ATE | Induction System for New Professors

Induction System for New Professors

During ATE’s 2015 Annual Meeting, members of the Association Development Committee identified a need to provide support for the specific needs of beginning education professors. A better understanding of beginning education professors’ concerns and needs during the induction phase of their careers was sought by conducting a national survey in 2016. Thematic analysis of resulting narrative data resulted in seven key thematic areas: (1) campus culture and politics, (2) college teaching, (3) writing for publication, (4) professional mentoring, (5) reappointment, promotion, and tenure, (6) career-life balance, and (7) professional networking. The seven themes were also recognized as a common thread in professional literature to date on the induction of beginning professors across academic fields. The ATE Board of Directors granted permission to pilot an Induction System for New Professors (ISNP), designed to address the seven thematic areas. Following a successful pilot in 2016, the ISNP became an annual summer conference offering for ATE, planned and delivered by members of a core ISNP team.

Purpose

The purpose of the ATE ISNP is to provide professional socialization support, information, experiences, and mentoring to assist beginning professors with seven key areas of the professorial induction process. The Induction System Symposium includes three components: (1) an interactive symposium (2) professional association mentoring in which ISNP participants are matched with experienced ATE members in the same or a similar field, and (3) asynchronous online preparation and ongoing support for ISNP mentors.

ISNP participants will be better prepared to:

Transition to college/university responsibilities.
Analyze cultural norms of a new department and university.
Apply research-based organizational lenses to real-life experiences.
Expand scholarship, presentation, and publication opportunities, assisted by experienced ATE mentors in similar areas of specialization.

Participation

The ISNP is available to full-time beginning professors in an Education-related field who are in the induction phase of professorial careers, the initial one to three years of full-time employment at a college or university.

Get Involved with ISNP!

Reserve a place in the next interactive ISNP Symposium for yourself or a new colleague.
Volunteer to be an ISNP Mentor. A team of mentors is needed, from diverse specializations, to work with ISNP participants for a minimum of one year.
Sponsor breakfast or luncheon during a day-long Symposium.

Program Leadership

Mary Selke

Additional Program Information

Selke, M., Watson, C., Rivera-Wilson, J., Robinson, C., Mosley, K., & Zhang, S. (2022). ATE’s induction system for new professors: National support for beginning education professors. Journal of the World Federation of Associations of Teacher Education, 2021 Conference Proceedings, 4(2), 61-72.