Describing values in tension and neoliberalism at a mission-driven, private university: a qualitative case study of faculty service workload

ABSTRACT

Faculty workload tension exists between espoused service and social justice-oriented university missions and neoliberal academic values of scholarship. The tension has significant consequences for attracting, advancing, and retaining faculty from minoritized racial, ethnic, and gender groups. A case study qualitative approach was conducted to investigate perspectives on the valuing of faculty service at a private university with a clearly articulated service and social justice-oriented mission. Interviews were conducted first with department chairs (n = 26). Themes from these interviews were then shared with faculty (n = 153) and leadership (i.e. deans and provosts) via a web-based survey for comments on refining themes. Final analysis yielded a meta-theme (Values in tension), four themes (The paradox of faculty service, we are stretched thin, workload nimbleness and confusion, and inequity in burden and advancement) with diverging perspectives based on race and gender of participants. Implications are drawn for university leadership and culture related to faculty workload and advancement.

KEYWORDS:

• Equity
• workload
• service
• gender
• qualitative research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Consent to participate declarations

Consent for participation was achieved via verbal consent for interviews and was exempt for the survey. The study was reviewed and approved by our university Internal Review Board (protocol #32059).

Data availability statement

Per our university Internal Review Board, the raw data are not available for review. Deidentified codebook and notes are available upon request by individual researchers.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was provided for this study.