PHinisheD! Now what??: Early career experiences in sensory disability fields

This mixed methods survey study was conducted in order to understand the barriers and supports that early career faculty in sensory disabilities (deaf, blind, and deaf-blind studies) identify on the journey to achieving promotion and/or tenure. The areas of teaching, research/scholarship, service, work environment, and work/life balance were explored. Findings indicate that early career faculty in sensory disabilities are confident in their skills, but are struggling to find a balance between teaching, research, and service while aiding to maintain small programs with limited collaborators. Responses indicate a need to increase inter-university collaboration, train doctoral candidates to meet the career demands, and to recognize the impact of heavy teaching loads on the balance responsibilities. While other early career faculty studies have been identified, this is the first identified study that examines early career faculty in sensory disability fields, many of whom recently completed a doctoral fellowship intended to increase the number of doctoral recipients in these fields.