Faculty work load formulas in nursing education: a critical theory perspective

The purpose of this article is to increase faculty awareness and understanding of the constraints and contradictions that are embedded within faculty work load formulas. An overview of critical social theory is presented and serves as a framework for the analysis of work load formulas within the context of their historical development and current usage. The ideologies, constraints, and interests of such formulas are identified and explored. Challenges exist to beliefs that faculty work load formulas are a just and equitable way to determine faculty responsibilities; that faculty worth can be objectified, categorized, quantified, and measured; and that the institutional norms and values of higher education are right for nursing. The feminist PEACE (praxis, empowerment, awareness, consensus, and evolvement) process, as developed by Wheeler and Chinn, is discussed and serves as a framework for the development of alternative methods to create autonomy, responsibility, and greater communication in establishing faculty work loads. The authors believe that only through awareness, reflection, understanding, and action can the tensions that create conflict and perpetuate dominance and authority be changed.