Perceptions of Employer Socialization Tactics During Junior Faculty Transition into Higher Education

Context: New faculty are expected to teach, be productive scholars, and provide service in order to earn tenure, but few experience the full spectrum of faculty responsibility during doctoral preparation. Recent evidence suggests mentorship and orientation are important during role transition. However, how employers facilitate role transition for new faculty remains unclear. Objective: Examine the perspectives of junior faculty members' organizational socialization into higher education, specifically focusing on mentorship and orientation sessions. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Fourteen higher education institutions. Patients or Other Participants: Sixteen junior faculty (7 male, 9 female; age = 32 ± 3.5 years) representing 7 National Athletic Trainers' Association districts participated. At the time of the interview, all participants were within their first 3 years of a full-time faculty position. Main Outcome Measure(s): All participants completed a semistructured telephone interview. The intervie...