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Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

Laura Lunsford, Vicki Baker and Meghan Pifer

The purpose of this paper is to understand faculty mentoring experiences across career stages and the influence of mentoring relationship quality on job satisfaction. The study…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand faculty mentoring experiences across career stages and the influence of mentoring relationship quality on job satisfaction. The study participants were faculty members from a consortium of liberal arts colleges in the USA. The theoretical lens draws from scholarship on career stages, developmental networks, and working alliances.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on a subset of 415 faculty member responses about mentoring from a larger data set on faculty development. The online survey was conducted in Spring 2014. Frequencies, χ2, regression equations, and confirmatory factor analysis were computed using R statistical software.

Findings

Over half the faculty members were both mentors and protégés; although, a sizable minority of faculty members did not engage in mentoring. Early-career faculty members were significantly more likely to have a mentor than were mid- or late-career faculty members. For both mentors and protégés, the higher they rated the quality of the mentoring relationship, the more job satisfaction they reported; this finding was greatest for mid-career (associate rank) faculty members. Participants reported significantly higher relationship quality with their mentors than with their protégés.

Research limitations/implications

The results may not generalize to faculty members who work at other institution types, for example, research-intensive or two-year schools, or to non-US higher education contexts. Statements made regarding those who do not participate in mentoring are speculative on the part of the authors.

Practical implications

Institutions may need to develop support for faculty members who may not desire to engage in mentoring. More attention may be warranted to create individual and institutional supports focused on high-quality mentoring.

Originality/value

This study extends the literature on mentoring by establishing that many employees serve in mentor and protégé roles simultaneously. Further, employees engage in mentoring relationships across career stages as mentors and as protégés. The authors developed a reliable measure of mentoring relationship quality that may be used in future mentoring studies. Higher quality mentoring relationships were associated with significantly greater job satisfaction.

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2018

Kimberly Griffin, Vicki Baker, KerryAnn O’Meara, Gudrun Nyunt, Tykeia Robinson and Candice L. Staples

The purpose of this study is to explore the developmental networks of graduate students of color participating in PROMISE, Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the developmental networks of graduate students of color participating in PROMISE, Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded graduate retention and support program. The authors specifically examine how underrepresented minority students gain access to needed supports through building individual mentoring relationships and broader networks of support.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors rely on a case study approach to explore developmental networks and support accessed by students participating in the PROMISE program. A total of 16 students of color in STEM fields from three institutions in the University of Maryland System have participated.

Findings

Study findings reveal that scientists from underrepresented backgrounds construct and draw from diverse developmental networks that include individuals from within and outside of the academic community. Key relationships include advisors; faculty with whom they share identities, peers in and outside of their programs; and administrators. Developers play distinct roles within the networks including shaping students’ emerging professional identities as scientists and providing psychosocial support. Student agency and initiative as well as faculty engagement and programs like PROMISE further enhanced student access to mentorship.

Research limitations/implications

This study offers unique insights into the nature, cultivation and resources gained from the relationships that make up the developmental networks of science graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Originality/value

Traditional notions of mentoring and support, particularly in graduate education, highlight the role and importance of the student’s advisor in their growth and development. This study is unique in its focus on the multiple relationships students of color in science form. This study offers specific insight into the nature, construction and resources gained from developmental networks formed by a group of underrepresented minority students in STEM graduate education.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 July 2023

Meghan J. Pifer, Tenisha L. Tevis and Vicki L. Baker

The purpose of this study, nested within a broader study about higher education leadership, was to generate knowledge about the ways in which doctoral education prepared people…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study, nested within a broader study about higher education leadership, was to generate knowledge about the ways in which doctoral education prepared people for leadership roles in postsecondary institutions within the USA. At colleges and universities, there is an interest in ensuring diverse leadership teams and welcoming campus environments. Yet, the research demonstrates challenges for and underrepresentation among higher education leaders. One point of intervention is doctoral programs in higher education and related fields, given the professional socialization, identity formation and knowledge acquisition that occurs through the doctoral journey.

Design/methodology/approach

By conducting interviews with women who hold doctorates in the field of higher education and who took on new leadership roles at postsecondary institutions in the USA during the global health pandemic, the authors identified specific areas for which doctoral-level training and experiences may be helpful in supporting leader development.

Findings

The authors identified specific areas for which doctoral-level training and experiences may be helpful in supporting leader development. Based on those findings, the authors offer initial propositions about how doctoral programs might support the development of equity-minded leaders in higher education, which should be tested and refined through further research, theory development and application to practice.

Originality/value

This paper contributes by providing a focus on the ways in which doctoral programs can equitably train and develop equity-minded leaders for a range of career goals including but not limited to academic appointments in higher education.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 November 2014

Vicki L. Baker, Meghan J. Pifer and Kimberly A. Griffin

The aim of this conceptual paper is to explore Mentor-protégé fit as important to the selection and development of successful doctoral student–faculty mentoring relationships. We…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this conceptual paper is to explore Mentor-protégé fit as important to the selection and development of successful doctoral student–faculty mentoring relationships. We suggest that the student–faculty relationship in doctoral education is an additional and previously untested type of Mentor-protégé fit.

