Paths to the Professoriate: Strategies for Enriching the Preparation of Future Faculty »

Donald H. Wulff is director of the Center for Instructional Development and Research and assistant dean in the graduate school at the University of Washington. He is past president of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD).
Ann E. Austin is professor of higher education, adult, and lifelong education at Michigan State University. She was identified as one of forty Young Leaders of the Academy by Change magazine and is a recent past-president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE).

It has been estimated that in the next ten years, about half of the current higher education faculty will retire. How can we best prepare the next generation of faculty members to fill this tremendous gap in our educational system?

Paths to the Professoriate offers all those involved in higher education—everyone from administrators to scholars to graduate students—a much-needed resource that brings together major research, the most important developments in practice, and informed analysis on improving graduate education and preparing the future faculty. This important book includes chapters from some of the best-known researchers, practitioners, and scholars working to prepare the faculty of the future.

In one volume, the authors offer a synthesis of what has been learned about the challenges and concerns in graduate education as preparation for faculty careers, highlight the various projects and approaches for improving graduate education, and identify strategies for institutional leaders, department chairs, faculty advisors, and graduate students. Paths to the Professoriate:

• Presents important reasons for considering ways to improve the preparation of the next generation of faculty
• Describes research studies concerning the graduate school experience
• Highlights illustrative examples of innovative programs and projects
• Provides a synthesis of key lessons from the research and projects addressing the preparation of future faculty

This solidly research-based book covers such vital topics as: the lack of systematic developmentally organized preparation for those aspiring to teaching careers in higher education; graduate students’ perceptions of their graduate experiences and their preparation for faculty work; particular challenges confronting Black doctoral students; reasons students leave doctoral study; programs to prepare graduate students for roles as teaching scholars and engaged citizens; strategies to help graduate students and faculty members identify mutual goals and resolve conflicts; and much more.

Paths to the Professoriate offers all those concerned with the fate of higher education a valuable resource for the future.