure-track faculty with full-time appointments in PhD-granting political science departments, we find that only 43.7% have created a profile. However, among R1 faculty, young and early-career faculty are more likely to have Google Scholar profiles than those in older cohorts. Although subfield differences are largely nonexistent, there is a notably low proportion of theory faculty with profiles and a slightly higher proportion with profiles among methodologists. Moreover, within cohorts, those who are highly cited are more likely to have profiles than those who have low citation counts. We conclude by discussing implications of our findings, the increasing usage of Google Scholar and profiles, and the increasing importance of an online presence in the academy.

Novice Academic Roles: The Value of Collegiate, Attendee-Driven Writing Networks

10.28945/4700 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 149-170
Author(s):  
Sue Wilson ◽  
Jennifer Cutri
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Doctoral Degree ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Research Dissemination ◽  
The Impact

Aim/Purpose: This particular study aims to contribute to the recent scholarly inquiry of doctoral student identity work within collegiate, attendee-driven writing networks. The study closely explores the implementation and impact of supportive measures in academia for novice researchers in the form of writing events. This paper draws on two case studies of doctoral students reflecting on the impact of their participation in social, academic literacy networks. The project also explores how these individuals were able to think about and mediate their own identities as they developed their reputations as experts in their field. Background: Completing a doctoral degree is a rich, rewarding endeavour; however, it is also a challenging process. Novice academics are vulnerable to psychosocial and emotional stresses associated with being an academic within the highly competitive environment, such as isolation and burnout. More recently, scholarly interest has emerged regarding the academy’s pressures upon novice researchers, such as those entering full-time academic roles after completing their doctoral studies. Methodology: A qualitative research design was implemented where data collection for this project involved in-depth semi-structured interviewing. The nature of the semi-structured interviews enabled professional dialogue with each participant. The semi-structured nature of the interviews enabled flexibility where follow-up questions and probes allowed for richer data gathering. Data analysis occurred within a sociocultural framework. Contribution: Explicitly focusing on doctoral students, we build upon existing knowledge and understanding of how novice academic writers negotiate, interpret, and understand the impact of their research dissemination and roles. While exploring how these individuals think about and mediate their identities during the initial period of asserting their reputations as experts in the field, this study looks at how collegiate, attendee-driven writing networks can support novice academics to meet the demands for quality research dissemination and strive to meet the metrics expected of them. Findings: This research has found that novice researchers who thrive on social interaction may often find collegiality lacking in their professional lives. Furthermore, those who can find a support network that fosters positive self-belief and provides a means for sharing successes benefit from countless opportunities for empowerment as novice researchers work through their doctorates. Recommendations for Practitioners: This research confirms and provides details around how a collegiate atmosphere for novice academics helps mitigate feelings of isolation, vulnerability, and a lack of self-confidence in their scholastic ability. Overcoming such feelings occurs through learning from peers, overcoming isolation and learning self-managing techniques. Therefore, establishing spaces for collegiate, attendee-driven writing events within doctoral settings is encouraged. Recommendation for Researchers: Further research into the benefits of collegiate, attendee-driven writing events and supporting the process of academic writing and dissemination can focus on transdisciplinary writing groups, as this particular study was centred within a specific faculty. Impact on Society: Within the neoliberal context of higher education, novice academics can benefit from attendee-driven writing events intended to empower them and provide growth opportunities. Through participation in collegiate, attendee driven writing networks, which are social and peer-based, we show that novice academics can learn how to combat unsettling feelings of perfectionism, isolation, fear of inadequacy, and failure. The social element is central to understanding how writers can increase their productivity and dissemination by writing alongside peers. Future Research: Novice researchers also represent early career researchers; thus, exploring collegiate, attendee-driven writing events for practicing academics is also encouraged. As noted above, exploring the potential of transdisciplinary writing networks would also be of value.

scholarly journals The Manuscript Dissertation: A Means of Increasing Competitive Edge for Tenure-track Faculty Positions

10.28945/4093 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 273-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sydney Freeman Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
Competitive Edge ◽  
Tenure Track Faculty ◽  
Doctoral Candidate ◽  
Peer Reviewers ◽  
Academic Job Market