Design/methodology/approach

Generated from an existing framework of identity in the academy, we explore how three types of identity (professional, relational, personal) may influence students’ fit assessments as they seek to initiate and develop relationships.

Findings

We offer propositions for research to further explore the potential application of the proposed framework to knowledge generation about the doctoral student experience.

Originality/value

While the research about doctoral education has considered all three aspects of students’ identities individually, it has not explicated the ways in which these intersecting identities relate to students’ needs and expectations related to mentoring, their choices related to mentor selection, or the effectiveness and outcomes of mentoring relationships in fostering success and satisfaction.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1986

Vicki Baker

Ostomy Awareness Month is an attempt to combat the lack of public knowledge about ostomies and provide forums for the discussion of ostomy‐related issues among families, patients…

Abstract

Ostomy Awareness Month is an attempt to combat the lack of public knowledge about ostomies and provide forums for the discussion of ostomy‐related issues among families, patients, health care professionals, and others.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Book part
Publication date: 26 September 2013

Meghan Pifer and Vicki Baker

In this chapter, we review the ways in which scholars have conceptualized and relied on the notion of identity to understand the academic career. We explore the use of identity as…

Abstract

In this chapter, we review the ways in which scholars have conceptualized and relied on the notion of identity to understand the academic career. We explore the use of identity as a theoretical construct in research about the experience of being an academic. We discuss the individual and organizational factors that scholars have focused on when seeking to understand the role of professional and personal identity in academic careers, as well as recent and emerging shifts in the use of identity within this line of scholarship. Research suggests that if we are to understand the future of the academic career, we must understand the identities of its current and prospective members and, more importantly, how those identities shape goals, behaviors, and outcomes. We close with recommendations for future research and theory development.

Details

Theory and Method in Higher Education Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-682-8

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1986

Vicki Baker

Historically, epilepsy was attributed to non‐medical causes such as demonic possession, a gift from God, witchcraft, and mental illness. Only with the advent of the…

Abstract

Historically, epilepsy was attributed to non‐medical causes such as demonic possession, a gift from God, witchcraft, and mental illness. Only with the advent of the electroencephalogram (EEG) in the 1930s did the medical profession begin to document the neurological basis for the condition. Now a wide range of anticonvulsants allow most epileptics to maintain partial or total control over their seizures. Nevertheless, many epileptics routinely face discouraging social limitations, such as difficulty obtaining a driver's license, employment discrimination, problems with dating and marriage, restrictions on sports and activities, and the expense of medication.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2006

Dan S. Chiaburu, Vicki L. Baker and Adrian H. Pitariu

This study aims to investigate the relationship between proactive personality and career self‐management behaviors (job mobility preparedness and developmental feedback‐seeking…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the relationship between proactive personality and career self‐management behaviors (job mobility preparedness and developmental feedback‐seeking behaviors), providing evidence for one mediator (career resilience) and one moderator (public self‐consciousness) on this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 127 employees in one work organization, analyzed using regression analysis.

Findings

Proactive personality is positively related to career self‐management behaviors. Career resilience mediates this relationship. In addition, proactive personality and public self‐consciousness have an interactive effect, with developmental feedback‐seeking behaviors as the outcome.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the cross‐sectional nature of the study, the findings uncover mechanisms through which proactive personality is related to career self‐management behaviors. According to the findings, this relationship is subject to important intervening (career resilience) and boundary (public self‐consciousness) conditions.

Practical implications

The findings serve as a resource for practitioners interested in interventions. Specifically, practitioners in organizations where the results generalize can design interventions directed at enhancing the direct effect of proactive personality on career self‐management. These interventions can be directed to managing employees' career resilience and cognitively restructuring their public self‐consciousness perceptions.

Originality/value

This study adds to the literatures on career self‐management behaviors and proactive personality and explicates important intervening mechanisms in this relationship.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 11 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

Dan S. Chiaburu and Vicki L. Baker

The paper aims to investigate the antecedents of taking charge, an extra‐role behavior (ERB) directed at challenging the status‐quo.

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to investigate the antecedents of taking charge, an extra‐role behavior (ERB) directed at challenging the status‐quo.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested using regression analysis on data obtained by surveying 211 employees in one work organization.

Findings

Support was found for the distinctiveness of taking charge, a type of ERB that challenges the status‐quo, from traditional ERB, such as organization‐directed and individual‐directed organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBO, OCBI, respectively), and from in‐role behaviors (IRB). In addition, individual‐related factors, such as propensity to trust, employee exchange ideology, and their interaction, predict taking charge. Supervisor‐related factors, such as output control by the direct manager, are also significant predictors.

Practical implications

Practitioners interested in interventions to enhance taking charge behaviors can rely on these findings by either selecting employees (based on the employees' propensity to trust and exchange ideologies) or by providing appropriate organizational controls.

Originality/value

The findings are valuable for those engaged in theory building and testing and for practitioners. From a theoretical perspective, the paper proposes and tests novel predictors of taking charge on a sample of administrative and line employees. In addition, if the results are properly validated in other organizational contexts, practitioners can use these ideas to design specific interventions.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 21 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 26 September 2013

Abstract

Details

Theory and Method in Higher Education Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-682-8

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