Career Contentment and Retention of Midlevel Student Affairs - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Career Contentment and Retention of Midlevel Student Affairs Professionals

Kira Pasquesi, University of I owa Maureen E. Wilson, Bowling Green State University Debora L. Liddell, University of I owa Amy S. Hirschy, University of Louisville

American College Personnel Association Indianapolis, IN – March 31, 2014

Program Outline

 Introduce study and define key constructs  Share survey findings  Small group discussions on challenges facing

midlevel professionals

 Brainstorm strategies and sources of support

focused on career contentment and intent to stay in the field

Purpose of Study

 Identify factors associated with midlevel

student affairs administrators’ professional identity

 Examine contributions of career commitment

and entrenchment to professional identity

Midlevel Professionals

 Position on organization chart  Span of authority  Control of resources  Complexity of programs and services

supervised

(McClellan, 2012; Young, 1990)

Midlevel in Student Affairs

 Report directly to the senior student affairs

• fficer

 Direct or control at least 1 student affairs

function

 Supervise at least 1 professional staff

member (Fey & Carpenter, 1996)

Midlevel in Student Affairs

 Manage directions from supervisors while

providing daily support and guidance to staff members (Rosser, 2004)

 Supervising multiple layers of staff while

cultivating own professional identity (Roper, 2011)

Research Questions

 What factors are associated with professional

identity of midlevel professionals in student affairs?

 What demographic characteristics and

dimensions of career commitment and career entrenchment explain professional identity?

Professional I dentity

 Adoption of and commitment to values and

practices of the profession

 Investment of personal resources (e.g., time,

money, effort)

 Emanates from an internalized congruence

between personal and professional values

(Hirschy, Wilson, Liddell, Boyle, & Pasquesi, under review)

Professional I dentity

 Items from Survey of Professionals in Student

Affairs

 Professional Identity Factors

 Values Congruence with Profession (α = .63)  Community Connection (α = .70)  Career Contentment (α = .74)

Career Entrenchment

 “Immobility resulting from substantial

economic and psychological investments in a career that make change difficult”

(Carson, Carson, Phillips, & Roe, 1996, p. 274)

 Three subscales

 Career Investments (α = .77)  Emotional Costs (α = .88)  Limitedness of Career Alternatives (α = .85)

Career Commitment

 Psychological link between a person and

their occupation (Lee, Carswell, & Allen, 2000)

 “One’s motivation to work in a chosen

vocation” (Carson & Bedeian, 1994, p. 240)

 Three subscales



Career Identity (α = .75)



Career Planning (α = .69)



Career Resilience (α = .89)

Participants

 Survey invitations sent to 1,348 ACPA

members who identified themselves as midlevel professionals on membership profile

 Excluded 24 with fewer than 5 years experience

 377 usable surveys  Respondents characteristic of ACPA members

Gender

Female 255 67.6% Male 119 31.6% Transgender 3 0.8% Racial/ Ethnic I dentity African American or Black 37 9.8% Asian or Pacific Islander 7 1.9% Bi-racial or Multiracial 10 2.7% Hispanic/Latino/Latina 19 5.0% White, Non-Hispanic 304 80.6%

Gender & Race/ Ethnicity

Highest educational level completed

Some master's classes or less 4 1.1% Master's degree 185 49.1% Some doctoral classes 93 24.7% Doctorate 95 25.2%

Years Worked in Profession (inc. grad)

6-10 years 120 31.8% 11-15 years 108 28.6% 16-20 years 80 21.2% 21-25 years 39 10.3% More than 25 years 30 8.0%

Education & Years in Profession

Hierarchical Blocked Regressions

 Professional identity subscales (values

congruence, community connection, career contentment)

 First block: Demographics  Second block:

 Career entrenchment (investments, emotional costs,

career alternatives)

 Career commitment (identity, planning, and

resilience)

Career Contentment Results

 Years in profession (β = .100)  Career commitment - identity (β = .303)  Career commitment - resilience (β = .458)  Career entrenchment - investments (β = .150)  Career entrenchment - emotional costs (β = .164)

Adjusted R2 = .633

Explaining Career Contentment

 Midlevel professionals:

 In field for a long time  Had a strong emotional connection to it  Were able to adapt to challenges  Had put a lot of time and resources into their

profession

 Would lose too much by leaving  They were committed to staying in their career

I mplications for Future Research

 Examine different paths and priorities of

midlevel professionals

 Focus on locals, cosmopolitans, and local-

cosmopolitans

 Explore reasons for turnover

Small Group Discussions

 What factors contribute to your level of

career contentment and intent to stay in the field?

 What are the primary challenges that may

influence the retention of midlevel professionals in the field?

Strategies and Support

 What are potential strategies to better retain

midlevel professionals?

 How can professional associations and

institutions of higher education further the professional identity development of midlevel professionals?

Please Rate This Session

1. Find this session in Guidebook 2. Scroll to bottom and click on “Rate this session” 3. Complete Session Feedback Form

Contact

 PowerPoint and handout available through

ACPA site Kira Pasquesi: Kira-pasquesi@uiowa.edu Maureen Wilson: mewilso@bgsu.edu Deb Liddell: Debora-liddell@uiowa.edu Amy Hirschy: amy.hirschy@louisville.edu

References

Carson, K. D., & Bedeian, A. G. (1994). Career commitment: Construction of a measure and examination of its psychometric properties. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 237-262. Carson, K. D., Carson, P ., Phillips, J. S., & Roe, C. (1996). A career entrenchment model: theoretical development and empirical outcomes. Journal of Career Development, 22, 273-286. Fey, C. J., & Carpenter, D. S. (1996). Mid-level student affairs administrators: Management skills and professional development needs. NASPA Journal, 33, 218-231. Hirschy, A. S., Wilson, M. E., Liddell, D. L., Boyle, K. M., Pasquesi, K. (under review). Socialization to student affairs: Early career experiences associated with professional identity development. Lee, K., Carswell, J. J., & Allen, J. (2000). A meta-analytic review of occupational commitment: Relations with person and work-related variables. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 799-811. McClellan, G. S. (2012, October 25). Moving to the middle. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com Roper, L. D. (2011). Editor’s notes. In L. D. Roper (Ed.), Supporting and supervising mid-level professionals (New Directions for Student Services, no. 136, pp. 1-3), San Francisco, CA: Wiley. Rosser, V . J. (2004). A national study on midlevel leaders in higher education: The unsung professionals in the academy. Higher Education, 48, 317-337. Young, R. B. (2007). Still leaders! Still invisible? In R. L. Ackerman & L. D. Roper, The mid-level manager in student affairs (pp. 1-25). Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.