Purpose: This exploratory study examines affiliate physician-faculty perceptions and attitudes regarding a teaching incentive programme at a free-standing children's hospital in the United States. We describe the compensation model and present faculty interpretations of its influence on the institutional culture.Methods: A case study methodology was applied to understand the sociological aspects of academic productivity interventions. In-depth interviews, direct observation of leadership meetings, teaching activity logs, organisational theoretical lens and survey results were used for methodological triangulation. Data from these multiple sources were coded and discussed between investigators iteratively to identify core themes.Results: Of the faculty eligible for the incentive, 32 engaged in in-depth interviews (N = 32/107; 30%) and 88 (interviewees included) in the survey (N = 88/107; 82%). Findings suggest that while the implementation made some strides in mitigating barriers for some, for others gaps were identified that suggest further exploration within this domain of study is warranted. The incentive implementation was perceived as strategic, intending to encourage the academic culture of the hospital, though participants commonly expressed confusion about the rationale behind the omission of teaching allocations in formal contracts. However, high satisfaction levels for the programme as a conduit to change were evident. There was a perception of a shift in the collective faculty morale that reflected an evolving institutional culture that increased enthusiasm for teaching. Finally, faculty noted their perception that institutions that employ teaching incentives could positively influence faculty recruitment. Conclusion:We found a modest incentive-based reward for teaching activity was successful in informing the perceptions of faculty regarding their institution's academic prestige goals and teaching recognition. Such programmes, while requiring a small investment of time and resources by institutional leadership, can convey that the educational mission remains a priority in this era of increasing clinical and administrative pressure and an institutional culture that may positively influence faculty morale and dedication to teaching.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Background Differences exist between high schools in their commitment to and efforts toward guiding and aiding students in their postsecondary pathways; however, little is known about how the curricular experiences of high school students, and the related messages they receive, shape their sense of university readiness and postenrollment persistence behaviors and decisions. Although Latino students have struggled to succeed in college, few qualitative studies elaborated their experiences as they transition into universities. This is problematic given that Latino students are not a uniform group and often originate from differing high school contexts. The messages Latino students interpret about college-going while in high school can have bearing on their subjective framings of the challenges they later face that could threaten their university persistence. Purpose We explore how Latino students originating from various high school types experience the university transition process and their first year at a four-year university. We focus on the extent to which Latino students of different socioeconomic status (SES) levels and curriculum placement report the presence of either “college-for-all” or gatekeeping norms at their high school to understand the influence of such norms on their university persistence. Lori Diane Hill's “college-linking” approaches also serve as a framework for the influence of high school contexts in promoting certain norms for these Latino students. Research Design This two-part qualitative study includes 131 Latino students attending a broad access university. Data were analyzed from essays and two sets of semistructured interviews. First, we describe how these messages shape their perspectives regarding their university aspirations. Second, we examine how their self-assessment transforms during their first year of university study and its relevance to their persistence decisions and behaviors. Results Findings indicate that students were differentially exposed to a college-for-all or gate-keeping ideology based on their high school SES and curriculum placement. Once at the university, students reflected on these past high school messages, reinterpreting and applying them to their first-year university experience. Generally, students exposed to college-for-all messages described feeling deceived about their readiness, whereas those exposed to gatekeeping felt inadequate and doubted their ability to persist through first-year challenges. Conclusions Recommendations consider the implications that college-linking and high school messages may have on persistence decisions. We reconceptualize notions of university readiness by infusing new subjective components not addressed in prior research.

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Martinez and Knox reflect on the many contextual factors that influence motivations to remain engaged in education through reaction to Hatfield et al.'s challenge of the belief that clinical precepting reduces productivity.

Background: To have a successful career in academic medicine, finding a mentor is critical for physician-faculty. However, finding the most appropriate mentor can be challenging for junior faculty. As identifying a mentor pool and improving the search process are paramount to both a mentoring program's success, and the academic medical community, innovative methods that optimize mentees' searches are needed. This cross-sectional study examines the search and match process for just over 60 junior physician-faculty mentees participating in a department-based junior faculty mentoring program. To extend beyond traditional approaches to connect new faculty with mentors, we implement and examine an online matchmaking technology that aids their search and match process. Methods: We describe the software used and events leading to implementation. A concurrent mixed method design was applied wherein quantitative and qualitative data, collected via e-surveys, provide a comprehensive analysis of primary usage patterns, decision making, and participants' satisfaction with the approach. Results: Mentees reported using the software to primarily search for potential mentors in and out of their department, followed by negotiating their primary mentor selection with their division chief's recommendations with those of the software, and finally, using online recommendations for self-matching as appropriate. Mentees found the online service to be user-friendly while allowing for a non-threatening introduction to busy senior mentors. Conclusions: Our approach is a step toward examining the use of technology in the search and match process for junior physician-faculty. Findings underscore the complexity of the search and match process.