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This comparative case analysis aims to understand what organizational conditions are related to the differences in the development of research among four traditional private universities in Latin America. Based on imprinting theory, the study analyzes how historical events and the founding conditions of each case study influence the processes of adaptation to local and global institutional pressures related to research development. Findings of the qualitative analysis of interviews with authorities of each case show that adaptative responses related to their policies and plans, allocation of universities' resources, tenure rules, and the development of a critical mass of professors with research capacities are influenced by their historical legacies: elements such as founding values, the stamps that the founders imprint, and the routines of selection of their members are maintained over time, intervening in the choice of the different options for the research development.

Despite recent evidence linking top management power with firm performance, our understanding about the interaction effect between power and personal characteristics of the top manager is still very limited. Building on and extending the Upper Echelons and Power literature, we address the empirical question: How, i.e. UK Vice-Chancellors' (VC) power influences the efficiency of UK universities? We use panel data from 126 UK universities from 2016 to 2020 to test our hypotheses. Our findings demonstrate that VC power, and its constituents affect efficiency. VCs with more power tend to improve the efficiency of the universities they run respectively. Specifically, VC in receipt of higher compensation and honour medals tend to improve the efficiency of the university they run. In contrast, if they are Oxbridge graduate and have long tenure, the efficiency will decline. More importantly, the interaction results show that a high-power VC who is not from Asian or minority background is shown to improve efficiency but a high-power VC who is a female will drive up efficiency. Our analyses reveal that a VC's power and the constituents to VC power play a crucial role in determining the efficiency level of the university. Furthermore, origin and gender of a VC will moderate the VC's power in influencing the efficiency level.

In Ireland state funded support services provide Continuing Professional Development for teachers and school leaders. These services are staffed with teachers seconded from their schools on an annual basis for a maximum of five years. This study investigated the learning and experience of teachers seconded to a national support service, the Professional Development Service for Teachers and how this influences their post-secondment career. It employed qualitative interviews exploring this from the perspective of teachers previously seconded to the PDST. The theoretical framework was rooted in the field of career dynamics setting out three stages (Entry, Experience, Exit) navigated by teachers from entering the service through to their departure. This article focusses primarily on the study findings for the Experience stage while necessarily providing relevant insights from the Entry stage. Attention is drawn to the distinct role and identities of teachers seconded as 'Continuing Teacher Educators'. Findings show that the learning they acquire is extensive while also revealing tensions in managing hybrid identities as teachers/teacher educators. Most notable are precarious tensions between the catalytic impact of secondment and the uncertain nature of its tenure. For most, this eventuates in a premature departure from the service to other careers, paradoxically having reached proficiency as teacher educators.

The employee-organisation relationship between academics and universities is a critical issue in higher education (HE) human resource management. Previous studies have mainly investigated the segmentation between full-time and part-time academics, or academics working in different countries. However, few studies have explored academics' perceptions of their relationship with universities under the recent tenure-track reform in the Chinese HE system. Drawing on psychological contract theory, this qualitative study explores how academics perceive their relationships with their university. Through interviews with 21 tenure-track academics at a Chinese university, this study found four types of psychological relationships: (1) high-risk with high-yield, (2) optimistic trust, (3) mutual benefit, and (4) content and satisfied. Among the four types, tenure-track academics' expectations of universities are diversified. These findings suggest that universities should pay more attention to understanding academics' perceived employee-organisation relationship and their corresponding expectations to improve managerial efficiency.

Much has been written on tenure status among librarians due to the unique work responsibilities they have in comparison to other faculty across campus. This study explores one facet of work often unique to tenure-track librarians--long-term or permanent management responsibilities. In addition to gathering descriptive data about what type of managing work is being done on the tenure track, by whom and where, this study also analyzes how these roles and responsibilities impact one's success on the tenure track and vice versa, and how tenure-track work influences one's ability to manage. Eighty-seven librarians completed an online survey and the results show that, while there are some positives to being a manager while on the tenure track, including demonstrable leadership opportunities, most noted a lack of time to perform all required responsibilities in both areas. Other findings that emerged included a belief that managing did not count towards earning tenure and that other faculty colleagues, both in and out of the library, did not understand the full scope of managers' work. Recommendations include that library leaders consider if job roles with a heavy management focus should be tenure-track and if so, how tenure-track managers can be better supported and include their management responsibilities in promotion and tenure documentation.

