Examining the socialization of new faculty members through the cultural lens

Abstract

The study explores new faculty socialization in Vietnam. At the same time, it seeks to understand the organizational culture of institutions of higher learning in Vietnam, particularly teacher education universities, through the dimension of socialization. An illustrative case study is used as it helps to focus on understanding a phenomenon in a given context-new faculty socialization in a Vietnamese university-especially when this phenomenon is as complex as the organizational culture whose parts socialization partially represents. The study also introduces the application of the three-level theory introduced by Schein to investigate matters regarding socialization, considered a dimension of organizational culture. The research showed that socialization mainly depends on the departments, as well as the learning history, skills, and proactivity of the faculty members. The institution has few strategies and activities to help new academics integrate into the work environment. From the organizational-culture perspective, there are various factors that influence the socialization process and are considered fundamental including norms for teacher trainers and hierarchical culture within the university.