This investigation focuses on the socialization experiences of junior lecturers at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique. The intent of the study is to increase understanding of the processes through which junior lecturers acquire the knowledge, attitudes and dispositions that allow them to perform their roles, and construct their identities and commitments as educators.
The research involved participant observation, interviews, and document analysis, and has focused on faculty work in teaching, research, service, and collegiality. The findings indicate that junior lecturers were attracted to the academic profession by a desire to increase knowledge and social status through postgraduate training and promotion; the prospect to engage in research; an opportunity to interact with students; and the academic freedom enjoyed by university lecturers.
Caught between competing definitions of reality, junior lecturers started redefining their initial perspectives and meanings. Faced with heavy teaching loads, and with few role models, many lecturers found themselves helplessly trying to find the right balance between teaching, research, and service. Confronted with shortages of books and equipment, junior lecturers learned various strategies to cope with the emerging problems.
Overwhelmingly, junior faculty indicated lack of resources and senior advice, and the economic pressure to engage in additional jobs as the main reasons for reduced involvement in research and institutional service. Junior lecturers also related their intellectual isolation, alienation and frustration to compartmentalization of knowledge, inadequate schedules, and senior faculty's apparent indifference to their problems.
Despite these conditions, junior faculty decided to stay, because of peer support and postgraduate training opportunities. The theoretical and practical implications of various strategies designed to help stabilize and empower junior faculty, such as in-service training and research opportunities, evaluations, and social and professional networks, are discussed.
