| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Critical Issues in Dental Education |
Key words: allied dental education, dental hygiene, faculty, workforce, credentials, allied dental faculty shortage
Submitted for publication 04/01/05; accepted 05/26/05
 |
Abstract |
|---|
 Top Abstract MethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionAppendix iReferences |
|---|
In 2000, the Canadian Dental Hygienists’ Association (CDHA) passed a resolution indicating that, by the year 2005, all students entering dental hygiene programs in Canada would be entering baccalaureate degree programs.5 Subsequent to the announcement of that resolution, a number of dental hygiene schools in Canada began to pursue ways to convert their existing diploma programs into bachelor’s degree programs. In addition to anecdotal reports of a general shortage of dental hygiene faculty, concern has been expressed regarding the recruitment of faculty with appropriate qualifications for teaching bachelor’s level students. The Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada (CDAC) states in its Dental Hygiene Requirement # 3.2.1: "the program must be staffed by a core of well-qualified full-time faculty who possess, or are working towards, a baccalaureate degree or higher."6 The Canadian Dental Association has expressed concern over the shortage of dental hygienists nationally.7 Although this shortage has not yet been validated in the literature, it has led to the opening of new diploma level dental hygiene programs nationally.
If indeed a shortage of dental hygiene faculty exists, and if the required credential to teach is a baccalaureate degree at a minimum, the current lack of baccalaureate or master’s degree programs in Canadian dental hygiene education will compound the situation. Information regarding the current qualifications of Canadian dental hygiene faculty has not been documented. Given the lack of information regarding shortages and qualifications of Canadian dental hygiene faculty, the goals of this study were to 1) determine whether a current or projected shortage exists for qualified dental hygiene faculty and 2) establish the credentials required for positions in the thirty-one Canadian schools of dental hygiene accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada. The working hypothesis underlying this study is that there are not enough qualified candidates to fill teaching positions in Canadian dental hygiene schools.
|
Methods |
|---|
|
TopAbstractMethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionAppendix iReferences |
|---|
The survey instrument was sent with an explanatory cover letter to the directors of the thirty-one existing dental hygiene programs in Canada in the spring of 2003. The sample contained both publicly and privately funded schools that offer credentials in dental hygiene. They were located in Faculties of Dentistry in universities, community colleges, Collèges d’enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEPS—community college system in the province of Quebec), and private-for-profit institutions. The survey and cover letter were translated to French for francophone (French-speaking) programs. Program representatives were asked to respond within three weeks of receipt of the survey. Self-addressed stamped envelopes were provided. Programs that did not respond to the first mail-out were contacted via telephone. Survey participation was voluntary, and failure to respond to the follow-up telephone call was considered a lack of consent to participate in the study. Responses were not blinded; respondents were requested to identify the name of their school on the survey.
Twenty-one survey questions asked for descriptive and demographic information about the program and the faculty who teach in the program along with qualifications required when hiring new faculty (Appendix A). These data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. The two remaining questions were open-ended and requested respondents to offer ideas for attracting faculty members to their institution and for fostering teaching as a career choice.
|
Results |
|---|
|
TopAbstractMethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionAppendix iReferences |
|---|
Table 1
presents basic demographic information on Canadian dental hygiene faculty. "Full-time faculty" were defined as only those who teach within the dental hygiene department or program, not faculty from other departments within the institution. For the twenty-six programs that responded, the total number of full-time faculty was 130 with a mean number of 5 (sd=3). The total number of part-time faculty was almost double at 229 with a mean of 8.8 (sd=8). There were eleven full-time and twenty-one part-time male faculty members. The mean class size was twenty-nine (sd=12). Table 1 shows the ages of full-time and part-time faculty. Interestingly, 47 percent of all full-time faculty members were forty-nine years of age or older while only 19 percent of part-time faculty members were in that age range. The most common academic credentials held by full-time faculty were a baccalaureate degree and a diploma in dental hygiene (37.5 percent), while 28.9 percent held a master’s degree along with a diploma in dental hygiene and 26.6 percent held a diploma in dental hygiene alone. The remainder of faculty held a diploma in dental hygiene and a Ph.D. (2.3 percent), a D.D.S. degree (0.8 percent), and other certificates (3.9 percent). Currently, for full-time combined didactic and clinical teaching, the most commonly required credential was the diploma in dental hygiene (50 percent), yet the other 50 percent of programs require the baccalaureate degree or higher (Table 2). The preferred credential for teaching full-time was shared between the baccalaureate degree (38 percent) and the master’s degree (33 percent), while only twenty-one percent preferred the Ph.D. Only 8 percent of respondents preferred the diploma in dental hygiene without additional credentials (Table 3).
|
|
|
). In contrast, the preferred credential for a part-time faculty member teaching clinical only was a baccalaureate degree (71 percent). For teaching didactic only, the preferred credential was either the baccalaureate degree or master’s degree. The preferred credential for teaching combined clinical and didactic coursework was the baccalaureate or higher (Table 5).
