Leveraging the potential of third space faculty developers to foster individual and collective flourishing faculty professional identities in higher education

Abstract

In the context of higher education, which is a complex environment of shifting landscapes, academic identity is perceived as being eroded, and new identities associated with hybrid roles abound. Flexible support mechanisms are needed to counter the destabilising effects of the recent erosion of tradition-bound structures. This study explores how an understanding of faculty professional identity might be used by faculty developers to inform individual and collective development initiatives and foster flourishing. Using a qualitative methodology, focus group discussions with faculty developers probe the potential utility of a measure of faculty professional identity. Utility is evaluated at three levels of practice: institutional, collective and individual. Findings demonstrate the potential for faculty developers, with their third space positioning, to play a pivotal role in guiding individuals and institutions as they navigate increasingly complex higher education contexts. Recommendations include recognising the strategic potential of faculty developers as institutional gatekeepers of sensitive data and enablers of collective flourishing. A data-informed, adaptive, person-centred approach to individual faculty development that delves into the being as well as the doing to facilitate individual flourishing is proposed.