Learning Objective #1: Describe the attitudes and intentions of nursing doctoral students about seeking teaching/academic roles

Learning Objective #2: Consider the implications of the results relative to faculty shortage

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Background: An important aspect of the deepening faculty shortage in nursing is the declining percentage of graduates of nursing doctoral programs choosing teaching/academic roles. A number of factors, including a steep salary differential between clinical and academic positions, have been advanced as reasons for this significant problem. To date, the unheard voice in articulating attitudes and factors in decisions about entering teaching/academic roles is that of the students in nursing doctoral programs. This study addresses this gap by articulating their attitudes toward teaching/academic roles, identifying factors that would influence them to either choose or not choose a teaching/academic role after graduation, what type of role they intend to choose after graduation, and if they are already a faculty member, whether or not they are intending to stay in a teaching/academic role as well as reasons why. The survey draws on social-cognitive theory with attitudes linked to behavioral intention as a strong indicator of behavior (in this case, role-choice).

Method: All 88 nursing doctoral programs listed in the 2004 AACN listing of Institutions Offering Doctoral Programs in Nursing were invited to have their students participate in an on-line survey with attention to rights of human subjects.

Findings: Data collection is in process, so results will be available for presentation. Analyses will describe and identify predictors of intention to choose a teaching/academic career as well as identify prevalence of factors in making this career choice.

Discussion: Results will offer the previously unarticulated perspectives of nursing doctoral students about choosing a teaching/academic role. Further, these perspectives can be informative for the development and testing of strategies aimed at the outcome of positively influencing the career choice of doctoral students in teaching/academic roles when they graduate and thereby contribute to helping address the faculty shortage.