Periods in the Adult Development of the Faculty Member

A life-span developmental theory of the evolution of the individual life structure through age-linked eras and periods2 is applied to the lives of faculty members. Two fictional cases of professors who do not wish to do academic work of any kind- one at the beginning of his career, the other near the end-are analyzed. It is argued that the meaning of the professor's work-his or her teaching, research, administration, and relations with students, younger faculty, peers, and superordinates- is a function of the developmental period the faculty member is in, as well as of the cumulative effects of previous -developmental success and failure in adulthood. To understand the demise of the motivation to work requires us to understand the professor's original career dream, his or her experiences, or lack of them, with mentors, as well as the current developmental tasks with which the professor struggles.