1. Mid-Career Mentoring
Dr. Diane Finley Prince George’s Community College American Psychological Association Chicago IL August 8-11, 2019
How did I get involved with mentoring? Probably had mentors but they were not identified as such. Began at USPS researching their mentoring program. Then at PG, become New Hire Faculty Consultant – trained mentors. Then STP Director of Professional Development. Taken the program from 6 pairs to 25+ pairs, ECP to GSTA program at ACT and now looking at midcareer folks.
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2. Definition of Mid-Career
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APA defines ECP as 10 years post-degree
No consensus on definition on midcareer
Why do we need consensus?
Even Center for Workforce Studies at APA has no standard definition. I checked during the Consolidated Meetings and via since they publish stats on midcareer!
Literature is very mixed – some by tenure status, some by chronological age, some by years past tenure; many by self-identification
Conflict with ECP definition – if tenure comes at 7 years but ECP is 10 years, when does midcareer start? Definitions overlap. Does it even start at 11 years post degree? Some consensus would make it easier to program and identify participants Awards, grants, etc. could be aimed at midcareer The nature of academia means that we reach mid-career very quickly – CABE project with APA ECPs.

3. Specific Situations Women Minorities Non-tenure granting institutions
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Women
Minorities
Non-tenure granting institutions
Adjunct faculty/part-timer faculty
Women face particular issues in midcareer, especially with regards to work-life balance and increase in expectations for midcareer Minority faculty – can become more isolated as only representative of their minority.
Nontenure granting – how do you define midcareer?
Increase in faculty who are always part-time adjunct but long term.

4. Most Common Issues Increased teaching loads
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Increased teaching loads
Expectations for service, advising
Competition for grants
Loss of formal mentoring programs
Midcareer folks report feeling exhausted from levels of service and institutional demands; confused about where their career is going; number from being taken for granted; stuck b/c it is tough to move from post-tenure Once tenure is achieved, teaching loads often increase since many schools limit that in pre-tenure.
Likewise expected to assume leadership in the department. Longer you are there, the more students are likely to seek you out – are there departmental limits?
Expectations for bringing in grant money may increase even while available grants are decreasing
Many institutions have formal mentoring for new faculty. Those usually disappear once tenure is achieved.

5. Why MidCareer Mentoring
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May be even more important than for early career
Issue of promotion to full professor
Issue of career plan for next 20 years
Challenges of midlife
Not much from psychology on this issues! Much focus is on getting faculty to tenure. What is being done to keep them and make their academic lives productive? Harvard University found that associate professors ranked last on measures of satisfaction. Few schools offer mentoring and help for faculty seeking to reach full professor
Once tenure is achieved, most faculty have at least 20 years in academia left. How do you maintain momentum, stay productive, stay engaged
Regular challenges of midlife – family issues; relationship, work/life balance

6. Why MidCareer Mentoring
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May be even more important than for early career
Issue of promotion to full professor
Issue of career plan for next 20 years
Challenges of midlife
Much focus is on getting faculty to tenure. What is being done to keep them and make their academic lives productive? Few schools offer mentoring and help for faculty seeking to reach full professor
Once tenure is achieved, most faculty have at least 20 years in academia left. How do you maintain momentum, stay productive, stay engaged
Regular challenges of midlife – family issues; relationship, work/life balance

7. Models of Mentoring Traditional Peer Group Outside/Organizational
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Traditional
Peer
Group
Outside/Organizational
Traditional mentoring - done by senior faculty; problem can be finding senior faculty to mentor and compensating them. Could be a conflict of interest
Peer – based on mutuality; safe place but can be hard to help move career forward Group – costs less; faculty from different departments may have different issues; could be some conflicts in serving on P/T committees Outside/Organizational – gives an unbiased perspective; can provide support
Need multiple mentors – both formal and intentional as well as informal Quality of mentoring matters – few are trained in how to mentor

8. Value of Mentoring Individual Institution Discipline
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Individual
Institution
Discipline
Individual benefits: get off to a good start on second half (not really half mathematically) of academic career Institutional: invests in faculty career; actually cheaper than having to hire and start over; create a commitment to institution
Discipline: encourage involvement in organization. Talk about STP initiative

9. Contact Information
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Dr. Diane Finley Finley