Building professor-student rapport: A model, survey findings, and implications for practicing professors

Abstract

This article is about bolstering professor-student rapport (PSR) in business education. Specifically, we integrate relevant published works to advance a model of PSR that includes literature-supported concepts and some examples from Tim, a master rapport builder. We surveyed students in a southeastern university to gain qualitative inputs that we use to refine our conceptual model (n = 75) and present those findings to help explain why PSR impacts outcomes, the primary elements that explain when PSR will impact the outcomes, and the main learning and retention outcomes that PSR may influence. Last, we translate these ideas for the practicing professors in the classroom and summarize our suggestions to advance valuable educational outcomes.