The Role of Gender and Age in
Vocational Calling Among University
Professors
Cindy Miller-Perrin and Don Thompson
Pepperdine University
8th Annual Mid-Year Conference on Religion and Spirituality
March 27, 2010
1
Why is Vocational Calling Important
to Higher Education?
• College students are increasingly interested in
matters of faith, religion, and spirituality
• The college years are a critical time for the
development of identity and one’s sense of
life purpose or vocational calling
• Faculty are in a unique position to mentor
students with regard to vocational calling
2
Research on Faculty and Vocational
Calling
• Little research has examined faculty views of
their roles as vocational mentors or how they
conceptualize and experience vocation in
their own lives
• Astin & Astin (1999) found that although
faculty wanted to discuss issues of meaning,
purpose, and spirituality, they felt little
institutional encouragement to do so
• Narloch (2004) found that faculty narrowly
defined vocation as one’s occupation
3
The Current Study
• Examined faculty views of vocation and
the impact of gender and age on faculty
vocational calling and student
mentoring
• Faculty from a private Christian
university, following four years of Lilly
Endowment grant sponsored activities,
participated
4
The Faculty Sample
• 164 faculty were invited to complete a
survey
• Of those invited, 80 faculty participated
(response rate of 49%)
• Participants included 32 females and 48
males
• Mean age 47 (ranged from 29-67 years)
5
Faculty Survey on Vocational Calling
• Survey of 114 items
– Definitions of vocation
– Personal experiences of vocational
discernment and action
– Barriers and sacrifices to living out one’s
vocation
– Role of faculty mentoring in student
vocational development
– Faith Maturity Index
6
Definition and Scope
of Vocational Calling
• Secular View
– Work, Career, Occupation
• Christian View
– “a holy calling” 2 Timothy 1:9
– Any human activity that gives meaning,
purpose, and direction to life: lifework
• Public and Private Dimensions
– Work, ministry, community, relationships
7
Definition and Scope
of Vocational Calling
• “The place God calls you to is the place
where your deep gladness and the
world’s deep hunger meet” Buechner
– Vocation involves loving and serving others
– Vocation involves using the gifts God has
bestowed upon us
8
Definition and Scope of
Vocational Calling
(Agree or Strongly Agree)
• Vocation Refers To:
– Life purpose – 93%
– God’s will for one’s life – 89%
– Job/Career/Profession – 75%
– Personal interests or skills – 72%
– Formal ministry – 47%
9
Definition and Scope of
Vocational Calling
(Agree or Strongly Agree)
• Vocation Encompasses:
– Occupation/Career 90%
– Parenthood – 81%
– Marriage – 77%
– Service toward others – 72%
– Community – 71%
– Church – 69%
– Friendship – 64%
10
Personal Experiences of
Vocational Action and Discernment
(Agree or Strongly Agree)
• I have a strong sense of my
own personal vocation
• I am confident that I am living
out my vocational calling
• My vocation includes serving
those in need
• I do not spend much time
contemplating my vocation
96%
93%
68%
8%
11
Vocational Barriers
• Various barriers or obstacles may
interfere with our ability to discern or
act upon our vocational callings
• Barriers serve as challenges that either
– create struggles that we must overcome
– create an impasse that redirects our
journey
12
Vocational Barriers and Sacrifices
• Demographic Factors
– Age, ethnicity, SES
• Personal attitudes and Emotions
– Fear; need for security, control, power
• Sociocultural Factors
– Financial responsibilities, gender stereotypes
• Sacrifices
– Salary, time with family and friends, health
13
Barriers to Vocational Action
(Agree or Strongly Agree)
• Demographic – 4% - 16%
• Personal Attitudes and Emotions – 5%-36%
• Sociocultural Factors – 1%-28%
