Date of Award
Fall 9-5-2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Judson Everitt
Abstract
In recent years, faculty members in higher education found themselves at the intersection of rising student mental health concerns and increasing institutional expectations regarding student support. While universities traditionally framed faculty as educators and researchers, faculty roles now require engagement in emotional labor and crisis management—often without corresponding training. This dissertation explores how instructors at one university navigate these expanding expectations, examining their self-understanding, institutional positioning, and the broader implications of compliance care work. Compliance care work is a term developed in this study to describe the bureaucratization of faculty involvement in student well-being. It is an institutionalized response to the tension between care expectations and legal constraints. Drawing on 33 in-depth faculty interviews and employing a phenomenological and inhabited institutionalism framework, this study identifies three dominant institutional myths and the lived reality they stand in tension with that shape faculty-student interactions. Findings suggest that while faculty recognize the increased prevalence and severity of student mental health challenges, they remain divided on their role in addressing these concerns. Ultimately, this research contributes to broader sociological conversations on faculty labor, institutional change, and the intersections of emotional labor and higher education policy.
Recommended Citation
Watland, Leslie, "“This Is the Job Now”: A Phenomenological Study of Meaning Making in University Faculty Regarding Role Expectations in Response to Student Crises" (2025). Dissertations. 4204.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/4204