This paper explores teachers' anxiety about work at 75 timepoints between October 2019 and July 2022, covering the period before, during and towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. We find the work-related anxiety of headteachers increased substantially throughout the pandemic -much more so than amongst more junior staff. Female teachers experienced a greater impact than men, particularly amongst those with young children. Differences were also observed in work-related anxiety between independent and state schoolteachers, though only during the first lockdown. We illustrate how providing onsite instruction, live online lessons and working longer hours were all associated with raised levels of work-related anxiety.

The Education Information Network (EBA), which is offered as a social education platform in Turkish education system, is a system that allows teachers and students to benefit from educational technologies free of charge. This research was carried out to determine the correlation between the level of use of the EBA and the level of use of educational technologies of science teachers working in secondary education. In the study, the correlation research model, which is a quantitative research method, was used. The study group of the research consist of 80 Science Teachers working in all public secondary schools in the district of Çorlu in the province of Tekirdag in the spring term of the 2018-2019 Academic year. As the data collection tool, Alabay's "Opinions on EBA Usage Level" and Bayraktar's "Educational Technologies Usage Level Determination Questionnaire" were used to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. The data was analyzed by using SPSS 23 statistical analysis software package. The results of the study were obtained by applying the normality test, nonparametric analyses (Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis H test) and the Correlation analysis on the obtained data. When the correlation between the opinions of teachers concerning the level of use of the EBA and the level of use of the educational technologies were examined, a positive and significant correlation was found between them.

A steady increase in online instruction occurred from the 1990s to 2019, with a swift change, during the pandemic. However, during an instructional delivery change, are university instructors prepared to shift to the virtual classroom that appropriately aligns with student expectations of a meaningful online course? This is significant since student evaluations of instructor behavior are often an influential measure in the university tenure process. This current study investigated the expectations of school leaders in a graduate program as they prepare for a career in the PK-12 setting. In this study, graduate students in a school leadership program ranked the most and least important instructor behaviors in an online course. Recognizing the priorities of the PK-12 candidate provides university faculty with guidance on how to best design and implement online courses to the needs and desires of graduate students while maximizing instructor resources and meeting accreditation criteria.

A growing body of literature has identified student evaluations of teaching (SETs) as introducing bias against minority faculty members and not serving as a reliable or valid measure of teaching effectiveness. This lack of reliability and validity presents issues for university tenure and promotion committees, as these institutional processes necessarily require accurate, objective, and holistically informed modes of evaluation to recognize teaching achievements. Summative peer review of teaching (SPRT) is an alternative mode of assessment that aims to provide evidence of teaching effectiveness to inform promotion and tenure. SPRT, as an institutional practice, has been adopted at a small cohort of institutions of higher education, marking a potential shift in practice. This article examines SETs to articulate the problematic elements introduced by SETs, specifically to examine if SPRT can serve as a viable alternative. By describing the SPRT processes that four institutions have taken, the authors aim to articulate these emerging approaches to collecting evidence of teaching effectiveness. In this descriptive work, it is our secondary contention that SPRT, through intentional design and facilitation, can offer a process that does not introduce bias in the same way as SETs and thus, can also be used to satisfy the growing need for practices that help achieve, in part, institutional goals related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

This article provides a retrospective account of 25 years of qualitative and quantitative inquiry into the psychological characteristics, leadership strategies, and attributes that education deans bring to their positions and the contextual factors that contribute to their staying power. Over multiple, mixed-methods studies, some 423 education deans shared their views through interviews, vignette responses, situational self-analyses, and surveys. The main results indicated that a mature ego is at the centerpiece of effective leadership, allowing deans to invoke different dimensions of their leadership to adapt proficiently to their professional environment. Their professional identities, attributes, and capacities, stemming from their mature ego, contributed to job satisfaction and longevity. Relevant professional development arose as worth considering.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) aligns with many institutionally espoused values regarding the value of teaching and learning excellence. SoTL has increased in prestige and value in the past decade, but less information about the proliferation of SoTL within one institution is known. Through an examination of 10 years of curriculum vitae submitted for successful promotion and tenure, our study investigated faculty members' engagement in SoTL over time and differences in engagement by rank, race, gender, discipline, and type of SoTL artifact. Over the 10-year period, the percentage of faculty engaged in SoTL did not differ significantly. We did uncover differences by disciplinary type and race. Faculty were most likely to engage in grants and presentations related to SoTL and least likely to have a peer-reviewed journal artifact. Our findings suggest that although SoTL efforts continue to gain acceptance within the higher education milieu, institutional and disciplinary realities may be powerful determiners of SoTL participation.