• Sacrifices – 2%-30%
14
Personal Attitudes and Emotions
as Barriers
(Agree or Strongly Agree)
•
•
•
•
Self-doubt
Fear
Need to feel secure/safe
Selfishness
36%
23%
19%
17%
15
Sociocultural Factors
as Barriers
(Agree or Strongly Agree)
• Job-related responsibilities
• Other family responsibilities
• Concerns about supporting
standard of living
• Lack of financial resources
• Raising children
28%
16%
15%
15%
10%
16
Vocational Sacrifices
(Agree or Strongly Agree)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Time with friends
Salary
Time with spouse
Career advancement
Time with children
Physical health
29%
29%
23%
23%
18%
9%
17
Faculty Mentoring
• 92% of faculty agree or strongly agree that
“part of my role as a faculty member is to
assist students in their search for personal
meaning and life purpose”
• 78% of faculty agree or strongly agree that
they “have had significant mentoring
relationships with students that have helped
them clarify their life purpose”
18
Faculty Mentoring
• Faculty agree or strongly agree that
they “have had conversations with
students regarding their:
– Specific life purpose
– Development as a leader
– Desire to live a life of service
82%
58%
68%
19
Variables Associated with Faculty
Vocational Calling
• New Faculty Retreat
• Gender
• Age
20
New Faculty Retreat
– Workshops focus on readings and
discussions of vocation literature
– Community building among faculty as they
engage in discussion of readings and share
experiences of their vocational journeys
– Faculty become students of vocation,
learning new ways to serve as a vocational
mentor to both their faculty colleagues and
to students
21
New Faculty Retreat Comparisons
• 22 Faculty who attended retreat were
matched by age and gender with 22
Faculty who did not. No significant
difference in group mean sub-scores for
– Faith Maturity
– Vocational Discernment
– Mentoring
– Vocational Barriers and Sacrifices
22
Correlations among Variables
FMI
Discern
Mentor
Dem
Barriers
Personal
Barriers
Sociocult
Barriers
Sacrifice
Discern
Mentor
Dem
Barriers
Personal
Barriers
Sociocult
Barriers
Sacrifice
Age
.54***
.52***
.07
-.02
.21
.01
.24*
.66***
-.12
-.14
-.04
.05
.16
.08
.05
.07
.05
.41***
.39**
.69***
.47***
.06
.44***
.31**
.00
.47***
.03
-.23*
23
Gender & Age Differences
•
•
•
•
Faith Maturity
Vocational Discernment
Mentoring
Barriers and Sacrifices
24
Gender Differences in Faith Maturity
202
200
198
196
Females
Males
194
192
190
188
186
FMI*
25
Gender Differences in Vocational
Discernment and Mentoring
70
60
50
40
Females
Males
30
20
10
0
Discernment
Mentoring
26
Gender Differences on
Barriers and Sacrifices
30
25
20
Females
Males
15
10
5
0
Demo*
Sociocult*
Sacrifices*
27
Qualitative Vocational Differences
Based on Gender
• Definition & Discernment
• Barriers
• Mentoring
28
Vocational Definition & Discernment
Women – Holistic & Spiritual
• I believe that my vocation is to support, care for, and educate
others in my role as a teacher, mentor, mother, sister,
daughter, wife and friend, and to do so with humility
• To worship the Lord and from his abundant love, follows his
commands and practice spiritual disciplines of prayer, service,
Bible study and evangelism, holiness, spiritual gifts and
incarnationally living my faith in my life and work
• Arousing interest in others to create peaceful living in the name
of God
• Teaching literature as a source of interdisciplinary knowledge
and helping students love literature and reading so they can be
life-long learners.
• To educate, inspire and challenge others to keep their bodies,
minds and spirit healthy so they can better serve their
fellowman for god's glory
29
Vocational Definition & Discernment
Men – God’s Will
• Christian educator and professor, but the calling comes first,
then the career
• To live as a faithful child of God in an intellectual context.
