Johnson Carole E, Danhauer Jeffrey L, Page Ashley S, Freeman Barry A, Borton Thomas E, Borton Bettie C, Northern Jerry L
J Am Acad Audiol. 2013 May;24(5):425-446. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.24.5.9.
The doctor of audiology (AuD) degree is now the entry-level degree for the profession of audiology. Typically, AuD programs train professionals for clinical careers, while those offering PhDs educate students for university teaching and research positions. Some in the communication sciences and disorders have predicted that there could be a shortage of PhDs in academic institutions over the next decade as senior faculty members with PhDs retire, AuD programs expand, and likely fewer students complete PhD degrees or elect to pursue careers in academia. If a PhD shortage becomes a reality, then one solution might be to include AuDs as candidates for vacant academic tenure-track positions.
To survey AuD-degree holders' (AuDs') and program chairpersons' (chairs') views about AuDs in academic tenure-track positions.
National Internet survey Data Collection and Analysis: Two questionnaires were designed for this study. One was e-mailed to 1575 "AuDs in general" (randomly sampled from the American Academy of Audiology Membership Directory) and 132 "AuDs in academia." The other was e-mailed to 64 chairs from programs offering the AuD. The two surveys included similar questions so that comparisons could be made across groups. Potential respondents were e-mailed an informational letter inviting them to participate by completing a survey on SurveyMonkey within a 2 wk period in March and April 2010. This process resulted in three data sets: (1) AuDs in general, (2) AuDs in academia, and (3) program chairs.
Return rates were 25, 26, and 45% for the three sampling methods for recruiting AuDs in general, AuDs in academia, and program chairs, respectively. Of the respondents, few AuDs held academic tenure-track positions or had achieved rank and tenure success in them. Those AuDs in academia usually had to meet the same or similarly rigorous criteria (with heavier emphasis on teaching than on research) for advancement as did PhD faculty. Overall, AuDs tended to believe that AuDs could be appointed to and succeed at tenure-track positions; chairs reported that such appointments were not permitted in most programs, did not personally believe that AuDs should hold these positions, and felt that AuDs would have more difficulty than PhDs in achieving success in them. Obstacles to AuDs' success in tenure-track positions reported by all three groups included lack of research skills and mentors, biases from faculty within and outside of audiology departments, and poorer pay than could be earned in the private sector.
Considerable variability existed in the types of and titles for faculty positions held by AuDs in academia. Few AuDs were employed in tenure-track positions. Contrary to many of the chairs' responses, most AuDs felt they would be successful in such positions. Many of the AuDs suggested that universities with AuD programs should add more research and mentorship opportunities and tenure tracks for clinicians. Most respondents believed there is a need for both AuDs and PhDs in academic programs. These findings should be of interest to AuDs, chairs, and other stakeholders in academia, and the survey responses identified some areas warranting future investigation.
听力学博士（AuD）学位如今是听力学专业的入门级学位。通常，AuD项目培养临床职业的专业人员，而提供博士学位的项目则培养学生从事大学教学和研究岗位。一些通信科学与障碍领域的人士预测，随着拥有博士学位的资深教员退休、AuD项目扩张，并且可能完成博士学位或选择从事学术职业的学生减少，未来十年学术机构可能会出现博士短缺的情况。如果博士短缺成为现实，那么一种解决方案可能是让AuD持有者成为学术终身教职空缺岗位的候选人。
调查拥有AuD学位者（AuDs）和项目主任（主任们）对AuDs担任学术终身教职岗位的看法。
全国性网络调查
本研究设计了两份问卷。一份通过电子邮件发送给1575名“普通AuD持有者”（从美国听力学学会会员名录中随机抽取）和132名“学术领域的AuD持有者”。另一份通过电子邮件发送给64名提供AuD项目的主任。这两份调查包含相似的问题，以便进行跨组比较。2010年3月和4月的两周内，通过电子邮件向潜在受访者发送一封告知信，邀请他们通过在SurveyMonkey上完成一份调查问卷来参与。这一过程产生了三个数据集：（1）普通AuD持有者，（2）学术领域的AuD持有者，（3）项目主任。
在招募普通AuD持有者、学术领域的AuD持有者和项目主任这三种抽样方法中，回复率分别为25%、26%和45%。在受访者中，很少有AuD持有者担任学术终身教职岗位或在这些岗位上获得职级和终身教职成功。那些学术领域的AuD持有者通常必须满足与博士教员相同或类似严格的晋升标准（更侧重于教学而非研究）。总体而言，AuD持有者倾向于认为AuD持有者可以被任命到终身教职岗位并取得成功；主任们报告说，大多数项目不允许此类任命，个人不认为AuD持有者应该担任这些岗位，并认为AuD持有者在这些岗位上取得成功会比博士持有者更困难。三组受访者都提到的AuD持有者在终身教职岗位上取得成功的障碍包括缺乏研究技能和导师、听力学系内外教员的偏见以及薪资比私营部门低。
学术领域中AuD持有者担任的教职岗位类型和职称存在很大差异。很少有AuD持有者受雇于终身教职岗位。与许多主任的回复相反，大多数AuD持有者认为他们在这样的岗位上会取得成功。许多AuD持有者建议，设有AuD项目的大学应为临床医生增加更多研究和指导机会以及终身教职轨道。大多数受访者认为学术项目中既需要AuD持有者也需要博士持有者。这些发现应该会引起AuD持有者、主任们以及学术界其他利益相关者的兴趣，调查回复确定了一些值得未来研究的领域。