Scholarship addressing public and community engagement in tenure and promotion often invokes Ernest Boyer's landmark 1990 report, "Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate," and goes on to lament the lack of progress made in the three decades that have followed. This review intervenes: We synthesize extant scholarship on community-engaged scholarship and public engagement (CES&PE) in appointment, tenure, and promotion (APT); lay out three central challenges to the advancement of CES&PE; review the strategies institutions and individuals have leveraged to advance more equitable and effective processes; and caution against potential inadvertent, damaging consequences of reforms focused solely on CES&PE. We argue not only that recognition for CES&PE in APT is essential for fulfilling the institutional missions of universities for the public good, but also that it is essential to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice on college and university campuses.

This article offers research-based advice on how to write and publish community-engaged scholarship (CES), with special emphasis on success in career-building and academic publishing contexts. It further offers a snapshot of a program designed to build a faculty community of practice for advancing publication of CES. Publishing CES throws into stark relief the tensions between what's accessible and valuable to communities and what's recognizable and admirable to academics who hold power over community-engaged scholars' careers.

Positive perception status increases one's worthiness, self-confidence and perspective towards time positively (Icerson & Pines, 2013). The present study aims to examine the positive perception levels of the trainers, who participated in the second level athletics training course opened by the Turkish Athletics Federation at different times in 2021, in terms of some variables. A total of 246, 139 men and 107 women (Age Avg.=31 0.04±7.37), constitute the sample of the study for athletics training courses. Personal information questionnaire developed by the researcher and Positive Perception Scale adapted to Turkish by Akin and Kaya (2015) were applied to the trainers. The skewness-kurtosis normality distribution test was used to determine whether the measurements were suitable for the normal distribution. According to the Skewness-Kurtosis technique, it did not show a normal distribution for the total positive perception and positive perception of the past time sub-dimensions, but showed a normal distribution for the positive perception of human nature and positive perception of the self. According to the results of the research, it can be said that the total and sub-dimension levels of the participants' positive perception scale are high. While there was no significant difference in terms of age and place of residence of the participants participating in the research, a statistically significant difference was found in terms of gender, working time, and duration of doing sports.

The reward systems typically found in colleges and universities often serve as a barrier rather than a catalyst for improving teaching. As such, an increasing number of university faculty members are using their own classrooms as a site of inquiry and reflective practice (e.g. self-study) to concurrently advance their own research and teaching. This paper portrays a yearlong self-study of two former practitioners turned probationary faculty members within a college of education at a comprehensive regional university. Findings include tensions within relationships, the influence of our past positions, the engagement of students, and how scholarship requirements influence our professional lives. Finally, the authors suggest five reasons tenure-track faculty ought to consider participating in a self-study.

The experiences of international scholars in the United States who are part of short-term or exchange programs remain vastly under-investigated compared to their full-time, tenure-track, and tenured peers. Guided by Blau's (1964) social exchange theory, this study investigated professional and social experiences of exchange scholars at a large public research university in the southeast United States. A mixed-method exploration was conducted through surveys and interviews with international scholars who participated in an exchange program in the spring of 2020. The results revealed that exchange scholars were most satisfied with work conditions and their research experience, but least satisfied with professional development opportunities and cultural exchange. Further, participants' research experience was significantly correlated with their cultural exchange, while their professional development was significantly correlated with work conditions and support. Additional implications were drawn from the results revealing the unmet needs of program participants regarding the different areas of their exchange experiences.

The crown of a successful academic career is often considered an achievement of tenure. The path to tenure may vary based on the type of Carnegie University at which one is employed. Carnegie Doctoral granting R1 Universities place a high priority on conducting research, grant writing and publishing while other Carnegie classified Universities place more emphasis on teaching. Regardless of a University's Carnegie classification the path to tenure requires sound time management skills if an academic is to achieve tenure. To that end, the authors have decided to revisit Covey's Time Management Matrix (CTMM). The authors provide an ethnographic perspective with respect to the Quadrants of the CTMM for the purpose of providing a priority driven time self-management instrument to assist academics navigating towards tenure. Priority driven effective time self-management is key to successfully achieving tenure and we forward our academic interpretation of the CTMM as a potential guide for academics and their administrators. Further, the authors suggest that a priority driven effective time self-management strategy is portable across disciplines and national/cultural borders.

