A Survey of Junior Faculty: Current State of Junior Faculty Mentorship in Physical Therapy Education

The purpose of this study was to identify the following: 1) What does mentorship of new faculty look like across institutions? 2) Which topics do junior faculty mentees prefer, and are there gender differences? 3) What stressors are attributed to transitioning from clinician to academia, and are there gender differences? 4) What is the perception of mentorship in junior faculty?

Within physical therapy (PT) education and other health professions, there is evidence that early career mentorship can improve self-efficacy and job satisfaction and decrease stress. Despite this, there is limited understanding of mentorship for early-career faculty in PT education, especially related to differences in gender.

Two hundred junior faculty in US entry-level PT education programs completed an online survey.

The Health Sciences Faculty Mentoring Survey tool was used. Statistical analyses were used to examine gender differences in stressors, mentorship preferences, and perceived mentorship influence. Open-ended responses to 3 questions were analyzed descriptively using NVivo.

The survey response rate was 11.5% and revealed that 61.5% of respondents had a mentor with 35.4% of those mentorship relationships formally assigned. Respondents reported moderate to extreme stress in all categories of transitioning from the clinical setting to academia. Females reported greater stress than males across all areas, with 4 categories showing significant differences. Gender differences also emerged in mentor topic preferences. Analysis of open-ended responses highlighted perceived benefits of mentorship. Reported barriers to mentorship included time and/or workload constraints, power differentials, and the willingness of senior faculty to mentor.

This study provided updated insights into current junior faculty mentorship and gender differences in PT education, laying the groundwork for the future development of a mentorship blueprint for PT programs in the United States.