The impact of a faculty development program, the Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP), on self-efficacy, academic promotion and institutional retention

Background Academic medical centers invest considerably in faculty development efforts to support the career success and promotion of their faculty, and to minimize faculty attrition. This study evaluated the impact of a faculty development program called the Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP) on participants’ (1) self-ratings of efficacy, (2) promotion in academic rank, and (3) institutional retention. Method Participants from the 2013–2020 LAMP cohorts were surveyed pre and post program to assess their level of agreement with statements that spanned domains of self-awareness, self-efficacy, satisfaction with work and work environment. Pre and post responses were compared using McNemar’s tests. Changes in scores across gender were compared using Wilcoxon Rank Sum/Mann-Whitney tests. LAMP participants were matched to nonparticipant controls by gender, rank, department, and time of hire to compare promotions in academic rank and departures from the organization. Kaplan Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine differences. Results There were significant improvements in almost all self-ratings on program surveys (p < 0.05). Greatest improvements were seen in “understand the promotions process” (36% vs. 94%), “comfortable negotiating” (35% vs. 74%), and “time management” (55% vs. 92%). There were no statistically significant differences in improvements by gender, however women faculty rated themselves lower on all pre-program items compared to men. There was significant difference found in time-to-next promotion (p = 0.003) between LAMP participants and controls. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that LAMP faculty achieved next promotion more often and faster than controls. Cox-proportional-hazards analyses found that LAMP faculty were 61% more likely to be promoted than controls (hazard ratio [HR] 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16–2.23, p-value = 0.004). There was significant difference found in time-to-departure (p < 0.0001) with LAMP faculty retained more often and for longer periods. LAMP faculty were 77% less likely to leave compared to controls (HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.16–0.34, p < 0.0001). Conclusions LAMP is an effective faculty development program as measured subjectively by participant self-ratings and objectively through comparative improvements in academic promotions and institutional retention.

The Impact of a Faculty Development Program, the Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP), On Self-Efficacy, Academic Promotion and Institutional Retention

BackgroundAcademic medical centers invest considerably in faculty development efforts to support the career success and promotion of their faculty and to minimize faculty attrition. This study evaluated the impact of a faculty development program called the Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP) on participants’ (1) self-ratings of efficacy, (2) promotion in academic rank, and (3) institutional retention. MethodParticipants from the 2013-2020 LAMP cohorts were surveyed pre and post program to assess their level of agreement with statements that spanned domains of self-awareness, self-efficacy, satisfaction with work and work environment. Pre and post responses were compared using McNemar’s tests. Changes in scores across gender were compared using Wilcoxon Rank Sum/Mann-Whitney tests.LAMP participants were matched to nonparticipant controls by gender, rank, department, and time of hire to compare promotions in academic rank and departures from the organization. Kaplan Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine differences. ResultsThere were significant improvements in almost all self-ratings on program surveys (p < 0.05). Greatest improvements were seen in “understand the promotions process” (36% vs. 94%), “comfortable negotiating” (35% vs. 74%), and “time management” (55% vs. 92%). There were no statistically significant differences in improvements by gender, however women faculty rated themselves lower on all pre-program items than men.There was significant difference found in time-to-next promotion (p = 0.003) between LAMP participants and controls. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that LAMP faculty achieved next promotion more often and faster than controls. Cox-proportional-hazards analyses found that LAMP faculty were 61% more likely to get promoted than controls (hazard ratio [HR] 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16-2.23, p-value= 0.004).There was significant difference found in time-to-departure (p<0.0001) with LAMP faculty retained more often and for longer periods. LAMP faculty were 77% less likely to leave compared to controls (HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.16-0.34, p<0.0001).ConclusionsLAMP is an effective faculty development program as measured subjectively by participant self-ratings and objectively through comparative improvements in academic promotions and institutional retention.

Thinking Ahead

This chapter looks at current and emerging trends in coaching and also explores what near-term incremental improvements, innovations, and new developments to coaching models and strategies are on the horizon. The chapter also looks at how institutions can realign and innovate with positions and supports within their organizational structures that can help to support and optimize coaching performance and institutional retention rates. Chapter 7 also investigates a few new student success tools and technology options that offer promising strategies or approaches to improved retention through coaching. The chapter also explores some future research directions that should be explored in order to further develop the scholarship and academic literature in the area of retention and student success coaching.

Combining Academics and Social Engagement: A Major-Specific Early Alert Method to Counter Student Attrition in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Students are most likely to leave science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors during their first year of college. We developed an analytic approach using random forests to identify at-risk students. This method is deployable midway through the first semester and accounts for academic preparation, early engagement in university life, and performance on midterm exams. By accounting for cognitive and noncognitive factors, our method achieves stronger predictive performance than would be possible using cognitive or noncognitive factors alone. We show that it is more difficult to predict whether students will leave STEM than whether they will leave the institution. More factors contribute to STEM retention than to institutional retention. Early academic performance is the strongest predictor of STEM and institution retention. Social engagement is more predictive of institutional retention, while standardized test scores, goals, and interests are stronger predictors of STEM retention. Our approach assists universities to efficiently identify at-risk students and boost STEM retention.

Image Versus Text in PowerPoint Lectures: Who Does It Benefit?

Microsoft PowerPoint has become routine in higher education lectures, yet there is very little research on the effectiveness of text in slides, which is primarily what is used. The current study assessed student satisfaction with images versus text slides in PowerPoint lectures across several classes of one professor in the social work department at a large public university. The survey was sent to 123 BSW students who were instructed by the researcher with PowerPoint lectures that involved primarily images versus text. Seventy-eight students completed the survey for a response rate of 63%. Results indicated that students overwhelmingly reported that images in PowerPoint lectures enhanced their learning. However, further analyses indicated that being African American is negatively associated with enhancing their learning using images. This is important because of the increase in African American students enrolling in college and low institutional retention rates of underrepresented students.

Factors Influencing Achievement in Undergraduate Social Science Research Methods Courses

Undergraduate social science research methods courses tend to have higher than average rates of failure and withdrawal. Lack of success in these courses impedes students’ progression through their degree programs and negatively impacts institutional retention and graduation rates. Grounded in adult learning theory, this mixed methods study examines the factors that influence student achievement in these courses among a sample of 724 social science students. Quantitative results indicate math self-concept, the belief that being good at math is necessary for success in the course; anxiety; attributions of course utility; learning approach; and GPA predict perceived learning. Qualitative results suggest students’ research self-concepts shape whether they take a deep learning approach (leaning in) or a surface learning approach (resistance) to the course. Course instructors also impact students’ perceptions of learning.

The Value of Academic Libraries: Library Services as a Predictor of Student Retention

This study examined the predictive relationship between library use by individual students and their retention status in university settings. The methodology builds on a small number of previous studies to examine library use at the individual level to determine if use of specific library services is predictive of retention for freshmen and sophomores. Binary logistic regression yielded results that indicate a strong positive predictive relationship between library use of any kind with both freshmen and sophomore retention. These results suggest that academic libraries add value to institutional retention efforts.