“If I Don't Laugh, I'm Going to Cry”: Meaning Making in the Promotion, Tenure, and Retention Process: An Auto-Ethnography

Authors

Pamela Wells, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Kristen N. Dickens, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Juliann Sergi McBrayer, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Richard E. Cleveland, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2019

Publication Title

Qualitative Report

ISSN

1052-0147

Abstract

Utilizing Chang, Ngunjiri, and Hernandez’s (2013) collaborative autoethnographic research approach, we investigated our experiences as pre-tenured junior faculty progressing through the tenure and promotion process within a college of education at one public university in the southeastern United States. The review of the data (transcripts and photographs) revealed challenges and stressors common to junior faculty. Data analysis yielded four emergent themes centered around demonstrations of self-care and resiliency including community, balance, coping strategies, and process. Through data analysis, these major themes and their sub-themes were explored in depth. Recommendations and implications for personnel navigating the academic tenure process (i.e., new faculty, tenured faculty, and administrators) are presented.

Comments

Copyright and Open Access: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/31581

Recommended Citation

Wells, Pamela, Kristen N. Dickens, Juliann Sergi McBrayer, Richard E. Cleveland. 2019. "“If I Don't Laugh, I'm Going to Cry”: Meaning Making in the Promotion, Tenure, and Retention Process: An Auto-Ethnography." Qualitative Report, 24 (2): 334-351: Nova Southeastern University. source: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss2/12/?utm_source=nsuworks.nova.edu%2Ftqr%2Fvol24%2Fiss2%2F12&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/leadership-facpubs/113