Perceived Stress Among Faculty and First Year Students at a College of Pharmacy

Purpose: Female faculty and students could be affected by stressors disproportionately compared to male counterparts, especially those with children or family obligations. A study was undertaken to determine: 1) stress levels of pharmacy faculty and first-year pharmacy students; 2) whether gender affected faculty and/or student stress levels disproportionally; and 3) how child and family care responsibilities influenced stress levels. Methods: All first-year (P1) students enrolled in a College of Pharmacy were surveyed along with faculty. Stress levels were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10). Additional demographic information, including items related to children and family obligations, was collected. Results: Faculty reported average perceived stress levels (M=15.50) while first-year students reported high perceived stress levels (M=21.14). Perceived stress levels of female faculty (M=16.43) were higher than those of male faculty (M=12.00). Perceived stress levels of female students (M=22.60) were higher than those of male students (M=16.78). Perceived stress levels of female faculty with younger children (M=18.85) were higher than those of male faculty with younger children (M=9.67). Perceived stress levels of female students with ≥10 hours of family obligations per week (M=22.71) were higher than male pharmacy students with ≥10 hours (M=12.80). Conclusion: Lower levels of perceived stress for faculty compared to students may be due to the development of coping strategies coinciding with maturity. Results suggest more time spent on family obligations is negatively associated with stress levels for females, but not males. Colleges of pharmacy should invest resources to help reduce stress levels in faculty and student populations, particularly for the female gender.

Investigation of Faculty Members’ Emotional Intelligence

<p style="text-align: justify;">The main aim of the present study is to investigate the emotional intelligence of faculty members based on their career stage and gender. In the study, a mixed method was employed to determine the emotional intelligence of faculty members and to reach generalizable findings. The convenience sampling method was used in the quantitative study, while the quota sampling method was used in the qualitative section. The quantitative section sample included faculty members in various stages in their careers. In the qualitative dimension, the sample included faculty members who participated in the quantitative application. The quantitative study findings demonstrated that there were significant differences between the emotional intelligence competencies of female and male faculty members in the workplace based on the empathy and self-awareness dimensions. The qualitative study findings revealed that there were differences between the emotional intelligence dimensions, especially based on the career stage and gender. Recommendations are presented based on the study findings.</p>

It is not a man's world: perceptions by male faculty of the status and representation of their female colleagues

PurposeBy studying four public universities in Egypt, the author of this paper aims to identify how male faculty perceive the representation and status of their female colleagues.Design/methodology/approachThe author employed a qualitative research method via semi-structured interviews with 40 male academics in addition to five focus group discussions with an additional 20 male academics. The author subsequently used thematic analysis to determine the main ideas in the transcripts.FindingsThe findings confirmed that women faculty are not under-represented at professorial levels, but they are denied administrative academic positions, such as rectors and deans in universities. The author also discovered that the social norms shaping both national and organizational culture in Egypt create a cultural bias against women faculty.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first of its kind in the context of a developing nation to focus on the status and representation of women faculty from the perspective of male colleagues, and subsequently, it is the first to address the higher education sector in one of the leading developing nations in Africa and the Middle East. This paper contributes by filling a gap in HR management and higher education, in which empirical studies that address male faculty to identify their perceptions of the status and representation of their female colleagues have been limited so far.

LONGER MASTICATION CYCLES TEND TO LOWER POST-PRANDIAL BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic syndrome occurred because of the lack of insulin hormone secretion or some factors disturbing insulin hormone or both of them. The mastication cycle is one of the factors related to the increasing in blood glucose. The research aims to analyse the relation between mastication cycle and DM risk factor on Faculty of Medicine students, Universitas Islam Bandung. The methodology was an experimental study. The subjects were 18 male Faculty of Medicine, Unisba, who fulfil the inclusive and exclusive criteria. First, scanning was conducted to know DM risk by questioners. Those students were divided into three groups of mastication cycle (15,30,45 cycle). Each group consisted of six students. The result showed that the tendency of average blood sugar was lower in the group with 45 cycles of mastication, compared to 30 and 15 cycles (86.5 vs 89.5 vs 92 mg/dL). However, according to a statistical calculation, there was no significant relationship between the mastication cycle and blood glucose (P =0.413; P>0.05). The average blood insulin level of 45 times the mastication cycle was the lowest compared to 30 and 15 mastication cycles (2.44 vs 2.97 vs 3.58 µg/ml). The result was that the mastication cycle was longer than the initial insulin release to work in the cell more effectively. In conclusion, DM needs to do more cycle in mastication food to maintain glucose in the blood.

