Educational Orientations of Faculty: Assessing a Personality Model of the Academic Professions

Abstract

This study examined faculty educational orientations and values in the context of Holland's personality and vocational choice model. Faculty ( N = 237) completed the Faculty Orientations Survey and were assigned to a personality group based on Holland's theory. One-way analyses of variance across Holland-type groups generated significant Fs on each subscale. Tukey's HSD a posteriori comparisons yielded significant group differences on various educational “purpose and process” dimensions of the survey, with individuals in Holland's Social and Artistic groups tending to form one cluster and individuals in the Realistic and Investigative groups forming another. Faculty educational orientations were judged to be generally congruent with the salient personality needs and characteristics of respective Holland groups. Discussion centered on the rationale for assessing faculty attitudes in areas critical to an institution's responsiveness to changing educational conditions, and the importance of theoretical models in these efforts.