The socialization of a Medical School faculty

The research reported here shows the processes which socialize M.D.s and Ph.D.s into academic roles in a medical school and the factors affecting their retention and attrition. Eighty-one percent (350) of the regular faculty of a midwestern university medical school provided career background data and information on their attitudes toward issues within their school and their perceived and preferred organizational goals, characteristics, and managerial styles. Sherlock and Morris' (1) paradigm was the theoretical framework. Principal findings include the greater importance of latent over manifest variables, the M.D.s' late decision to try an academic career, the high colleague acceptance of the new M.D. recruit, the greater adoption of university professoriat norms by the Ph.D.s, and the high goal agreement between basic science and clinical faculty.