The New Professor (Scenario)
Samir has recently received his Ph.D. and has begun teaching at a large university. Prior to his first day of class, Samir's department head had lunch with him and explained what was expected of a new professor in terms of maintaining discipline in his classroom, providing students with a challenging course, and keeping grades down. Later that week Samir met with other professors in a faculty meeting. During that meeting, a number of issues were discussed and, although Samir did not agree with all of them, he did not feel comfortable discussing his position because he was a new assistant professor and the others were more senior. However, in watching the reactions of other professors, he got the feeling that some of them disagreed with a few issues, too, but did not want to say anything because doing so might be disruptive.
-When Samir gave his first exam of the semester, he remembered his chair's advice to maintain the department's tough standards. However, he knew that if he did so his students would be very disappointed and may lose their motivation and some may have their grade averages negatively impacted. In this situation Samir is experiencing________ .

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Samir is experiencing role conflict because he is torn between maintaining tough department standards and providing a course that will keep his students motivated and grades up. He is facing a conflict between the expectations and demands of his role as a new professor and his personal beliefs and values.