• Teacher, father, husband to my wife. This organizes all the
other activities of my life. A) Fulfill God's will for my life as a B)
Parents and C) Educator. To develop others for lives of
purpose in support of God's will for mankind.
• Educator of the mind, body and spirit.
• Helping prepare the next generation of leaders in fields of
communication to carry out their life calling and to serve God
and their fellow human beings.
• Be tuned to the Will of God
• I am called to be a living model and example of Jesus Christ.
30
Vocational Barriers
Women – Time & Gender
• It is much more challenging and difficult for females to pursue a
vocation as a professor in higher education than it is for males.
• I chose this profession to have time for my family, but found
the job taking my time anyway. The part of my vocation that I
can carry out on a personal level is unrestrained.
• My institution’s religious policies and attitudes towards women
have prevented me from serving to the best of my ability.
• The time commitments I make in order to live out both my
school work and church work lead me to sacrifice time with
family and friends and research that would lead me to more
respect and promotion. I seem to be unable to whittle these
time commitments down.
31
Vocational Barriers
Men – Rare
• I really don't experience (consciously) barriers to pursuing
vocation
• I feel like I'm doing in this moment what I'm supposed to do,
and if that changes, God will make that known and open the
appropriate doors.
• I have been very blessed not to have faced so many barriers as
others
• No major barriers--sometimes delays, distractions or wandering
dedication. On level of desire and motivation I am high.
However, some of life's constraints interfere with attaining the
desired level of accomplishment.
• When you feel you have found your vocation, as god wills it, the
sacrifices seem small
32
Vocational Mentoring
Women – Spiritual & Personal
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Almost daily I encourage students to strengthen their faith and define the
direction of their lives.
I had a young woman in a spring semester class. It was her junior year and she
had developed a severe lack of confidence in her abilities. Over the next year
and a half I met with her weekly, including during the summer, for either coffee
and chatting or for research. She went to graduate school and is finishing her
masters degree.
Students seek me out each semester that I end up mentoring. I pray for God to
"match" me with a few students each semester.
Conversation with students about living as a Christian in their chosen field.
Many women lack self-confidence and I try to help them see their gifts and
abilities and dream bigger - get a PhD or Law School or Medical School
I try to teach to be as Jesus: Strong, honest and loving
My husband and I became so close with one of out student in an international
program - I had helped her with depression and we shared new views on family
and marriage - that she asked us to officiate her wedding.
33
Vocational Mentoring
Men – Career Related
•
•
•
•
•
•
I had a student who was really struggling with her role as an officer in a student
group. After class when we had explored some leadership issues, we talked
some more and she said that the discussion really helped.
A student was trying to decide whether or not to pursue graduate school in a
field related to, but different from the specific field in which he has trained for
four years. In a conversation with this student, he said I was the first faculty
member who had really taken the time to sit down and talk with him about
these choices.
I consistently meet with students interested in pursuing legal or political
concerns to discuss the impact of faith on legal practice and law as services
Conferences about major, advantages and disadvantages of career; conference
about dealing with parental expectations.
It happens almost everyday. We talk a career choices and how to get there.
Numerous discussions with students on their life's choices--careers, family,
parents.
34
Age Differences – Faith Maturity
35
Age Differences Discernment and Mentoring
70
60
50
Young
Faculty
40
30
Older
Faculty
20
10
0
Discernment
Mentoring*
36
Qualitative Vocational Differences
Based on Age
• Young Faculty (under 46)
vs. Older Faculty (over 45)
–Definition & Discernment
–Barriers
–Mentoring
37
Vocational Definition & Discernment
Younger Faculty – Whole Self
• Using my god given gifts to serve others in the name of Christ.
• To use my gifts to serve the needs of those around me specifically my knowledge and talents to influence for good
those around me
• To follow where God leads me to serve others in my life, to be a
teacher to fulfill this.
• Developing others to live productive lives. Impacting the whole
person.
• Educating young people in the field of music; imparting a sense
of joy and wonder as to the beauty of music as an expression of
God's love for us all.
