Mentoring
Graduate Students for Faculty Roles
Cecilia
Shore, Miami University
APS
Teaching Institute, Atlanta, May 2003
I. The mismatch
between doctoral training and expectations of new faculty
a. Graduate education
generally
b. Graduate training
in Psychology
II. What are we doing
about it?
a. General
recommendations for improving the preparation of graduate students for faculty
roles
b. Sample
programmatic efforts to enhance professional development of future faculty
III. Benefits/Effectiveness of academic
professional development programs
I. The mismatches among graduate student
expectations, doctoral training, and actual careers
(Gaff, 2002; Golde & Dore, 2001)
·
Reflect on the experiences of new faculty members
o
Trower,
Austin & Sorcinelli (2001). Early
career faculty report “an incomprehensible tenure system, a lack of community,
and an unbalanced life.”
o
This
personal cost is symptomatic of a broader malaise.
·
Graduate student expectations, and the training
they receive, are not consistent with actual jobs available.
o
Of students who are interested in faculty
careers, 54% of graduate students indicated that they would like to work at a
large research-intensive university; only 4% preferred a comunity college. (Golde & Dore, 2001)
source:
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/Classification/CIHE2000/Tables.htm
“Doctoral students persist in pursuing careers
as faculty members, and graduate programs persist in preparing them for careers
at research universities… The result: Students are not well prepared to assume
the faculty positions that are available…”
(Golde & Dore, p. 5)
·
Graduate students are not prepared for faculty
responsibilities.
What do primarily undergraduate hiring
institutions expect of new faculty?
o
Teaching is
a “must”.
|
Generally 8-12 SCH/semester.
|
Smaller class sizes.
|
|
Address needs of a wide variety of students
without sacrificing academic rigor.
|
Expectation of creative, active-learning
pedagogy.
|
|
Engage in course/ curricular design.
|
Supervise independent study, field work.
|
|
Lower-division survey courses for majors and
non-majors, interdisciplinary and general education courses.
|
|
Integrate general undergraduate educational
goals such as service learning, multicultural perspectives and information
literacy.
|
|
May be expected to write grants for teaching
equipment, engage in scholarship of teaching
|
o
Research:
|
Range from “stay informed about your field” to
“develop fundable research that involves undergraduates”.
|
|
May value applied research engaged with the
community, or interdisciplinary work.
|
|
Less time, resources & technical
assistance
|
|
Fewer collaborators in your discipline
|
o
Service:
|
Availability to students for advising on a
wide variety of issues
|
Commitment to institutional mission and role
of institution in community.
|
|
Involvement in campus or community events.
|
Collegial—bring out the best in colleagues.
|
|
Committee service and governance requires
awareness of issues such as curriculum, working conditions, distribution of
resources, and concomitant internal political conflicts.
|
(Adams, 2002; Bushey,
Lycan & Videtich, 2001, Meacham, 2002).
Are graduate students prepared to do these
things?
Survey of 4000 doctoral students at 27
universities (Golde & Dore, 2001)
Teaching
|
Have you been prepared by your program to:
|
% “very much”
(vs. somewhat, not at all)
|
|
Teach discussion sections
|
57.9
|
|
Teach lecture course
|
36.1
|
|
Create inclusive classroom
|
28.0
|
|
Develop teaching philosophy
|
26.6
|
|
Incorporate information technology in
classroom
|
14.1
|
|
Teach specialized graduate courses
|
23.3
|
Research
|
Have you been prepared by your program to:
|
% “very much”
(vs. somewhat, not at all)
|
|
Conduct research
|
65.1
|
|
Publish research findings
|
42.9
|
|
Collaborate in interdisciplinary research
|
27.1
|
|
How clearly do you understand customary
practices regarding
|
% saying “very clear”
|
|
Using copyrighted material
|
55
|
|
Biosafety, human/animal subjects
|
41.9
|
|
Order of authorship
|
26.2
|
|
Appropriate use of research funds
|
25.8
|
|
Refereeing academic papers fairly
|
22.0
|
|
When & how to publish papers
|
20.3
|
Service/Citizenship
|
Have you been prepared by your program to:
|
% “very much”
(vs. somewhat, not at all)
|
|
Advise undergraduates
|
26.8
|
|
Apply expertise to community beyond campus
|
13.8
|
|
Review papers, serve on disciplinary society
committees
|
19.1
|
|
Serve on departmental/university committees
|
12.7
|
But, surely, psychology is doing better than
that—or are we?
Survey
of graduate students at 3 research universities (N=89) (Meyers, Reid &
Quina, 1998)
On
a 0-4 scale, students rated class management, academic life, ethical issues,
psychology content and research training between 2.4 and 2.60 in importance to
their preparation for a career in academia.
However, they rated the level of training they were receiving from 0.82
to 1.53.
In a recent national survey of psychology
graduate departments:
94% use TAs, 57% give TAs full course
responsibility.
43% offer a teaching seminar,
14% gave NO training or supervision to their
TAs. (Meyers & Prieto, 2000).
