Predictive Variables of Faculty Retention in the Counselor Education Field: A Gender Perspective

Abstract

Faculty, especially women faculty, continue to leak from the academic pipeline. Considering the costs related to faculty turnover, researchers have recommended continued exploration of faculty experiences with occupational satisfaction and retention. Accordingly, utilizing quantitative methodology and content analysis, the authors examined the reported experiences of 218 professors in the Counselor Education field. Predictive variables related to faculty retention were identified. These variables included lack of support from administration, lack of support from colleagues, having to work harder than colleagues to be taken seriously, gender, and partner job status. Data also revealed significant differences between gender and partner job status, gender and workload variables, and gender and retention variables. These results provide information on the experiences of both men and women faculty, and highlight gender inequities in higher education.