Aim/Purpose: The traditional doctoral dissertation is the first major research project that is led by doctoral students, but it does not necessarily prepare them to publish shorter articles in journals. The manuscript dissertation provides a way for doctoral students to establish themselves as researchers while gaining the experience of developing peer-reviewed manuscripts before graduation, thus enhancing career opportunities as tenure-track faculty. Background: This paper demonstrates how the manuscript dissertation can be employed to increase doctoral student publications before graduation. Methodology: This article uses autoethnography to describe the process and results of writing a manuscript dissertation. Contribution: This paper contrasts dissertation styles, explaining the benefits and challenges of the manuscript dissertation option in particular. Findings: I found that it was important to have an influential and established dissertation chair, develop credibility by displaying competence and clear goals, being curious about what you don’t know may be an asset and to be humble and comfortable with sharing what you don’t know. I also discuss the personal benefits I gained from developing a manuscript dissertation including producing refereed articles earlier, committee members serve as peer-reviewers of your chapters and gaining the opportunity to learn and master multiple methodological approaches. I also shared the challenges I encountered during my dissertation process which included, committee members not being familiar with and not being willing to invest the time to support me in developing the manuscript dissertation, the timeframe for completion of my dissertation was extended, and balancing my responsibilities as a doctoral candidate. I also discussed challenges that I had not experienced but still could be an issue for others utilizing this style of dissertation including, insuring the cohesion of publications and having the copyediting support. Recommendations for Practitioners: Dissertation advisors and chairs should consider recommending the manuscript dissertation to doctoral students interested in gaining the experience of developing peer-reviewed manuscripts and becoming tenure-track faculty. Recommendation for Researchers: Doctoral students interested in becoming tenure-track faculty should consider the manuscript dissertation option as a means of producing publications before graduation, thus increasing competitive edge in the academic job market. Impact on Society: Publication before graduation will help young scholars to produce high-quality research earlier in their academic careers. Future Research: Future research should examine the prevalence of the manuscript dissertation, allowing researchers to determine where and how commonly it is used.

scholarly journals Grounded Theory: A Guide for a New Generation of Researchers

10.28945/4836 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 553-568
Author(s):  
Mengye Yu ◽  
Simon M Smith
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Framework ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Career Research ◽  
New Generation

Aim/Purpose: Grounded Theory (GT) has grown and developed into several strands making its application all the more problematic, argumentative and remaining potentially as a research methodology to avoid when it comes to doctoral research, early-career research. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to revisit GT as a general approach and present an evolved and more considered step-by-step guide to conduct research using this methodology. A leadership development context is applied in this paper to examine how this methodology could work for a new generation of researchers, i.e., new to doctoral research or an early career researcher. Background: Since its academic inception in the seminal text in 1967 (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), GT has emerged and developed to become a popular choice for researchers contemplating qualitative data approaches amongst a variety of subject backgrounds. However, the divergent development and criticized approaches within GT families can lead researchers to avoid such a research methodology. This can especially be the case within doctoral research or other early-career research. Indeed, a specific/explicit GT guideline or framework to assist doctoral students in conducting GT research does not currently exist. Methodology: There is a general review of GT approaches followed by theoretical development of a framework and an applied doctoral example. Contribution: The three evolved methods in GT research and the developed supporting author-designed three-phase research framework will contribute to two aspects. Firstly, the step-by-step guideline can reduce the sense of confusion within an area where criticisms and conflicting approaches exist. This will hopefully assist the next generation of GT researchers in conducting their research through detailed processes and applications. Secondly, there is arguably a need for more GT applications and evolvements to further enrich the body of knowledge that exists in this area and further support a diversity of subject research. Findings: The authors outline numerous differences and similarities within divergent GT practices. By integrating Glaser’s four core principles and three evolved methods, the authors design a three-phase research framework that presents a transparent step-by-step guide. This framework attempts to mitigate criticisms within GT approaches whilst maintaining clarity, flexibility, depth, and rigour within a study. Recommendations for Practitioners: Three GT evolvements (the two-step literature review method, two-step open-coding method, and two-step theory-constitute method) provides greater clarity within a rigorous author-designed three-phase research framework that demonstrates a transparent step-by-step guide. These techniques can encourage a new generation of GT researcher through confident and structured analytical techniques. Recommendation for Researchers: We hope the presented framework and concise view of GT in action will inspire other doctoral students and new GT researchers to conduct GT research following an evolved GT framework. Impact on Society: The debates and innovations around GT, like in this paper, are needed within a methodological society to keep the area contemporary and constantly evolving. Future Research: The framework presented will need further testing beyond the parameters set out here. We hope future research can adopt the evolved GT techniques and procedures to enforce research quality overall and inspire further GT methodological developments.

