Abstract
I used variations of Astin's involvement model to guide a study of four cohorts of women and minorities as new faculty: two groups from a comprehensive university and two of them from a research campus. The two least demanding levels of inquiry for both interviewer and interviewee—unstructured and structured—provided rich descriptions of disappointments, problems, and values that distinguished nontraditional new hires from a matched sample of white male newcomers. More demanding levels of inquiry and analysis—a New Faculty Faring Index with 20 rating dimensions and a repeated exercise in career mapping—distinguished successful and unsuccessful new faculty in ways that suggest reliable sequences of career fault lines and specific interventions to avoid them. Thus, the most useful interviews were the most involving. Involvement notions also predicted the outcome of new faculty experiences: women and minorities tended to be less effectively immersed in their campuses and in self-help actions than were white males, but nontraditional newcomers who managed the highest levels of involvement evidenced the most promise for successful careers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, M. C., and Wadsworth, E. (1989).The Role of the Faculty in Meeting the National Need for African American, American Indian, and Latino Scholars. Stony Brook: State University of New York.
Aisenberg, N., and Harrington, M. (1988).Women of Academe: Outsiders in the Sacred Grove. Amherst: University of Massachusetts.
Astin, A. (1985).Achieving Educational Excellence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Austin, A. (1990).To Leave an Indelible Mark: Encouraging Good Teaching in Research Universities Through Faculty Development. Nashville: Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.
Baldwin, R. G., and Blackburn, R. T. (1981). The academic career as a development process.Journal of Higher Education 52: 598–614.
Banks, W. M. (1984). Afro-American scholars in the university: Roles and conflicts.American Behavioral Scientist 27: 325–328.
Basow, S. A. and Silberg, N. (1986). Goodbye Ms. Chips.Psychology Today, May 16.
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 42: 155–162.
Blackburn, R. T., Beiber, J. P., Lawrence, J. H. and Trautvetter, L. (1991). Faculty at work: Focus on research, scholarship, and service.Research in Higher Education 32: 385–413.
Blackburn, R. T., and Havighurst, R. J. (1979). Career patterns of male social scientists.Higher Education 8: 553–572.
Blackburn, R. T., and Wylie, N. R. (1990). Current appointments and tenure practices: Their impact on new faculty careers.CUPA Journal 41(3): 9–20.
Blackwell, J. E. (1981). Mainstreaming Outsiders. Bayside, NY: General Hall.
Blum, D. E. (1991). Environment still hostile to women in academe, new evidence indicates.Chronicle of Higher Education 38(7): A1, A20.
Boehrer, J., and Kugel, P. (1991)How College Professors Develop: A Scheme. Cambridge, MA: J. F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Boice, R. (1983). Observational skills.Psychological Bulletin 93: 3–29.
Boice, R. (1987). Is released time an effective component of faculty development programs?Research in Higher Education 26: 311–326.
Boice, R. (1989). Procrastination, busyness, and bingeing.Behavior Research and Therapy 27: 605–611.
Boice, R. (1990a). Mentoring new faculty: A program for implementation.Journal of Staff, Program, and Organization Development 8: 143–160.
Boice, R. (1990b).Professors as Writers. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.
Boice, R. (1991a). New faculty as teachers.Joural of Higher Education 62: 150–173.
Boice, R. (1991b). Quick starters.New Directions for Teaching and Learning 48: 111–121.
Boice, R. (1992a). Lessons learned about mentoring.New Directions for Teaching and Learning, in M. D. Sorcinelli and A. E. Austin (eds.),Developing New and Junior Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 51–61.
Boice, R. (1992b).The New Faculty Member. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Boice, R. (1992c). What retrospective inquiries reveal about the origins of midcareer disillusionment. Paper presented at AAHE, April 7, Chicago.
Boice, R. (1992d). Writing blocks and tacit knowledge.Journal of Higher Education, 64: 19–54.
Brinko, K. T. (1991). The interactions of teaching improvement.New Directions for Teaching and Learning 48: 39–49.
Clark, B. R. (1987).The Academic Life: Small Worlds, Different Worlds. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Clark, S. M., and Corcoran, M. (1986). Perspectives on the professional socialization of women faculty: A case of accumulative disadvantage?Journal of Higher Education 57: 20–43.
Cohen, A. G., and Gutek, B. A. (1991). Sex differences in the career experiences of members of two APA divisions.American Psychologist 46: 1292–1298.
Creswell, J. W. (1985).Faculty Research Performance: Lessons from the Sciences and Social Sciences. Washington, DC: Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Dreher, G. F., and Bretz, R. D. (1991). Cognitive ability and career attainment: Moderating effects of early career studies.Journal of Applied Psychology 76: 392–397.
Etzioni, A. (1976).A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations. New York: Free Press.
Exum, W. M. (1983). Climbing the crystal stair: Values, affirmative action, and minority faculty.Social Problems 30: 301–324.
Exum, W. H., Menges, R. J., Watkins, B., and Berglund, P. (1984). Making it at the top: Women and minority faculty in the academic labor market.American Behavioral Scientist 27: 301–324.
Feldman, K. A., and Newcomb, T. M. (1969).The Impact of College on Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fink, L. D. (1985).The First Year of College Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990.