This study uses Black feminist thought to explore the experiences of Black women faculty that earned tenure and promotion to associate professor. We found that participants who reported positive experiences on the tenure track received strong support from various sources. Conversely, those devoid of competent support consistently reported negative experiences. Collectively, our participants' narratives offer insight into the importance of mentoring and departmental leadership to support Black women junior faculty's well-being and potential career contributions. Based on our theoretical considerations and findings, we argue for more robust mentoring and support policy and praxis for Black women faculty that requires broader investment and participation from university stakeholders at all levels. Finally, we close with directions for future research.

This study aims to investigate whether a government-funded postdoctoral fellowship improves the chances of being selected for a tenure-track faculty position in the social sciences and humanities in South Korea. Data on new scholars applying for government-funded postdoctoral fellowships in 2011-2013 were used to compare the likelihood of tenure-track appointments for recipients and non-recipients of fellowships. The results of the propensity score matching and logistic regression analysis revealed that recipients in the field of social sciences were approximately 1.29 times more likely to be in tenure-track positions 4-6 years after their fellowship compared with non-recipients. However, this positive effect was not observed for recipients in the humanities. The study suggested policy recommendations on the basis of these results.

The following exploration examined the impact of working conditions on faculty teaching for full-time faculty and non-tenure track faculty within an academic department at a large Midwestern university to determine whether employment status and working conditions potentially impacted student learning outcomes. Questions asked of participating faculty focused on factors related to, or influencing, teaching that may improve or hinder student learning. Factors such as available resources, interaction with department administrators and other faculty, job satisfaction, work-life integration, and mentorship were explored through written surveys and one-on-one interviews. Twelve faculty, out of a target population of 33, provided insight as to concerns or issues they felt impeded or supported teaching efforts. Although the exploration contained a small sample size, department administrators implemented changes to address faculty concerns to reduce "disconnects" and issues mentioned by faculty members. Primary changes occurred around part time faculty input on curriculum development and interactions with department administrators and full-time faculty. While still ongoing, initial feedback is positive and indicates faculty are adapting to the changes. Further work is necessary to examine individual feelings of worth and value, as well as exploring actual student learning outcomes across courses.

Growing demands and expectations on the side of policy makers and the public have changed the conditions for academics' engagement in public discussions. At the same time, risks related to this engagement for the professional and even private lives of academics have become apparent. Conducting a survey experiment among 4091 tenured professors in Germany, we study how these conditions causally affect academics' attitudes toward engaging. Consistent with the crowding-out of intrinsic motivation, we find less-positive attitudes when emphasizing demands for engagement by public authorities and public expectations toward science's societal relevance. Effects are particularly strong among professors endorsing science-society relations. Moreover, effects are similar when highlighting risks associated with engagement, but more pronounced for females and younger professors. Emphasizing public support for academics' engagement has no discernible effects. We conclude that considering individual incentive structures and safeguarding against negative repercussions may promote academics' engagement and an adequate representation of the diversity of academics in the public.

Pakistan introduced the Tenure Track System (TTS) as a new performance-based reform in public universities in 2005. The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of higher education authorities, university leaders and tenure-track faculty about the implementation of this reform. This is a qualitative interpretive study and utilised a nested case study design, focusing on two cases--Science Faculty and Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty in a large provincial university. It utilises three perspectives taken from organisation theory--instrumental, cultural and myth perspectives. The main results show instrumental problems of hierarchical authority and horizontal coordination, lack of expertise to implement, cultural compatibility problems through active resistance from some groups and active use of symbols to modify the impression of a challenging reform implementations. Summing up, this is a Western-inspired reform that meet challenging conditions in Pakistan, making is rather less successful.