scholarly journals Left Out in the Academic Field: Doctoral Graduates Deal with a Decade of Disappearing Jobs

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Acker ◽  
Eve Haque
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Sociology Of Education ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Doctoral Graduates ◽  
Academic Field

In 2001–2002, the authors of this article interviewed 31 ethno-culturally diverse doctoral students about their experiences in a sociology of education program at a Canadian university. Approximately 10 years later, in a second qualitative study, we had the chance to conduct semi-structured interviews with 13 of the former students to find out what had happened to them in the intervening years. Two of the 13 had become tenured academics, three were on the tenure track after years in temporary positions, and most of the others worked in the contingent sector of the academic labour market. Bourdieu’s concepts of “habitus” and “field” are particularly useful for our analysis, and we explore the tensions between these concepts for our participants.

scholarly journals Ranking of Accounting Doctoral Programs Based on Student Ratings in Ratemyprofessors.com and the Effect of Formal Teaching Training on the Rankings

10.28945/4252 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 307-324
Author(s):  
Kam C Chan ◽  
Barbara R Farrell ◽  
Patricia Healy ◽  
Annie Wong
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Doctoral Program ◽  
Student Ratings ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Doctoral Graduates ◽  
Program Administrators

Aim/Purpose: Although there are calls for better teaching training for accounting doctoral students, there are limited research findings on rankings of accounting doctoral programs based on the teaching effectiveness of their graduates. Background: There are two research objectives of this study. First, we rank the US accounting doctoral programs based on the student perceptions of the teaching effectiveness of their graduates using student ratings in ratemyprofessors.com. Second, we examine whether the ranking is associated with the presence of formal teaching training in the doctoral programs. Methodology: Overall quality ratings posted in ratemyprofessors.com are collected for 822 accounting professors who graduated in 2001-10 from 75 US accounting doctoral programs. The curriculum information is collected from the web pages of their doctoral programs. Contribution: This study fills two voids in the literature. Unlike previous accounting doctoral studies that rank programs based on the amount of research output of the graduates, this paper ranks programs based on the perceived teaching effectiveness of the graduates. It also adds insights into the importance of offering formal teaching training to doctoral students, which is called for by the AACSB. Findings: We find that the teaching ranking in this study is only mildly related to previous research rankings that were based on the research output of doctoral graduates. We also find that doctoral programs with higher rankings in this study are more likely to have formal teaching training in their programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: Given the findings in this study and the literature, accounting doctoral program administrators should incorporate or strengthen a formal teaching training component in doctoral programs. Recommendation for Researchers: There is a need for researchers on doctoral program evaluations to broaden their scope of assessment to include both teaching scholarship and research output of the doctoral graduates. Impact on Society: The findings in this study show that there is limited formal teaching training for accounting doctoral students, which is consistent with results in the literature of other fields. This study echoes the calls for more training on how to teach to improve the teaching ability of the graduates. When doctoral graduates become more effective professors, the learning outcome among college students can be improved as a result. Future Research: Future research can explore other better and more direct measures of teaching effectiveness in the evaluation of the accounting doctoral graduates and the accounting doctoral programs. The effect and the methods of more innovative pedagogical training on doctoral students can also be examined.

Supports and barriers to new faculty researcher development

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Gonzalez ◽  
Kelly L. Wester ◽  
L. DiAnne Borders
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
New Faculty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Researcher Development ◽  
Early Career Faculty ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Depending on their institutional context, for new faculty members to successfully manage their transition from doctoral studies to early career, they must show potential as researchers. The purpose of this study was to learn about supports and barriers to researcher development in new faculty members. Design/methodology/approach The investigators solicited open-ended responses from early career faculty members (N = 49) in an online survey. Content analysis was used to provide an initial categorization of supports and barriers identified by the participants. Findings Ten barrier categories (e.g. lack of resources, previous training, lack of mentoring, workload) and eight support categories (e.g. effective research collaborations, supportive university environment, funding) were identified. Research limitations/implications Findings were framed with a social cognitive conceptual model, which parallels previous studies in doctoral research training environments and research productivity and builds on our knowledge of early career faculty development. The study was limited in terms of number of participants and online response format. Practical implications Practical implications to minimize barriers and enhance supports for new faculty researcher development were identified (also drawing from the conceptual model, SCCT). Originality/value Thus, the study has value for university policymakers, administrators, faculty peers, research mentors and assistant professors or doctoral students seeking to develop as researchers.

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