What research is normal in Tenure Track for Counseling Psychology? Now we know

The first (but not last) paper with Joe Currin was accepted yesterday in Counseling Psychology Quarterly. In this paper, we examine ECP (those graduating within the last 10 years) Counseling Psychologists who are currently employed in Tenure Track (TT) positions at the 69 doctoral training programs for Counseling Psychology (APA, 2018) across the country. Given the centrality of research during the tenure process and the intentional vagueness of tenure guidelines (a positive for review committees to allow for latitude, and a negative for TT faculty seeking assurance), we wanted to know what trends in research are common over the last decade, what is typical for faculty, and if R1/R2 Carnegie institution distinctions made a difference (given the different expectations, support, etc.).

READ THE PRE-PRINT OF THE PAPER HERE

A few things stood out to us based on the sample (publications were collected using Web of Science accounts by year for all ECP TT faculty for all with a searchable account).

• ECP Faculty published an average 9.4 articles over their first six years (SD = 12.5). R1 Faculty published more (M = 12.2; SD = 14.7) than R2 faculty (M = 8.6; SD = 8.6), t(158)=3.26, p < .01, d = .53.
• Google Scholar metrics for the subsample of those with GScholar accounts (n = 92; 57.5% of sample) provide the following descriptive information:
  • h-index M = 10.3, SD 7.8,
    • R1 H-index M=12.1, SD = 8.4
    • R2 H-index M=7.1, SD = 5.0
  • i10-index M = 12.7, SD = 17.1
    • R1 i10-index M = 15.9, SD = 20.0
    • R2 i10-index M = 6.9, SD = 6.9
• Year by Year average of publications for ECP (analysis excluded year that faculty started their position, as work published there is reflective of work conducted elsewhere and may well have published prior to starting their position)
  • R1
    • Year 1   M = 2.6, SD = 2.5
    • Year 2   M = 3.5, SD = 2.8
    • Year 3   M = 3.3, SD = 2.9
    • Year 4   M = 3.3, SD = 3.5
    • Year 5   M = 4.4, SD = 4.6
    • Year 6   M = 5.1, SD = 6.7
  • R2
    • Year 1   M = 1.4, SD = 1.6
    • Year 2   M = 1.7, SD = 1.5
    • Year 3   M = 2.2, SD = 1.7
    • Year 4   M = 1.9, SD = 2.0
    • Year 5   M = 3.8, SD = 3.1
    • Year 6   M = 3.7, SD = 4.3
• Year by year of 1st authored publications
  • R1
    • Year 1   M = 1.0, SD = 1.4
    • Year 2   M = 1.8, SD = 1.6
    • Year 3   M = 1.6, SD = 1.4
    • Year 4   M = 1.5, SD = 1.3
    • Year 5   M = 2.1, SD = 2.1
    • Year 6   M = 1.6, SD = 1.6
  • R2
    • Year 1   M = 0.6, SD = 0.9
    • Year 2   M = 0.9, SD = 1.1
    • Year 3   M = 1.0, SD = 1.0
    • Year 4   M = 0.9, SD = 1.4
    • Year 5   M = 1.8, SD = 1.4
    • Year 6   M = 1.9, SD = 1.5

Our hope within this project was to provide some sense of what is normal within the most recent cohort of early career faculty that have entered (and remained) within TT faculty positions. Rates of those currently pre-tenure are slightly higher than those who have obtained tenure, likely reflecting the increased pressure to ‘publish or perish’; however, these differences were substantially less than a full publication indicating that trends are increasingly from 10 years ago but that those differences are relatively modest (~.5 publication or less by year when contrasting tenured with pre-tenure faculty during their first 3 years of faculty position, at both R1 and R2 institutions).