| Using data from the (1998) triennial national survey of college faculty conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute (UCLA), this study explored whether the race/ethnicity of a college professor along with other faculty characteristics and institutional settings relate to their engagement with students and what patterns exist with respect to frequency of interactions, and in-class and out-of-class interactions. Based on a stratified sample of the HERI norms data, significant findings demonstrate that faculty of color spend more time with students, initiate out-of-class activities such as research work and underrepresented faculty of color (American Indian, African American and Latino/a) use engaging in-class techniques. Findings also show that women faculty across all racial/ethnic groups spend more time than men faculty with students in advising and using engaging in-class techniques. Yet, this study discovers that men faculty more than women faculty are more likely to engage in out-of-class activities such as work on a research project. Results from the regression analyses indicate that faculty career characteristics and educational orientations are predictive of engagement. After controlling for these characteristics, certain institutional characteristics such as academic disciplines (e.g., Engineering, Humanities, and Social Science), institutional type, control, size and selectivity are predictive of engagement. Interestingly, time spent on activities other than teaching such as research, community service and committee work are positively predictive of engagement. Both positive and negative perceptions of their faculty role on campus also inform a professor's approach to student engagement. This study's empirical evidence builds on what is known about faculty-student engagement and interactions by adding the influences of race/ethnicity and gender. It further solidifies the value that faculty of color and women bring to teaching and learning in American higher education. |
