5: An Exploration of the Spiritual Roots of the Midcareer Faculty Experience

Abstract

In this time of intense pressure on institutions of higher education, the realities and needs of faculty working in them are often not very high on the list of concerns. This chapter examines the current malaise of the academy through an exploration of midcareer faculty. After summarizing selected studies on midcareer faculty, we draw on alternative literature and developmental frameworks to shed light on the spiritual dimension of the midcareer faculty experience. We offer recommendations on appropriate interventions in light of the alternative analysis and discuss their wider implications for a postindustrial paradigm of academic renewal. o The current critique of higher education, intense and far ranging, spans a host of issues ranging from the rising cost of higher education to