Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

8-2017

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

James Lampley

Committee Members

Randy Byington, Don Good, Stephanie Tweed

Abstract

Because of the potential age-related mass departure of seasoned educators in respiratory care programs, higher education institutions should develop strategies for attracting practitioners who hold or are pursuing graduate degrees to transition to academia. The purpose of this study was to identify current mentoring practices of new faculty members in Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) accredited respiratory care programs in the U.S. and to identify the perceptions of program directors regarding the observed impact of program mentoring practices.

The methodology for the study was quantitative nonexperimental survey research. The survey instrument was an electronic questionnaire. The survey consisted of 25 items that were divided into 3 dimensions: mentoring practices, mentor/mentee relationship, and perceptions of mentoring program impact. Of the 410 possible participants, 126 (30%) responded to the survey. Data from the survey were used to analyze 12 research questions and 12 null hypotheses. Six research questions were analyzed using an independent-samples t test and 6 research questions were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance. Testing of the null hypotheses associated with the 12 research questions resulted in 3 significant findings and 9 findings that were not significant.

Significant findings included female program directors reported greater opportunities for mentoring within their programs and greater levels of expectations in regard to mentoring. Associate degree programs also reported a higher level of expectation in regard to mentoring. There was overwhelming agreement concerning the potential impact and benefit of new faculty mentoring on job performance, turnover, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.

The results of this study may benefit administrators and educators in the field of respiratory care in efforts to support new faculty in higher education who may feel underprepared or overwhelmed in the new role. Because other allied health fields of study are similar in nature to respiratory care, the findings of the study could have potential implications across a range of health related professions.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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