Induction support for beginning education professors is rarely provided. To address this gap, qualitative descriptive research was conducted by asking a national sample of experienced education professors about challenges faced and met as new faculty members. The resulting seven induction themes for beginning education professors are discussed in…

The research on mentorship in the professoriate is extensive and substantial. New faculty benefit from having sustained and focused interactions with a more knowledgeable other who is able to shepherd them through the induction phase of their academic career. Professional support, collaboration, and sponsorship have always been critical, but this…

Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) have boasted our nation's most diverse faculties for decades and yet, there is much we do not know about the experiences of these faculty. Departing from the assumption that diverse faculty encounter the same challenges and triumphs as diverse faculty at PWIs, this study sought to capture the voices and lived…

This article discusses the Faculty Mentoring Cohort (FMC), a pilot program designed to bolster new faculty retention at St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM), a teaching-focused, public honors college in the rural southern Chesapeake region. The FMC matches two established faculty members with two newly hired instructors to create between five and…

This qualitative study examined how early career faculty of color in higher education departments of educational leadership and administration across the United States were able to manage the cultural taxation associated with faculty service and achieve promotion and tenure. In the U.S., receiving academic tenure promises faculty both academic…

The use of collaborative writing partnerships is frequently cited as an effective strategy to increase the productivity and quality of academic writing (Austin & Baldwin, 1991). However, developing and utilizing these relationships effectively can prove challenging to early-career academics. This article used Boud, Keogh, and Walker's (1985)…

It is not new for mother-scholars to face challenges in balancing work and life demands; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the meaning of mother-scholars as they maneuver working from home, caring for their dependents, and maintaining their research productivity. The following manuscript is a collection of autoethnographic studies of…

Since the proliferation of social media use in mainstream society as a means of connecting and communicating with others, postsecondary institutions have adopted social media for a myriad of purposes such as connecting with students, recruiting, and teaching. Higher education administrators are also using social media as a means of evaluating…

Academics rarely discuss work/life balance, or our lack thereof. In this symposium article, we confront the normalization of imbalance on the tenure-track that pervades 21st Century institutions. Our autoethnographic approach includes three personal vignettes based on each author's experience, supported by extant research, to highlight the issues…

Searching for an academic position is known to be a stressful and often ambiguous process for applicants. During this transition from doctoral students to assistant professors, applicants seek any additional means to increase their chances of securing an academic appointment. This research draws on data gathered from a sample of recently hired…

The Academic WorkForce Survey has been conducted every two years since 1986. Between March and June 2018, researchers contacted 797 physics and astronomy departments (including 39 astronomy-only departments) that award a bachelor's degree or higher in physics or astronomy. Responses were received from 720 institutions, a 90% response rate. This…

Transitioning from doctoral student to assistant professor involves many changes for junior faculty beginning tenure-track careers. Research, teaching, and service demands, on top of adjusting to a new home environment, create tremendous pressures on tenure-lined, junior faculty members to adapt and perform. By understanding influences of junior…

This article outlines the program design, benefits, and challenges of a university-wide, near-peer faculty-mentoring program. The mentoring exchange facilitates group leadership by early-career faculty who have recently succeeded at the steps incoming faculty will face. Five primary themes emerged from qualitative analysis of six focus groups:…

This paper describes several strategies for organizing, collaborating on, persisting in, and funding professional writing activities that can benefit new tenure track faculty members. Establishing and maintaining a regular program of academic writing is essential to a successful career in higher education, but initiating and maintaining a program…

Senior Black faculty make a valuable contribution to the professorate by serving intentionally and vicariously as mentors to junior Black faculty and doctoral students. The authors of this research discuss the outcomes of a project consisting of two panel seminars that were provided to junior Black faculty and doctoral students at a Research I…