Making Academic Dentistry More Attractive to New Teacher-Scholars

By Cathy A Trower, Ph.D.

Journal of Dental Education May 2007

Mid 1970’s

• Almost exclusively male
• <2%>
• Sinkford: “stereotypes that categorized women as emotional, undependable, distracting, flighty, lacking in physical strength, undesirable because they are likely to get pregnant, and somehow less capable than males of practicing dentistry.

1984

• 25% were women
• Open hostile attitude towards women was ameliorated
• Last 3 decades increase in women from 1.4% in 1970 to 40% in 2000
• 37.5% of graduates, but only 15% of active dentists
• #women in academics has also increased.
• 25% full
• 30% part time
• 18% (10) dental schools now have women deans.

Minorities

• AA, Hisp, NA make up 12%

Faculty Positions

• 56 Dental schools 1990 - 2000 had vacant budgeted faculty positions increased over 50% from 238à358
• Downward trend to 275
• Significant portion over the age of 50

• Trends likely to continue
• Pay gap
• Student debt affects post grad opportunities
• Faculty retirements will accelerate
• Institutions will expect higher levels of scholarship
• Further budget cuts may exacerbate

Current Faculty

• 52% part time
• 74% male
• 78% white
• Median age: 52 with 25% over 60
• Most come from and leave for private practice

Job factors of importance to recent graduates and its relevance for planning recruitment and retention strategies w/in academic dentistry

• 2001 Project on Faculty Appointments at Harvard: recent graduates of doctoral program planning career in academics
• Top Job factors:
• Institutional support for research
• Time for family/personal obligations
• Quality of department
• Teaching load
• Flexibility of the work schedule
• (Author says “it’s hard to imagine my dad asking he needed time for family and a flexible work schedule?)
• Difference is not just generational, but also no longer just white males

• Break down factors
• Non-whites vs whites
• Institutional support for research
• Similar research interests to those in department
• Opportunity to work with leader in field
• Job security
• Women vs males:
• Flexibility of schedule
• Time for family/personal obligations
• Employment opportunities for spouse/partner
• Teaching load
• Geographic location
• Males
• Recognition
• Quality of department and institution
• Opportunity to work with leader in field
• Quality of students
• Overall
• Meaningful work
• Balance between teaching and research
• Live comfortably: housing, commute, schools for kids, sense of community, safetly, job opportunities for spouse
• QOL
• Tall order for schools
• Strong desire for balance is characteristic of Generation X

Gen X

• Born between 1965-1980
• Adjective: skeptical
• Latch-key generation
• Parents divorced and/or moms worked outside of the home
• Makes them independent, adaptable, resilient
• Don’t want anyone looking over their shoulder at work
• Their parents suffer VDD: vacation deficit disorder
• They want balance now, not at age 65
• Quote to sum up X’ers
• “If they can’t understand that I want a kick ass career and a kick ass life, then I don’t want to work here”
• “Why does it matter when I come and go as long as I get the work done?”
• X’ers are hard workers, but they want to decide when, where, and how

Traditionalists (1900-1945) beliefs:

• If we give into their demands for flexibility, who will dot the work?
• Job change carries stigma
• If I’m not yelling at you, you’re doing fine

Boomers (1946-1964) beliefs:

• I can’t believe the nerve of those X’ers; they want it all!

• Job change puts you behind
• Feedback once a year, well documented

Gen X believe:

• I’ll go where I can find the lifestyle I’m seeking
• Job change is necessary
• “sorry to interrupt again, but how and I doing?

Traditionalist/Boomers and X’ers live in different assumptive worlds

• Fundamental tension: “Who makes the rules” and “who breaks them”
• #1 Clash around processes
• Gen X:
• Want openness, equity, fairness, transparency
• They see workplace as dominated by secrecy ensuring quality and candor
• Boomers/Traditionalist:
• Confidentiality to ensure Quality control
• Salaries, workload, productivity… to foster community
• Promotion, tenure process, as well as peer review
• #2 Clash around research:
• X’ers value collaboration, but often find competition
• They enjoy multidisciplinary and problem centered research, but few outlets
• #3 Clash around merit
• Empirically determined and objectively derived
• Absolute standards uniformly applied
• Treat all faculty equally
• X’ers see peer assessments is flawed: identical resumes, with identical research, the only difference is a gender specific nameàdifferent evaluations
• Feel that people in power valorize the norms necessary to remain in power
• #4 Quality and Quantity of scholarly research matter most
• View of Gen Xers in that teaching, advising, service to the campus, the community and their profession all matter equally along with research
• They should not be discounted because they are more nurturing, less visible, not easily documented, or disproportionately assigned to women or faculty of color

Current Beliefs in academics

• In order to be a successful scholar you need to make difficult choices and sacrifices
• Place professional above personal: relationship, marriages, families, recreation
• View basically separates work and family

Emergent view is that overall QOL matters a lot to the individual’s personal sense of satisfaction

• The lives need to be harmonized
• Institutions should adapt to these needs and NOT vice versa
• Otherwise, they will not be able to attract the best and brightest women and men of all races and ethnicities to the faculty
• If we don’t pay attention to the values of new scholars, if they fail to change the tenure/promotion process, and if they don’t shed the past concepts about academic careers and insist that one size fits all