From Student to Educator: How Faculty Experiences as Students Relate to STEM Teaching and Professional Identity in Higher Education

Abstract

Efforts to improve student retention and degree achievement in STEM disciplines has increasingly highlighted the importance of faculty professional development and the adoption of evidence-based teaching practice. Despite teaching being a core faculty responsibility, formal pedagogical training is rarely required, and many faculty develop their teaching approaches based on their experiences as students or graduate teaching assistants. This quantitative study examines STEM faculty perceptions of receiving encouragement as students and their relationship with dimensions of their professional identity. Our findings suggest that encouragement aligns with faculty student- and self-related professional identity dimensions. These results underscore the need for structured professional development and early training in evidence-based pedagogy, including the cultivation of encouragement practices, to foster more inclusive, supportive, and effective learning environments in STEM.