Date of Award

2019

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Education, PhD

Program

School of Educational Studies

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Deborah F. Carter

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Linda Perkins

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

DeLacy Ganley

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2019 Nancy N Ramirez

Keywords

adjunct college faculty, mentoring, part-time instructors, teacher orientation

Subject Categories

Community College Leadership | Educational Leadership

Abstract

This study investigated the professionalization and socialization of adjunct faculty into the culture of a community college campus in Southern California. Because adjunct faculty are the majority faculty at most colleges, it is vital to orient and support them for maximum effectiveness. A review of literature revealed that well-socialized employees are more committed to organizational well-being; however, few studies examine community college English Department part-time faculty in this light. This qualitative case study does so, using the model of organizational socialization (Tierney & Bensimon, 1996) as its framework, and focusing on this research question: How are part-time English Department faculty socialized into the culture of a public community college? Bridge Community College (BCC) is the pseudonym for the site of this study, and data were collected through analyzing results of in-depth personal interviews with 15 adjunct faculty participants. Results revealed a lack of purposeful, thorough hiring processes and lack of well-planned orientation programs. Although opportunities for professional development were available for participants, these did not specifically address professional needs and conflicted with teacher work schedules. Overall, while adjunct faculty felt supported by administration and other leaders, they expressed a need for robust orientation, more mentoring, more interactions with full-time faculty, and more input in decision-making affecting their work lives. Implications and recommendations for practice include improving hiring and orientation processes; making professional development more accessible and relevant; developing a formal mentoring program where full-time faculty and veteran part-timers can mentor new adjunct faculty; addressing and integrating issues important to faculty of color.

ISBN

9781085783668

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