National Network for Equitable Library Service

The Academic Gateway: Understanding the Journey to Tenure investigates the experiences of professors employed in tenure-track positions who are starting their career within a university environment, but have not yet attained the affirmation and permanence that tenure offers. The role that they have taken on entails the preparation of students within a professional school. Some of them have very limited professional experience, while others bring multiple years of experience with them in their transition to a faculty of education. The contributors speak to the three key components of their faculty role: teaching, service, and research. Addressing organizational structures and differences relative to prior roles, they examine how these changes have assisted, confused or altered the way they conduct their day-to-day work. They speak about relevant prior experiences, the preparation they received through graduate school, and the details of the learning curve as they entered into their tenure track role. Have they been successful? The reader will experience the same uncertainty and anticipation every professor goes through during their journey to tenure. This approach amplifies the realism of not knowing whether issues that are spoken about will ultimately be overcome and enhances the validity of their experiences by not biasing the contributions towards those who expect success.