Cultivating Advanced Education for Christian Faculty in Higher Education Institutions: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of cultivating advanced education for Christian faculty at higher education institutions in the United States. The central research question guiding this study asked: What are the experiences of Christian faculty cultivating advanced education in higher education institutions? The Christian faculty participants' research was guided by data on their lived experiences at private Christian institutions, state universities, or other secular institutions of higher education. Secular relates to the worldly or temporal, not overtly or specifically religious. Bandura’s social cognitive theory guided the study. The research design followed the recommendations of van Manen's phenomenological hermeneutical process to conduct research through the empirical collection of pertinent human experiences and the analysis of the meanings of reflective activities. The data collection included individual interviews, focus groups, and journaling to explore the lived experiences of Christian faculty cultivating advanced education in higher education institutions in the United States. Findings revealed that the 15 Christian professors involved in the study faced challenges in advancing higher education. Three themes centered on higher education administration, students, and colleagues. The implications of this study were the advantages of periodic open discussions allowing Christian professors to share their lived experiences with the administration without repercussions and freedom of speech in the classroom.