Date Approved
4-19-2023
Embargo Period
4-19-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ed.D. Doctor of Education
Department
Educational Services and Leadership
College
College of Education
Advisor
Ane Turner Johnson, Ph.D.
Committee Member 1
Monica Reid Kerrigan, Ed.D.
Committee Member 2
Cecile Huynh. Sam, Ph.D.
Keywords
Mentorship, Onboarding, Role change, Socialization, Transition, Work-Role Conflict
Subject(s)
Occupational therapists; College teachers; Identity (Psychology)
Disciplines
Educational Leadership | Higher Education
Abstract
Transitioning can be a daunting experience for occupational therapists shifting to an academic job as new faculty with new roles, responsibilities, and expectations. As newcomers to academia, occupational therapists can become overwhelmed by meeting the demands of the academic roles of teaching, scholarship, and service. Through a heuristic approach, I explored the lived experiences of occupational therapists who transitioned to academia from the clinical setting to better understand role change, work-role conflict, and academic identity development during the transition process. The person-environment-occupation-performance model provided a framework to understand the findings and give meaning to the OT faculty transition experience. The study showed that onboarding and mentorship play a significant role in the socialization of new occupational therapy faculty to their academic roles and the development of their academic identity during the transition from clinician to academician. Consequently, a lack of or ineffective onboarding and mentorship can lead to misunderstanding and difficulties in socializing, adapting, and developing an academic identity. Socialization involves teaching and learning, acquiring skills and values through engagement with the onboarding process, senior faculty, and institutional insiders who serve as mentors to new faculty.
Recommended Citation
Rhett-Davis, Theresa, "Transition From Clinician To Academician: A Heuristic Inquiry of Role Change, Work-Role Conflict and Identity Development in Occupational Therapy" (2023). Theses and Dissertations. 3093.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/3093
