0.4 Erickson, d., hensley, p., & Kinsey, g. (april 2010). lessons  (Page 3/7)

The surveys were anonymous; participants were encouraged to give their contact information to the researchers if interested in a follow-up focus group. For this paper, descriptive statistics were used to depict (a) the population of participants, (b) their K-12 backgrounds, (c) their transition to higher education, (d) mentoring experiences in their new role, and (e) affiliation with state and national organizations. In addition, six open-ended questions were included to gather data on the participants’ (a) perceptions regarding challenges they experienced in transitioning to higher education, (b) types of duties they were assigned as new faculty, (c) whether they came to the professoriate with an already established scholarship agenda and (d) possible barriers to a smooth transition into higher education.

Results

Of the 38 respondents, 45% were female and 55% were male. The number of years worked in higher education was fairly even among the categorical options. The majority of respondents (77%) worked at a public university; 69% of the participants worked at an institution that conferred doctoral degrees. The following table outlines these data.

Table 2 describes the number of years worked in higher education.

When asked about the transition to higher education, 89% of the respondents were coming from a K-12 position. Forty-five percent of the participants were transitioning from a school district office. A vast majority of the participants, 91%, had administrative assistance while working in their K-12 position. Table 3 outlines the descriptive data regarding transition.

Table 4 depicts data related to induction and mentoring. Seventy-one percent of the respondents had a mentor during their induction to higher education. Twenty-four percent of the participants indicated that a mentor had been formally assigned to them, and 26% had a mentor who also supervised them as a new faculty member. Eighty-three percent of the respondents had a mentor from their school or college.

When respondents were asked if they joined a state or national organization during their first years in the professoriate, 79% indicated they became a member of a state organization and 85% joined a national organization. Seventy-eight percent of the respondents felt they received the support they needed to be a successful faculty member, and 91% indicated that they established relationships within those organizations that helped them make a successful transition. Only sixty-seven percent of the respondents specified that the organization supported them in scholarship as a new member of the professoriate. Table 5 shows these data.