The evolving landscape of higher education has forced many institutions to reorganize, remove administrative layers, and subsequently, reexamine criteria and processes. In particular, efforts to consolidate and combine departments has prompted a need to explore options for a systematic and objective framework for evaluating performance. This paper explores the process of restructuring tenure and promotion documents to accommodate a variety of programs with varying accreditation requirements brought together due to institutional restructuring. The authors utilized a modified version of the Input Process Output (IPO) logical model to facilitate the creation of a mixed method (narrative and point-based) tenure and promotion (T&P) document that satisfied requirements for AACSB and non-accredited programs. The outcome produced a guide that is adaptable, minimizes subjectivity, and is easier to interpret for those within and outside the department. This paper extends the current literature by offering a review of current T&P practices by four-year institutions and presenting a modified version of the IPO model designed to facilitate the process of crafting a new T&P document. Suggestions for use by other departments and institutions as well as direction for future research are also presented.

As a result of the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic, many universities were required to make quick decisions to accommodate social-distancing guidelines. Cherished university events such as commencement and spring convocations were postponed or canceled. Such decisions were made in an effort to curb the number of people infected with the virus. Institutions were also forced to consider how to continue educating students in the midst of a pandemic. In many instances, faculty were required to transition their face-to-face courses to an online format. Some instructors were familiar with the instructional strategies and technological tools needed for effective online teaching, whereas other, novice faculty were hesitant or even resistant to the idea of online teaching and learning. This case study at a Midwestern master's level university examines the perceptions of faculty (N = 183) regarding the quick transition of their courses to an online medium during the spring 2020 semester. We administered a web-based survey instrument consisting of two sections. Section I had 20 demographic questions and Section II had 28 statements rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"). Section II assessed perceptions and attitudes about the quick transition to online, perceptions of students' engagement in the courses before and after the transition, and professors' level of satisfaction with the transition. The data were analyzed using frequency, mean, and analysis of covariance. Findings reveal that generally faculty felt that course quality remained the same, that students' engagement and performance declined during the pandemic, and that satisfaction levels with the transition were low.

The present study aimed to investigate the level and correlation of school happiness and teacher autonomy among a sample of Jordanian teachers. The study sample consisted of 1,030 teachers within the Jerash and Mafraq Directorate of Education, with data collected using the School Happiness Scale(SHS) and Teacher Autonomous Behavior Scale(TABS). Results study showed a positive and statistically significant correlation between school happiness and teacher autonomy. Results also showed there were statistically significant differences in the level of school happiness by gender, in favor of female teachers; statistically significant differences in the level of school happiness by school level, in favor of secondary school teachers; and statistically significant differences in the level of school happiness by teacher tenure, in favor of teachers with one to five years of experience. Finally, results also showed statistically significant differences in the level of teacher autonomy attributed to gender, in favor of female teachers; no statistically significant differences in the level of teacher autonomy by school level; and statistically significant differences in the level of teacher autonomy by teacher tenure, in favor of teachers with one to five and six to ten years of experience.

This essay provides insights into how one cohort of four scholars established a community of support (in other words, a family) that began during graduate recruitment week at their PhD institution and now extends deep into their tenure-track careers. Presenting stories that chronicle an academic trajectory, these scholars describe how, despite having very little difference in academic "rank," they have mentored and supported each other. Through connected stories of mentorship and familial support, the authors suggest new scholars build coalitional families in the academy to support each other and continue learning throughout their careers.

This article uses 30 years of investigatory and special reports by the American Association of University Professors' Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure to understand how retrenchment and restructuring practices have been enacted on ways detrimental to both individual and the corporate faculty. Informed by changes in the logics in higher education and broader understandings of retrenchment, we identified larger patterns of where retrenchment and restructuring in violation of academic norms took place. We further identified three main themes in the reports: Declaring Exigency and / or Launching Restructuring, Faculty Roles and Rights during Retrenchment/Restructuring, and Criteria Used in Removing Faculty. Together, they demonstrate how faculty were excluded from decisions to declare financial exigency or undertake restructuring, denied meaningful roles in enacting changes once exigency or restructuring had been announced, were targeted for removal in violation of tenure rights, and were denied academic due process.

In this information age, it is seen that the limitation of education and training, with space and time have started to be discussed and alternative methods and approaches have been suggested for students. The general purpose of this study is to plan the training of future primary school teachers in e-learning environments within the current education. 380 volunteer primary school teachers who continue to teach in Kazakhstan participated in the research in the spring term of 2020-2021. Scanning method was used in the research. General opinion measurement tool for e-learning, which was developed by the researchers was used. The collected data were analyzed using a spss program. One Way Anova and T-test were applied to analyze the data obtained from the e-learning measurement tool. According to the results of the research, primary school teachers had high e-learning levels. There was no difference in e-learning levels according to their professional seniority.

