The impact of failure on faculty development

Failure is an inevitable outcome in life. Even though this is a commonly accepted fact, the environment in academic pharmacy has stigmatized failure. This stigmatization potentially stunts faculty development if inappropriate coping strategies evolve and skills such as creativity and problem solving do not flourish.

There is an opportunity for pharmacy academia, especially faculty, to assume a new lens when examining failure. The authors will examine the impact of failure on active learning and scholarship.

Despite the many challenges and apprehensions that surround the concept of failure, it is important that academia reframes failure. This new perspective can positively view failure as a progressive mechanism by creating novel solutions to challenges in academia and demonstrating to pharmacy students that failure is something to embrace as a learning tool.