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A Focused Ethnography of the Experiences of New Tenure-Track Nursing Faculty
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- Author / Creator
- Savard, Winnifred E.
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Background: Ongoing faculty shortages in nursing education has illuminated the need to better understand the experiences of PhD prepared new tenure track faculty. In the limited research available when I began this study, the initial tenure-track experience was reported to be an extremely stressful time for new faculty as they adjusted to the roles and responsibilities of a faculty member. Previous research indicated that new faculty desired mentoring for research development and teaching at the academic level, supportive institutional practices such as teaching release, start-up research funding, and work/life balance. However, limited research in this area focused on the Canadian nursing academic context.
Purpose: The purpose of this research was to understand more deeply the experiences of new PhD-prepared tenure-track nursing faculty in English-speaking Canada.
Methods: The primary research question guiding this study was: what is it like to be a new (defined as pre-tenured or within the first two years of tenure) tenure-track nursing faculty in Canada? To answer this question, a focused ethnography research design was employed. Seventeen participants from academic institutions across Canada were interviewed. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed to identify patterns and themes and public documents were used to corroborate participants’ perceptions of the initial tenure experience.
Findings: The findings of this study provide a deeper understanding of new tenure-track nursing faculty participants’ experiences. This period of time is reported as stressful, all consuming, often insufficiently supported, and isolating. New tenure-track faculty participants indicated that the academic culture is seen as extremely competitive and uncivil despite institutional efforts to provide mentorship, teaching release time, and initial funds for research development.
Conclusion: New tenure-track nursing faculty need to be supported through the initial years of a tenure-track role. Multiple approaches including mentoring, teaching release time, research funds, and a positive work environment are needed to be successful during the tenure-track journey. Recommendations are offered to enhance the support of new faculty such as standardized faculty orientation, research, and teaching mentors, and addressing the uncivil culture. -
- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Spring 2024
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.