PRESERVING THE PROFESSORIATE BY BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN STEM RESEARCH CAREERS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE PREPARING FUTURE FACULTY PROGRAMS THAT EMBRACES UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS

Universities and colleges are currently in a significant transformation period that is redefining the way graduate students view faculty life and preparation for the professoriate. In addition, many students are now finding faculty life less attractive as a career choice. This session will explore how the Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate promotes programs, such as the IUPUI Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) to strengthened cross-campus collaborations that allow for a more holistic approach to preparing future faculty in order to combat the waning interest of graduate students toward entering the professoriate and to help them become fully prepared for faculty life. PFF program is designed to introduce advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to the full range of professional responsibilities in research, teaching, and service that will be encountered in the academy in the areas of Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics. As part of a larger effort to expand professional development in graduate education, the IUPUI PFF program objectives are to supplement the academic credentials of graduate students, enhance marketability of PFF participants, support schools and/or departments in producing more effective and knowledgeable future faculty, and provide the best possible preparation for future faculty in collaboration with each individual’s school and/or department. Collaborative areas that are often overlooked are the area that provides services to underrepresented students and students with disabilities. Often, these students, do not identify as a member of the professoriate, thus dismissing it as a viable career.

The IUPUI PFF program was established based primarily on a national movement spearheaded in 1993by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Council of Graduate Schools to address a need to prepare graduate students for future faculty careers. Most commonly, doctoral programs are research focused and not designed to provide guidance for those interested in faculty careers. Through collaboration the PFF program, along with the Graduate School and Office designated to serve students with disabilities, and the Office for Women, the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion intentionally provides support to potential faculty by offering opportunities to gain knowledge and experience in teaching and service as well as in research. Universities and colleges are increasingly interested in hiring new faculty who are fully prepared to excel in all areas of endeavor. Since these changing expectations may not be addressed in all doctoral programs, the national PFF movement came to fruition.

According to a 2002 ASHE presidential address presented by Ann E. Austin entitled “Creating a Bridge to the Future: Preparing New Faculty to Face Changing Expectations in a Shifting Context,” universities and colleges are currently in a significant transformation period, which is redefining the way in which graduate students view faculty life and how these students must be prepared to take on roles of the professoriate. She encourages universities and colleges to take a more holistic approach to preparing future faculty by forging partnerships and developing programs that will in the long run combat the waning interest graduate students have toward entering the professoriate and to help them become fully prepared for faculty life.