Preparation for the realities of faculty life:
Psychology faculty respondents indicated that TA
training does not typically encourage TAs to develop skills and attitudes that
have been found to be congruent with new faculty teaching success and
satisfaction.
1
(very great) to 5 (very little)
|
Skill/Attitude (Boice, 1991,1992)
|
Mean
|
SD
|
|
Involvement (immersion in campus life and
faculty activities)
|
3.6
|
1.1
|
|
Regimen (apportioning one’s time,
regimen of moderation, efficiency)
|
2.6
|
1.0
|
|
Self-management (learning to solve the right
problem and attend to the right task at the right time)
|
2.7
|
1.0
|
|
Social networks
(socializing on and off campus)
|
3.7
|
1.0
|
(Mueller,
Perlman, McCann & McFadden, 1997)
We’re all above
average…
National survey of psychology faculty
|
“New college professors often experience
adjustment problems because graduate training has not oriented them properly
toward their many job responsibilities”
|
65% agree or strongly agree
|
|
“The typical graduate of a conventional
doctoral program is well prepared to teach”
|
57% disagree, strongly disagree
|
↕ ?
|
Nonetheless, 70% report their TAs are
adequately or very adequately prepared for a faculty career (teaching,
scholarship, and other responsibilities) (M = 2.3, SD = 1.0, where 1 = very
adequately prepared and 5 = very inadequately prepared).
|
(Mueller,
Perlman, McCann & McFadden, 1997)
II.
What are we doing about it?
General recommendations for improving the
preparation of graduate students for faculty roles
(Adams, 2002; Boyer Commission; Council
on Undergraduate Research, 2003; Golde & Dore, 2001; Meyers et al. 1998)
Items with * noted as particularly valuable by
alumni (DeNeef, 2002)
Teaching
o
Give students time to adapt to graduate school
before teaching.
o
Recognize developmental changes in teaching
competence--Provide doctoral students with successively more independent
teaching experiences (Sprague & Nyquist, 1989).
*
If possible, provide opportunities to teach at a
different institution, to teach different types of
classes—lecture/lab/discussion, both majors and non-majors, and/or interdisciplinary
courses.
o
Provide one or more of the following supports:
seminars in teaching, thoughtful supervision from the professor assigned to the
course, mentoring by experienced teachers, and regular discussions of classroom
problems with peers.
o
Familiarize graduate student teachers with new
pedagogies (e.g., active learning), and curricular goals such as
service-learning, multiculturalism, information literacy.
*
Help graduate student teachers learn to address
the learning needs of students from diverse backgrounds.
*
Provide opportunities to observe/learn from
outstanding teachers, particularly those at predominantly undergraduate
institutions.
o
Compensation for TAs should reflect more
adequately the time and effort expected. Financial awards should be established
for outstanding teaching assistants.
*
Assist students to articulate their philosophy
of teaching, assess their own effectiveness & develop a professional
portfolio.
o
Legitimatize teaching and the scholarship of
teaching by inclusion in the colloquium/brown-bag schedule.
o
Familiarize graduate student teachers with
resources to support their development as teachers, e.g., campus
teaching-learning center, STP.
Research
o
Of course, doctoral students should have
experience in conducting publishable research, presenting it at conferences and
writing it for refereed journals. They
should also have experience in writing grant proposals.
o
Raise awareness of potential limitations on
research time & support at hiring institutions. Encourage students to consider how to adapt, e.g., use
alternative methods.
o
Doctoral students should have exposure to lab
management issues such as hiring, ordering supplies, scheduling, etc.
o
Introduce graduate students to involving
undergraduates in their research, and mentoring student projects.
o
Introduce graduate students to professional
standards concerning authorships, refereeing of manuscripts, use of human subjects,
etc.
o
Provide opportunities to learn from, and,
ideally, collaborate with, researchers
in other disciplines and/or at institutions where this is not the primary
focus.
Service
*
Discuss issues such as: academic politics, the
impact of a visiting/term position on one’s career, problems experienced by
“token” faculty.
*
Involve students in governance and application
of expertise to the community. Attend faculty meetings at non-doctoral
institution.
o
Provide information about advising and career
paths for undergraduate majors.
*
Provide opportunities to learn from faculty at
non-doctoral institutions about service expectations, evaluation, reward &
tenure systems. Shadow a partner
faculty member through a day.
Career placement
o
Establish connections between career planning
office and department for workshops etc.
o
Allow opportunities for grad students to
practice job talks, both research presentations and teaching a sample
class.
o
Provide information/examples of cover letters,
vitas, teaching and research statements geared to different types of
institutions.
o
When writing letters of recommendation, be aware
of the type of institution and its desiderata.
o
Assess the effectiveness of your department in
preparing students for job searches.
*
Provide opportunities for students to discuss
hiring practices with faculty/chairs from predominantly undergraduate
institutions.