|
|
Twenty-six program directors reported a total of four full-time vacancies. This represents 12 percent of the programs. Table 6 illustrates the anticipated vacancies in schools over the next five years. Within the next two years, 44 percent of the surveyed schools anticipated that they would have at least one faculty vacancy, while 60 percent reported they were likely to have a vacancy within four years. Forty percent of respondents do not expect any faculty vacancies for at least five years.
|
When asked about the number of candidates who applied for a teaching position, one program reported having no qualified applicants, while others reported having between five and eleven applicants. The majority of programs reported filling vacancies in less than three months, while the remainder took up to one year. The responses did not specify the teaching responsibility or whether the vacancy was a full- or part-time position. The open-ended questions asked how programs encourage students to seek further education as preparation for academic careers. The following strategies were reported: peer teaching, role modeling, mentoring, providing available materials regarding higher educational programs, encouragement to explore education as a career, providing information regarding credentials required to teach, advertising higher education programs in dental hygiene, professional issues courses discussing career options, encouraging students to teach in continuing education courses, guest speakers, partnerships with baccalaureate programs, and encouraging professional networking. Additionally, it was reported that baccalaureate dental hygiene students were encouraged to pursue graduate education.
Programs were asked what would attract a dental hygienist to pursue a teaching career in their program. Primary responses were excellent reputation and quality of the program, excellent salary and benefits, program location, funding for professional development, potential for career advancement, self-improvement and professional growth, supportive and passionate faculty, potential for conducting research, opportunity to share skills and knowledge with students, and employment security.
|
Discussion |
|---|
|
TopAbstractMethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionAppendix iReferences |
|---|
With the perceived shortage of dental hygienists in Canada, a significant number of private-for-profit dental hygiene diploma programs have opened over the past three years, creating an increased demand for qualified educators. At the time of the survey, there were two new accredited programs. Since the survey was conducted, eight additional programs have applied for accreditation status, and two more are in various stages of implementation. This potential increased demand for dental hygiene graduates will have an impact on educational programs that currently exist. Many established programs are being asked to increase the size of their graduating classes, which would likely require increases in faculty. Furthermore, although few programs at the time of the survey were searching for faculty, the data suggest very strongly that large numbers of faculty positions will become available within five years of the study. Faculty ages reported in this study indicate that 47 percent are forty-nine years or older, suggesting many will reach retirement age in the near future (Table 1
). This demographic shift can most likely be explained by the aging of the baby boomer generation. The increased number of schools, the request for increased class sizes, and the retirement of current faculty are all factors that will impact the need for more dental hygiene educators in Canada in the very near future.
The reported ages for part-time faculty are much lower (younger), suggesting that part-time faculty could be mentored to fill full-time positions. The question of credentials now becomes significant. Program directors reported that the required credentials for teaching full-time are equally divided between a diploma in dental hygiene alone and a combination of higher degrees ranging from bachelor’s to Ph.D. levels. However, the preferred credential indicated in Table 3 has shifted notably toward graduate level education. In fact, only 8 percent of schools continue to prefer a diploma credential alone, demonstrating a dramatic shift from the 50 percent of programs that currently require no more than a diploma. The data indicate a difference between the qualifications currently required for teaching positions and those preferred. This would seem to suggest that, when current educators were hired with the diploma alone, candidates with higher credentials were not available.
In Canada, all public school teachers, from kindergarten to secondary school, are required to hold a minimum of a baccalaureate degree before obtaining their teaching credential.11,12 It is perplexing to explain why dental hygiene programs that are preparing future clinicians and health care professionals would not demand at least the same credential. Current accreditation requirements of the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada specify that "a core of faculty" in dental hygiene programs must have a baccalaureate degree, yet the diploma is currently the minimal educational requirement in 50 percent of dental hygiene programs responding to the survey.6 This may be due to a shortage of individuals with the specialized education of dental hygiene, a limited number of baccalaureate in dental hygiene degree programs, a shortage of graduate programs preparing dental hygiene educators, a lack of mentoring of dental hygiene students, or other factors. In considering the responses received regarding the preferred academic credentials, we conclude that a shortage of qualified individuals accounts for faculty with minimal credentials rather than lack of preference by program directors.
As noted above, the younger, part-time faculty may be a source for future full-time faculty. The survey data indicated that the majority of the part-time faculty members were not required to hold baccalaureate or graduate degrees. The respondents reported the preferred credential for part-time faculty was overwhelmingly in favor of a baccalaureate degree for clinical teaching (71 percent) or baccalaureate or master’s for teaching both didactic and clinic (76 percent). As many do not hold a baccalaureate or graduate degree, this reported preference for higher credentials would seem to necessitate part-time faculty attaining additional credentialing before they would be accepted as qualified for full-time positions. Students currently enrolled in dental hygiene programs could also be acknowledged as a potential source for future faculty. Results of this survey demonstrate that schools use a variety of strategies to foster education as a career. Given the preferred credentials reported for full- and part-time educators, dental hygiene students interested in a career in education must also be encouraged to obtain higher academic credentials than what is needed for entry into clinical practice.