38
Vocational Definition & Discernment
Older Faculty – Servanthood
• Supporting and challenging young adults as they develop faith
and purpose for their lives.
• Helping students life and how to make life decisions
• My vocation is using my gifts and abilities in doing tasks in the
world that are needed by the world
• I am called to live on the earth as he lived on the earth through
sacrificing service to others.
• To serve humanity all those I come into contact with by helping
them to achieve their potential as god has given them ability
and opportunity to reach it.
39
Vocational Barriers
Younger Faculty – Environment &
Fear
• As a graduate student, I was challenged by the secular
environment in which talking about Christ was wholly
unacceptable and a point of animus from other students.
• We live far from family and friends, but we have established a
strong community of friends here.
• This is a teaching university. A true scholar is somewhat limited
here due to the heavy teaching load and extra curricular
responsibilities.
• Fear of the unknown, of stepping out on a limb.
• Sin and weakness are the primary barriers to hearing and
responding to God with your whole self.
40
Vocational Barriers
Older Faculty – Systems, Time, &
Realism
•
•
•
•
•
•
Don't feel many barriers. Getting old helps you become more realistic.
The part of my vocation that I can carry out on a personal level is
unrestrained
Sometimes it feels like the University takes advantage of professors
who feel a calling to serve (students and constituents) by not paying
them well or not reimbursing them well for expenses related to service.
While service extends beyond the job the part that overlaps is not well
rewarded and seemingly not well regarded here.
My "barriers" have been erected by my own personal, spiritual, and
personality-related factors.
Perhaps the lack of thinking about or knowing possibilities.
On level of desire and motivation I am high. However, some of life's
constraints interfere with attaining the desired level of accomplishment.
41
Vocational Mentoring
Younger Faculty – Graduate School
Counseling
•
•
•
•
•
I had the privilege of mentoring two valedictorians: In both cases the
mentoring was about both career and vocation.
A student told me that I was the first faculty member who had really
taken the time to sit down and talk with him about these choices.
I consistently meet with students interested in pursuing legal or
political concerns to discuss the impact of faith on legal practice and
law as services
A Junior ROTC student and her desire to pursue a counseling career
Her parents visited and we all discussed her conflict now she is married
and in graduate school for her career.
A student does poorly on a test and it provokes a mini crisis of
meaning: what am I doing here? I tried to get her to see her life as a
whole, to see that she ought to choose a career she loves, with a view
to her desire for family.
42
Vocational Mentoring
Older Faculty – Encourage & Inspire
•
•
•
•
•
•
I have often encouraged students in pursuing their sense of vocation.
I have counseled scores of students through the year. It's different to
recall particular occasion, though I retain a file of letters and notes
from former students who tell me, more or less, "you changed my life.“
While discovering a specific talent within a student, we were directed in
conversation to her lifelong goals and purpose.
I encourage students to strengthen their faith and define the direction
of their lives.
A student wanted advice on whether to pursue a non-profit career or a
business career.
When students stay after class to talk about a course-related issue, the
conversation often turns to vocation.
43
Best Predictors of
Discernment and Mentoring
– Faith Maturity is best predictor of
Discernment (controlling for Gender and
Age) (R2 = .30)
– Discernment is best predictor of Mentoring
(controlling for Gender, Age, and Faith
Maturity) (R2 = .47)
44
Recommendations and Implications
• Gender differences exist in faith maturity and
perceptions of vocational barriers
• Faculty Development should incorporate
opportunities for faith development – at individual
and community levels
• Faculty should be encouraged to reflect on their
vocational calling throughout their academic careers
• Faculty Development should be purposeful about
helping faculty serve as mentors to each other and to
their students
45
How to Contact Us
• Don Thompson
• Don.Thompson@pepperdine.edu
• Cindy Miller-Perrin
• Cindy.Perrin@pepperdine.edu
46