U.S. radiation oncology and medical oncology department faculty diversity trends by sex and underrepresented in medicine status over five decades.

11010 Background: Academic faculty are critical in training future generations of oncologists to care for our increasingly diverse cancer patient population. It is unclear if the growing imperative to address disparities in racial/ethnic and gender representation in the medical field has resulted in corresponding progress in the composition of academic radiation and medical oncology (RO, MO) departments. Herein we report trends in faculty diversity, overall and by academic rank, among US radiation and medical oncologists over the past 5 decades. Methods: Data were acquired from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Faculty Roster between 1970-2019 for academic RO and MO departments to determine sex and race/ethnicity trends over five decades. Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) was defined as individuals identifying as Black, Hispanic, and Native American. Linear regression models were used to estimate slopes and associated p-values. Results: Total faculty complements grew over time in both RO and MO departments. The number of URM female faculty increased by 0.85/year in RO and 0.79/year in MO (P-trend<0.001), compared to non-URM female faculty, which increased by 11.3/year in RO and 7.9 in MO (P-trend<0.001). URM male faculty increased by 1.4/year in RO and 1.1/year in MO (P-trend<0.001), compared to non-URM male faculty, which increased by 25.5/year for RO and 12.2/year for MO (P-trend<0.001). Males represented the majority of URM and non-URM faculty for both RO and MO. The proportion of females grew more than the proportion of URM faculty over the study period for both RO and MO. There were also significant differences in diversity by faculty rank. Although MO outperformed RO in terms of the proportion of female faculty members with more advanced rank, female faculty members had a lower academic rank than their male counterparts in both specialties. At every rank, there was a low number of URM faculty represented among both MO and RO (Table). Conclusions: Gender and racial/ethnic diversity of academic RO and MO faculty has increased over time but has not kept pace with the diversity of the US population served, particularly with respect to URM status. The proportion of female faculty in both specialties demonstrates more promising growth, and may inform measures to achieve similar progress in recruiting and retaining URM faculty in both MO and RO.[Table: see text]

Ready to Do OpenCourseWare? A Comparative Study of Taiwan College Faculty

This study aimed to address the teaching readiness issues of OpenCourseWare (OCW). Specifically, the research goal was to examine Taiwanese college faculty members’ level of teaching readiness for OCW via a questionnaire named “Teaching Readiness Scale for OCW” (TRS-OCW). A total of 142 Taiwanese college faculty members both with and without OCW teaching experience participated in this study. The results showed that faculty members with OCW teaching experience had significantly higher readiness levels in the factors of perception of administrative support, personal characteristics, and OCW recognition when compared to faculty members without OCW teaching experience. Male faculty members with OCW teaching experience had higher readiness than female faculty members with OCW teaching experience in the OCW recognition factor. Moreover, the job position of OCW-experienced faculty did not make a difference in any readiness factor. Finally, perceived administrative support was the only significant predictor of the willingness of college faculty without OCW teaching experience to provide OCW in the future.

The International Descriptive Study of Effective Methods for the Recruitment and the Retention of Faculty in the United States

This qualitative descriptive study explored what community college administrators and faculty described as being effective recruitment and retention methods for faculty at community colleges in the Northeastern United States. This study answered two research questions: what recruitment methods do administrators and American faculty at community colleges describe as being effective in the recruitment of American faculty? Also, what retention methods do administrators and American faculty at community colleges describe as being effective in the retention of American faculty? The researcher applied critical race theory to form a framework for best practices in recruiting and retaining American faculty. Data were obtained by interviewing six American faculty and surveying seven community college administrators employed at Massachusetts community colleges who were selected using purposive sampling and community college online staff directories. Using MAXQDA data analysis software, the researcher initiated data analysis using thematic analysis. Data were organized and analyzed to identify codes, categories, and themes. Data analysis resulted in six themes: hiring processes, faculty diversity, recruitment strategies, work environment, student and faculty relationships, and retention strategies. The findings of this study can benefit community college personnel by recommending recruitment and retention strategies to effectively recruit and retain American faculty. There was limited research and data available related to the recruitment and retention of African American male faculty at community colleges. The faculty and administrator participants of this study provided rich data on effective recruitment and retention methods for African American male faculty at community colleges. The critical race theory theoretical framework was summarized. Theoretical and practical implications emerged. Based on the data and new insights, implications for future research were discussed.