Most private sector employees have access to defined contribution retirement plans while public sector employees often may choose defined benefit or defined contribution plans. This research utilized a survey of faculty to analyze retirement plan satisfaction. Advice from a financial planner was positively associated with satisfaction with portability. Retirement plan knowledge was negatively associated with satisfaction with the decision period. Selection of a defined benefit plan was positively related to four aspects of satisfaction and negatively related to regret. Financial planners assisting individuals who face such choices should acknowledge the decision's challenges and evaluate the client's level of retirement planning knowledge. Focusing on long-term goals and the client's investment and mobility risk tolerance may be helpful, especially after market corrections.

This study aims to reveal the investigating the distance education process according to the demographic characteristics for the staff of the notary and the notaries in Turkey. In this research survey method is used. The sample group consists of 317 notary and notary employees who responded voluntarily to the scale in the distance education platform. Demographic information form and distance education satisfaction scale were used as data collection tools. In the analysis, ANOVA, T-Test, Mann Whitney-U, Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson Correlation were performed in accordance with sub-problems. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that the satisfaction of the participants was between the sub-factors and the general satisfaction between the middle and high level. All factors were found to have a high positive and significant relationship between general satisfaction and each other. The satisfaction of the participants showed a significant difference according to age, but did not show a significant difference according to gender, task type, duration of work in the profession, number of notary employees, educational level and participating in distance education previously. As a result of the research, planning the gamification, measurement and evaluation and certificate programs that the participants would provide more interaction on the platform were considered important. The contents of education were found to be effective on satisfaction.

Continuous changes in social demand and development provide an acute and continuous pressure on universities. The question is whether higher education institutions (HEI) in Ecuador deliver graduates with the competences to provide timely economic, ecological, and sustainable solutions. Additionally, HEIs should prepare graduates to find employment in a society characterized by greater uncertainty, extensive use of information technology, speed, risk, complexity and interdisciplinary work. To face this challenge, universities need lecturers to possess a mix of aptitudes, attitudes, and professional development in teaching, research, and services. Unfortunately, knowledge is sparse about the readiness of their pupils to function effectively in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized environment. Accordingly, this study uses an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to explore the impact of lecturers' aptitudes, attitudes, and professional development on teaching and student learning at the University of Cuenca. Lecturers' perceptions about their aptitudes and their attitudes are higher than the students' perceptions. Faculty representatives believe that untenured lecturers have a better attitude and aptitude than the tenured lecturers. A third part of lecturers have achieved one of the required criteria in research development. Students from biological sciences are more satisfied with their lecturers and the competence development that they receive than the students from social sciences or engineering. Understanding the likely implication of the variables, aptitudes, attitudes and professional development, on the quality of teaching and learning is fundamental for the design and carrying out of educational reforms.

Organizational commitment plays a pivotal role in determining whether an employee will stay with the organization for a longer period of time and work passionately towards achieving the organization's goal In this study, the organizational commitment perceptions of health sector employees have been compared based on demographic variables and job characteristics using a comparative correlational research design. The sample of this study consists of 397 employees working at different levels in a company operating in the Konya health sector. Personal Information Form and Organizational Commitment Scale have been used to collect research data. According to the findings of the study, it has been observed that the affective commitment of the participants was high, whereas other organizational commitment perceptions were moderate. Participants' perceptions of organizational commitment differ according to gender, age, professional seniority, position and working duration. In the light of these data, it is proposed that the institutions provide the necessary support and training in order to increase the organizational commitment of the employees.

Professional growth of STEM teacher educators remains an underdeveloped topic in educational research. In the current study, STEM teacher educators representing six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and USA completed a survey, which addressed teacher educators' professional trajectories, practices, and challenges they face to meet tenure requirements. This study utilized convergent mixed methods design applying survey research format and as such integrated both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Descriptive statistics and meaning coding of the survey and interviews allowed identification of emerging themes in professional practices. The main findings suggest that there are common trends as well as country specific professional practices across professional trajectories reported by participants. The study results reveal that the lack of support during the teacher-to-teacher educator transition period was a common feature across the countries. It was also evident among participants that their professional journey begins with an assumption that as teacher educators they should primarily excel in performing teaching tasks.