Overall
o
Assess departmental availability of professional
development opportunities and mentoring in all areas of faculty life.
o
Explicitly discuss professional ethics.
o
Encourage students to do interdisciplinary
coursework and collaboration.
o
Graduate courses need to emphasize oral and
written communication skills.
o
Encourage students to use technology in creative
ways.
*
Discuss connections among teaching, research and
service, and possibilities for integrating these.
o
Peer mentoring not only assists the junior
student, but also allows mentors to reflect on and articulate their strategies.
o
Make students aware of multiple types/pathways
of academic careers, e.g., part-time work, community colleges, virtual
universities, corporate universities, and continuing education programs.
o
Give students “permission to talk” about
their questions and concerns about the profession they are entering.
Sample programmatic efforts to improve doctoral
students’ preparation for faculty roles.
o
First step: Mentor novice teachers into greater
independence and deepening reflection.
§
Typical TA responsibilities and contents of
TA-training programs
·
Topics: Learning & Motivation, Leading
Discussions, Ethics and Professionalism, Grading. Practice: Writing lesson plans, Lecturing, Exams. (Lewis, 2003; Mueller,
Perlman, McCann & McFadden, 1997).
§
UNH has fully integrated preparation for
teaching into their psychology graduate curriculum.
·
Students initially give oral presentations and
assist faculty with teaching. In the
third year, they teach Intro and take a teaching seminar that includes
supervision. Fourth-years are
supervised while teaching a course in their specialty area. (Benassi &
Fernald, 1993.)
o
Professional development programs, e.g., the
Preparing Future Faculty national initiative: American Association of Colleges
and Universities, and the Council of Graduate Schools (Gaff,
Pruit—Logan & Weibl, 2000).
§
Build on TA training; emphasize balance among
teaching, research and service; create partnerships with non-doctoral
institutions; mentor students in their roles as future faculty (Tice,
1997).
§
American Psychological Association nurtured 4
model PFF programs: UNH, Colorado, Georgia, and Miami.
§
Miami’s program
o
Our partner institutions: Miami’s regional
campuses, in nearby Hamilton and Middletown, College of Mount Saint Joseph,
Northern Kentucky University, Earlham College
o
All members of the department may participate
in: colloquia on teaching, visits from alumni, “Tri-State
symposium”—undergraduate poster sessions, partner undergrads learn about grad
school, grad students learn about partner faculty roles.
o
Second-year students: Teaching Seminar/Practicum
o
Optional Continuing Supervision of Teaching
o
Advanced students may be chosen as “APA PFF
scholars: go to teaching conferences, do placement & receive mentoring on
partner campus, do individualized project
III. Benefits/Effectiveness
TA training programs
o
Increase TA confidence
o
Improve the quality of lectures
o
Increase TA ability to engage students
o
Increase student ratings
Lewis (2003)
Benefits
of PFF programs to grad students (Pruitt-Logan, Gaff & Weibl, 1998):
understanding faculty roles, awareness of diverse institutions, ability to
compete in the job market, teaching knowledge, institutional governance,
ability to work with diverse students.
Benefits to doctoral institutions (Lee, 2000)
Impacts indices of graduate program quality:
·
Placement and quality of placement of alumni
·
Alumni satisfaction
·
Recruiting high-caliber students
·
Student diversity
Benefits to partner institutions
Opportunities for undergraduates to interact
with graduate students: youthful
enthusiasm, specialized expertise, role models and mentors for
undergraduates. Doctoral institutions
should seek out opportunities to benefit partners.
Reflection by APA PFF scholar:
In my two years of participation in
PFF, I have gained a lot of valuable experience with, and knowledge of, all
that being a college professor entails. I have taught and been involved at two
local colleges, and have thus been afforded the opportunity to see what being a
faculty member is like in a variety of settings, and just how much faculty life
can differ by institution. I feel I am better prepared for the job search and
how to best match my interests and qualifications; I know what I want in a job
and feel better prepared to get it. Many of the things I have learned through
PFF-related activities I had never even thought to consider before; they were
things I didn’t know that I didn’t know. I would recommend PFF for anyone even
considering an academic career.
Useful
web links:
|
http://www.preparing-faculty.org/
|
Preparing
Future Faculty
|
|
http://www.cgsnet.org/
|
Council
of Graduate Schools
|
|
http://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/gradfaculty.html"
target="_blank"
|
APA's
website on faculty development has links to resources on topics such as:
academic careers, mentoring, and teaching portfolios.
|
|
http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/
|
Re-envisioning
the Ph.D.
|
|
http://socsci.uwosh.edu/teaching/tchngrsrch.htm"
target="_blank"
|
Research
on teaching and professional development by psychologists Baron Perlman &
Lee McCann.
|
|
http://teachpsych.lemoyne.edu/teachpsych/div/divindex.html
|
Society
for Teaching of Psychology
|
|
http://chronicle.com/
|
The
Chronicle of Higher Education has an excellent Career Network area with
advice
|
|
http://www.users.muohio.edu/shorec/apapff/apapff.htm
|
Miami’s
psychology PFF program
|
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