Barriers to Nursing Faculty Scholarship Productivity in the Academic Setting

Participation in scholarship activity has been increasingly emphasized in health science related academic settings for both tenure track and non-tenure track nursing faculty. Scholarship is an essential foundation for the nursing discipline and an expectation in the academic setting for promotion in rank. In educational settings, expectations for nursing faculty often vary from faculty in other disciplines. Faculty with university ranked positions must meet requirements outlined in appointment and promotion policies. Nursing faculty also must meet scholarship expectations for practice, including certifications, licensure, and continuing education; these may not be as clearly defined or linked to promotion materials and expectations. While promotion expectations differ for tenure track versus non-tenure track ranked positions, both require some degree of scholarship productivity and dissemination. With the expansion of doctoral programs, especially DNP programs, nursing schools need to meet the accelerated demand for nurse educators while supporting faculty engagement in scholarly work. Increasing workloads due to high numbers of vacancies in academic settings also creates a barrier in recruitment of skilled educators and in enabling time for scholarship activities (Arian, Soleimani & Oghazian, 2018). Newer faculty find it challenging to establish a career scholarly trajectory with the required orientation to teaching and evaluation, less experience with research, writing, grant funding, and IRB applications, and limited knowledge in translating their findings into manuscripts suitable for peer-reviewed publications (Martin, 2016). In order for nursing programs to meet the demand for faculty, scholarship productivity must be facilitated and supported (Smeltzer, Sharts-Hopko, Cantrell, Heverly, Wise, Jenkinson, & Nthenge, 2014). However, a variety of significant barriers to faculty scholarship have been recognized in academic settings across the country. Lack of time and lack of mentoring relationships are often cited as key factors in scholarship productivity. Chung and Kowalski’s (2012) nationwide sample of full-time faculty found that job satisfaction was significantly influenced by mentoring relationships, among other variables. However, implementation of mentoring best practices requires time and experienced faculty to establish. Determining perceived faculty barriers to scholarship is an important step in identifying and implementing practices which support productivity.

This cross-sectional, descriptive study employed an investigator-developed 20-question survey tool designed to explore sample characteristics and identify barriers to scholarship productivity among the non-tenure track full time and part time nursing faculty in a Carnegie classification R1 (Doctoral Universities - Very High Research Activity) university. The tool was developed based on literature which evaluated faculty barriers, with content review by internal senior faculty. The study was approved via expedited review by the university IRB. The study aims were to identify perceived barriers to scholarship among non-tenure track faculty, compare faculty sample characteristics to perceived barriers, and identify potential solutions to promote faculty scholarship. The survey was distributed electronically to 226 adjunct, part-time and full-time nursing faculty, assessing demographics, academic responsibilities, and perceived barriers to scholarship productivity. Data was collected anonymously. Data analysis was completed using descriptive statistics in SPSS software. Fifty faculty completed the online survey (22% response rate). Of those, 48% were full-time faculty and 48% were part-time or adjunct faculty (2 did not identify status). Faculty were asked to rank potential barriers from 0 (no barrier) to 5 (most significant barrier).

The perceived barrier to scholarship productivity with the highest mean was available time to engage in scholarly activities (mean 3.7) and lack of protected time to engage in scholarly activities (mean 3.6). Difficulty maintaining work/life balance (mean 3.4) and lack of funding mechanisms to support scholarship of teaching or application (mean 3.4) were tied for the third ranked barriers. Faculty also identified substantial barriers as mental energy required for role complexity – practice, teaching, service, scholarship (mean 3.1) and support for scholarship work outside peer-reviewed journals (mean 3.0). With the exception of lack of funding mechanisms and support for scholarship work outside peer-reviewed journals, the other highly ranked barriers were categorized as workload and time-related barriers on the survey tool. Although 32 faculty scored writing skills at some level of potential barrier, the mean of 1.0 for this measure was the lowest ranked mean in the sample. Comparing the means of the top 5 rated barriers to the means of the bottom 5 rated barriers demonstrated a significant difference using a paired t test (t (48) = 11.87, p < .001.)

Suggested barriers for scholarship productivity among nursing faculty have included a lack of mentoring, lack of time, and lack of confidence in writing skills. Our data provides an expanded perspective of faculty challenges in completing scholarly work, especially for faculty not supported by research funding and protected time for research and writing. Implications for academic nursing departments and nursing faculty will be discussed. Initiatives to promote engagement in scholarly activities are recommended, with a focus on promoting and increasing scholarship productivity while maintaining work-life balance.