Boundary Issues in Academia: Student Perceptions of Faculty—Student Boundary Crossings

Abstract

Boundary crossings in academia are rarely addressed by university policy despite the risk of problematic or unethical faculty-student interactions. This study contributes to an understanding of undergraduate college student perceptions of appropriateness of faculty-student nonsexual interactions by investigating the influence of gender and ethnicity on student judgments of the appropriateness of numerous hypothetical interactions. Overall, students deemed the majority of interactions as inappropriate. Female students judged a number of interactions as more inappropriate than did male students, and with a few exceptions, Mexican American and Anglo American students were similar in their ratings of the appropriateness of faculty-student interactions. These findings suggest that universities need to be proactive in establishing guidelines concerning faculty-student boundary crossings.

Student Pharmacist, Pharmacy Resident, and Graduate Student Perceptions of Social Interactions With Faculty Members

“…In comparison, undergraduate students viewed all alcohol-related situations with faculty members as inappropriate, an opinion that may be attributable to previous research focusing on the issues of legal age and attending bars together. 11 As reported in the literature, professional students and residents appear to view alcohol-related social situations differently than do undergraduates, provided that there are no conversations specifically about faculty members or student behavior and/or performance.…”

“…[8][9][10] As students and residents create these social and professional relationships, referred to as "dual-relationships," with faculty members, certain boundaries are established that dictate the roles of each member outside the primary faculty-student/resident relationship. 11 However, in these social situations, faculty-student/resident boundaries may become unclear. One study analyzed undergraduate student perceptions regarding "boundary crossings" in situations in which faculty members are operating outside their academic roles.…”

Managing boundaries in the Web 2.0 classroom

“…In the case of the studentfaculty relationship, there is some expectation that while faculty and students will share in depth in relation to course material, personal information will be more restricted. There is evidence that students expect a thickening of information boundaries in regard to personal information in student-faculty relationships (Holmes, Rupert, Ross, and Shapera, 1999;Owen and Zwahr-Castro, 2007).…”

“…When student-faculty boundaries become more porous due to the use of social media, both faculty and students can become confused about appropriate roles and feel uncomfortable with disclosure levels. In addition, professional objectivity can be affected (Owen and Zwahr-Castro, 2007).…”

Social Justice Mentoring: Preparing Family Therapsists for Social Justice Advocacy Work

“…One of the challenges clinical faculty may experience is the management of the multiple relationships that exist between the faculty member and the student (Blevins-Knabe, 1992;Holmes, Rupert, Ross, & Shapera, 1999;Owen & Zwahr-Castro, 2007). For example, a faculty member may serve as a student's mentor, clinical supervisor, instructor, and/or thesis/dissertation advisor.…”