Status of current dental hygiene faculty and perceptions of important qualifications for future faculty

Dental hygiene educators are expressing concerns about faculty retirement causing an educator shortage. The primary objective of this study was to investigate current dental hygiene faculty demographic characteristics, future plans and perceptions of important skills for future faculty.

A Web-based survey instrument was designed after reviewing the literature and consulting with dental hygiene faculty. Permission to conduct this study was obtained from the University of Michigan. The survey investigated demographic characteristics, future plans and perceptions of important skills of future faculty. A cover letter was sent via e-mail to dental hygiene program directors requesting them to forward the link to faculty. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square testing in SPSS.

The response rate was 65%. Program directors provided 24% of responses while non-directors provided 76%. The average age of faculty was 50 years. Within 5 years, 60 of the responding faculty will retire, which includes 20 program directors. Eight percent were in their first year of teaching. Greater than 90% of faculty perceived clinical, educational and technological skills as important for future faculty. Only 53% believed research skills were important, a significantly lower result (p<0.0001). Responses for research skills differed significantly by institution type (p<0.0001) and credentials (p=0.013). Older faculty ranked educational and clinical skills significantly higher than younger faculty (p=0.005, and p=.018 respectively).

Future dental hygiene faculty will need strong educational backgrounds, clinical skills and technological skills. University and highly credentialed faculty place greater importance on research skills than community college/technical school faculty and those with fewer credentials. Ways to engage current faculty in research should be investigated. Nearly 10% of this sample will retire within 5 years, so ways to attract qualified individuals in the field of dental hygiene education should also be investigated.