Trust in Higher Education: Faculty Perspectives on the Facets of Trust in Business Writing-Intensive Classrooms

Jacquelyn Brown

Advisor: Douglas Eyman, PhD, Department of English

Committee Members: Paul Rogers, Courtney Wooten

Horizon Hall, #4225, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/93562517973?pwd=WnVNQnFmL2dkR3F1c0ZBUG8rYUJQUT09
March 22, 2024, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Abstract:

Trust between faculty and students in higher education is not as robust as it could be, which compromises both the faculty and student experience. In lieu of recent and ongoing events (i.e., the global COVID-19 pandemic causing a significant shift to remote learning and virtual communication; the racial disparities recognized across the US; and the national debates surrounding the purpose and scope of higher education), the higher education system has been challenged, stretched, and motivated to assess and to adapt, with trust being one area under review. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2020 Annual Report, which was administered at 29 institutions across the US, included a special set of questions related to the notion of trust and found that only 30% of students completely trusted their instructors. While faculty were considered the most trusted among students across the varying dimensions measured, the survey found that 70% of students only trusted faculty somewhat (59%), very little (9%), or even not at all (2%). With 11% of students either barely trusting or not trusting faculty at all, and considering “trust is an important element in human learning because much of what is learned is based on the verbal and written statements of others that the learner is asked to believe [often] without independent evidence,” there is room for improvement (Tschannen-Moran and Hoy, 2000, p. 547). And since research also identifies that the responsibility to build and sustain trusting relationships is the responsibility of the person with greater power (Tschannen-Moran, 2014), this dissertation research aims to illuminate the most critical space for trust to be initiated: faculty perspectives.

More specifically, this qualitative case study explores four business instructional faculty members’ notion of trust in relation to their students, writing-intensive classrooms, and pedagogy. Based on participant interviews, teaching statements, and course artifacts, this dissertation examines how the five facets of trust (i.e., benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability, and competency) influence these faculty members’ perspectives. Some of the findings from this study discuss which facets of trust emerged most amongst the faculty participants; how each facet showed up in relation to each faculty member, with varying rationale; as well as the importance of writing and how its understanding varied depending on the faculty members’ experience and background.