Qualitative Evaluation of a Junior Faculty Team Mentoring Program

Objective. To investigate the strengths and challenges of a structured junior faculty mentoring program at a public four-year school of pharmacy, identify areas of opportunity to improve the program, and describe mid-career mentoring faculty needs. Methods. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to elicit participants’ experiences, perceptions, and suggestions for opportunity. Stakeholder groups included junior faculty in the program, mid-career faculty who graduated from the program, mid-career faculty who did not participate in the program, internal mentors, external mentors, and division chairs. Thematic coding was used to identify semantic themes, and summaries of participant perceptions were generated. The program was mapped to the PAIRS checklist from the 2014 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Joint Council Task Force on Mentoring. Results. Participants described the structure of the program and mentee-mentor relationships as strengths of the program. Challenges included finding time to meet and ensuring mentee-mentor fit. Several areas of opportunity were identified, such as adjusting large mentee seminar topics, providing mentors with training, and mentoring for mid-career faculty. Needs for mid-career faculty were described as unique and requiring potentially different strategies than junior faculty mentoring. Conclusion. Mentoring is critical for faculty professional development, supporting retention and job satisfaction, and reducing burnout. Scholarly endeavors that explore faculty mentoring, specifically those utilizing qualitative methods, can help pharmacy education better understand and meet the needs of faculty. This study provides insight into the strengths and challenges of faculty mentoring and provides evidence for increasing mentoring among mid-career faculty within pharmacy education.