Finkelstein, M. J. (1984).The American Academic Profession. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Flower, L. S. (1990). The role of task representation in reading-to-write. In L. Flower, V. Stein, J. Ackerman, M. J. Kantz, K. McCormick, and W. C. Peck (eds.),Reading-to-Write. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 33–75.
Fox, M. F. (1985). Location, sex-typing, and salary among academics.Work and Occupations 12: 186–205.
Gainen, J. (1993). Writing support groups for women faculty. In J. Gainen and R. Boice (eds.),Building a Diverse Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 91–100.
Gardner, J., and Jewler, A. J. (1992).Your College Year Experience: Strategies for Success. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Glenwick, D. S., Johansson, S. L., and Bondy, J. (1978). A comparison of the self-images of female and male assistant professors.Sex Roles 4: 513–524.
Jarvis, D. K. (1991).Junior Faculty Development. New York: Modern Language Association.
Johnsrud, L. K., and Atwater, C. D. (1991).Barriers to Retention and Tenure at UH-Manoa: The Experiences of Faculty Cohorts 1982–1988. Manoa: University of Hawaii.
Kurz, R. S., Mueller, J. J., Gibbons, J. L., and DiCataldo, F. (1989). Faculty performance: Suggestions for the refinement of the concept and its measurement.Journal of Higher Education 60: 43–58.
Landino, R. A., and Owen, S. V. (1988). Self-efficacy in university faculty.Journal of Vocational Behavior 33: 1–14.
Leiter, M. P. (1991). Coping patterns as predictors of burnout: The function of control and escapist patterns.Journal of Organizational Behavior 12: 123–144.
Lewis, K. G. (1991). Gathering data for the improvement of teaching.New Directions for Teaching and Learning 48: 65–82.
Lucas, R., and Harrington, M. K. (1991). Workshops on writing blocks increase proposal activity.To Improve the Academy 9: 139–146.
Mann, M. P. (1987). Developmental models of faculty careers: A critique of research and theory.To Improve the Academy 6: 19–32.
Moxley, J. (1992).Publish, or Perish. New York: Greenwood Press.
National Center for Educational Statistics (1989).Digest of Educational Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
North, J. D., and Munson, J. W. (1990). Promoting faculty health and wellness. In J. H. Schuster and D. W. Wheeler (eds.),Enhancing Faculty Careers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 106–122.
Olsen, D. (1991). Gender and racial diversity.To Improve the Academy 10: 123–139.
Pace, C. (1984).Measuring the Quality of College Student Experiences. Los Angeles: UCLA.
Pascarella, E. T., and Terenzini, P. T. (1991).How College Affects Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Patitu, C. L., and Tack, M. (1991). Job satisfaction of Afro-American faculty in higher education. Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Boston, November 1.
Perkins, D. N. (1981).The Mind's Best Work. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rothblum, E. D. (1988). Leaving the ivory tower: Factors contributing to women's voluntary resignation from academia.Frontiers 10(2): 236–241.
Schoen, L. G., and Winocur, S. (1988). An investigation of the self-efficacy of male and female academics.Journal of Vocational Behavior 32: 307–328.
Schulman, P., Castellon, C., and Seligman, M. E. P. (1989). Assessing explanatory style: The content analysis of verbatim explanations.Behavior Research and Therapy 27: 505–512.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1991).Learned Optimism. New York: A. A. Knopf.
Sheridan, J. E., Slocum, J. W., Buda, R., and Thompson, R. C. (1990). Effects of corporate sponsorship and departmental power on career tournaments.Academy of Management Journal 33: 578–602.
Simeone, A. (1980).Academic Women: Working Towards Equality. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.
Simpson, R. D., and Jackson, W. K. (1990). A multidimensional approach to faculty vitality. In J. H. Schuster and D. W. Wheeler (eds.),Enhancing Faculty Careers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 167–187.
Smart, J. C. (1990). A causal model of faculty turnover intentions.Research in Higher Education 31: 405–424.
Sorcinelli, M. D. (in press). Rationale and resources for new faculty development.Journal of Counseling and Development, in press.
Stanley, C. A., and Chism, N. V. (1991). Selected characteristics of new faculty: Implications for faculty development.To Improve the Academy 10: 55–61.
Sternberg, R. J., Okagaki, L., and Jackson, A. S. (1990). Practical intelligence for success in school.Educational Leadership 42: 35–39.
Thoreson, R. W., Kardash, C. M., Leuthold, D. A., and Morrow, K. A. (1990). Gender differences in the academic career.Research in Higher Education 31: 193–209.
Tinto, V. (1987).Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Tosti-Vasey, J. L., and Willis, S. L. (1991). Professional currency among midcareer college faculty: Family and work factors.Research in Higher Education 32: 132–139.
van der Bogert, V. B. (1991). Starting out: Experiences of new faculty at a teaching university.To Improve the Academy 10: 63–81.
Volkwein, J. F., King, M. C., and Terenzini, P. T. (1986). Student-faculty relationships and intellectual growth among transfer students.Journal of Higher Education 57: 413–430.
Whitt, E. J. (1991). “Hit the ground running”: Experiences of new faculty in a school of education.Review of Higher Education 14: 177–197.
Winkler, K. J. (1988). Minority students, professors tell of isolation, anger in graduate school.Chronicle of Higher Education 35: Nov. 9, pp. A15, A19.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boice, R. New faculty involvement for women and minorities. Res High Educ 34, 291–341 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00991847
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00991847