Activities to promote faculty to seek further education have been recommended by Nunn et al.4 Some of these activities include finding alternative ways to reward faculty, loan forgiveness for exemplary students to pursue educational career goals, and the use of distance education technology to improve access to higher education for students in remote locations. Schrubbe noted that effective mentorship can serve to attract new dental educators and that this mentorship should occur with new junior faculty.13 Respondents to this survey suggest mentoring should extend to students while they are enrolled in the dental hygiene program. We further suggest that schools seriously review their faculty recruitment strategies and put into place a viable succession plan that could incorporate such strategies as the early identification of anticipated vacancies, particularly retirements; identification of potential faculty for such positions; and grooming of graduates for future faculty positions by encouraging and even sponsoring their graduate education. Faculty recruitment efforts should be broadly based in order to attract the most qualified candidates for positions. Fifty percent of responding schools in this study supported this notion by indicating that their recruitment activities were not restricted to Canada alone. Internal resources must be allocated to support these efforts. Strategies for fostering education as a career need to be shared among dental hygiene programs.
Given the lack of master’s level dental hygiene programs in Canada and only three dental hygiene baccalaureate programs that are concentrated in the central and western parts of the country, development of such programs should be a national priority to address the anticipated shortage of dental hygiene educators. Although several schools are currently pursuing conversion to baccalaureate degree programs, further investigation into the development of graduate programs in dental hygiene in Canada is warranted.
One of the limitations of this study is that the qualifications held by current part-time faculty were not identified. Furthermore, the specific breakdown of teaching responsibilities (clinical versus didactic) of the part-time faculty were not explored. This information could have further explained the large number of faculty holding a diploma alone. Another limitation pertained to lack of specificity in the question regarding the hiring of faculty. It is postulated that part-time clinical teaching positions are easier to fill than full-time teaching positions; however, the survey question did not indicate whether positions last filled were full- or part-time or whether the program was newly established. Thus it is not possible to determine the relative difficulty in filling full-time teaching positions.
Future studies should be conducted to explore the number of dental hygienists pursuing higher education in Canada at both the baccalaureate and master’s levels. These studies should also investigate whether their career goals are educationally directed. This information would contribute to a more accurate projection of the need for future dental hygiene educators in Canada.
|
Conclusion |
|---|
|
TopAbstractMethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionAppendix iReferences |
|---|
|
Appendix I |
|---|
|
TopAbstractMethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionAppendix iReferences |
|---|
Please check the appropriate response(s) for the following questions.
Your program is located in a (Please check ONE response only.):
2a. The credential awarded graduates in your program is a:
2b. If your program currently offers a diploma, is your institution planning on offering a baccalaureate degree in the next 5 years, or not?
Currently, a full graduating class size is: _____ (# of students)
Check below the credentials and teaching positions for current faculty who are not dental hygienists and teach in your program, including people from other departments. (Please check all that apply.)
Questions 5–21 concern only those faculty who teach within the dental hygiene department or program and not, for example, people who are from other departments within the institution and teach a course for the program, i.e., not a professor from the anatomy department who teaches anatomy to the dental hygiene students.
The current number of full-time faculty, including the director, chair, or coordinator teaching in your program is: _____ (# full time faculty)
Of the current full-time faculty, how many hold a
The current number of part-time faculty teaching in your program is:
______ (# part-time faculty)
Of those part-time faculty listed in question 7, in a week how many....
In the chart below, please record the current number of faculty in each age category.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the chart below, please indicate the number of male and female faculty.
| |||||||||||||||
In the chart below, please circle one response in each column to indicate the credentials required and preferred for hiring FULL-TIME faculty for teaching positions at your program. Please circle only one number per column.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the chart below, please circle one response in each column to indicate the credentials required and preferred for hiring PART-TIME faculty for teaching positions at your program. Please circle only one number per column.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
At your program, do all didactic teachers have a responsibility to conduct research, or not?
14a. Check any qualifications that are required for a full-time position: (check all that apply)
14b. Other qualifications that are considered to be an asset for a full-time position are: (check all that apply)
15a. Is there currently a vacancy in your faculty, or not?
15b. The next faculty vacancy is anticipated in your program within ...?
To fill a full-time position within your faculty, is the search restricted to Canadian applicants only, or not?
17a. A full-time faculty member was last hired at your program:
17b. If more than one person was hired at that time, please indicate the # _____ hired.
The position became available as a result of: (please check all that apply)
The number of qualified candidates who applied for the position was...?
To fill the position it took: (If more than one position was filled, please select the longest time frame)
The full-time positions your program offers are (please check all that apply)
22. In what way(s), if any, does your program mentor students to seek further education that would qualify them for teaching positions within dental hygiene programs?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
23. What, if anything, would attract a dental hygienist to a teaching career at your program?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for completing the survey.
Please return it in the self-addressed envelope provided.
|
Footnotes |
|---|
This study was supported by a grant from the Faculty Development Committee at Dalhousie University Faculty of Dentistry.
|
REFERENCES |
|---|
|
TopAbstractMethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionAppendix iReferences |
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  D. J. Rowe, N. Massoumi, S. Hyde, and J. A. Weintraub Educational and Career Pathways of Dental Hygienists: Comparing Graduates of Associate and Baccalaureate Degree Programs J Dent Educ., April 1, 2008; 72(4): 397 - 407. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
