44 Journal of Physical Therapy Education Vol 24, No 3, Fall 2010 Carla Sabus is clinical assistant professor and director of clinical education in the Department of Physical herapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rain- bow, Kansas City, KS 66160 (csabus@kumc. edu). Please address all correspondence to Carla Sabus. Received July 13, 2009, and accepted April 11, 2010. ——————————————————— POSITION PAPER ———————————————————- Engendered Roles in Physical Therapist Education: A Feminist Vision for Scholarship in Clinical Education Carla Sabus, PT, PhD Background and Purpose. Although professional education programs, includ- ing physical therapist education, require unique roles and qualiications of faculty, academic rank and promotion typically follow traditional university structure. Expectations that all physical therapist academic faculty members, including the director of clinical education (DCE), have a deined, ongoing scholarly agenda can perpetuate a traditional university construction of academic roles unless scholarship is extended to divergent ways of knowing. A feminist understanding of scholarship values connectivity of knowl- edge through direct community involve- ment and intensive student engagement. his article, a feminist critique of the DCE role, informs the scholarly potential of the DCE within a context of a more broadly deined and reconstructed deinition of scholarship. Position and Rationale. Current academ- ic roles in physical therapist education programs are aligned with engendered deinitions of traditional academic struc- tures which can lead to academic devalu- ation of the DCE. A social constructionist analysis of the DCE position in light of higher education feminist literature pro- vides an alternative perspective of schol- arship. Discussion and Conclusion. Academic structures ideally support realization of all faculty potential; however, a paternal- istic metric determines faculty promotion BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Physical therapist education program faculty comprises an academic administrator, a di- rector of clinical education, academic faculty, clinical education faculty, and adjunct facul- ty. While all of these members serve integral roles in successful physical therapist academ- ic programs, the director of clinical education (DCE) serves in a tenuous position in terms of academic deinitions and traditional aca- demic structures of promotion. 1 he inherent qualiications and responsibilities associ- ated with this position can make academic career advancement challenging. his posi- tion requires broad clinical perspectives and intensive and direct contact with practicing physical therapists and students through ad- vising, counseling, and teaching. Organiza- tional skills and information management are essential to the position. hese responsibili- ties are not of high academic value in terms of academic promotion, which oten situates the DCE as junior faculty or as an assistant pro- fessor within traditional academic structures. Rather than accept the prevailing rank of the DCE, the purpose of this article is to challenge the traditional academic status of the DCE and ofer an alternative vision for this position based on feminist critique and critical social theory. Feminist perspective has been extended to higher education pro- grams in medicine, nursing, business, engi- neering, basic sciences, the humanities, and economics to evaluate work distribution, promotional structures, and characteristics of leadership. 2 As with these ields, physical therapy academic roles do not exist in isola- tion but are socially constructed and inter- preted within the context of accepted norms, values, and shared beliefs. POSITION his article will present an evaluation of the DCE position as it is socially constructed. hat is, the interpretation is developed from the unique viewpoint of the DCE and in- formed by a higher education and feminist literature. A social constructionist approach accepts multiple realities, as all individu- als form knowledge and make meaning of experience contextually and through social understandings. 3 Although not explicitly stated as such by academic programs, DCEs oten view their roles as lower-ranking physi- cal therapist academic faculty. he language of this group commonly relects oppression: “I was arm twisted into this job.” “his job fell into my lap.” “I was assigned the position that no other faculty wanted.” 4 “I’m consid- ered a gloriied wedding planner.” 5 While these comments may be viewed as personal opinions, individual perspectives, or isolated grumblings, feminist critique would posit that individuals are voicing a social construc- tion of the position. he statements relect an understanding of self and reality that is based on interactions with others. his reality is based on language and shared understand- ings of the cultural group: the physical thera- pist academic community. A reinterpretation of the DCE position informed by a feminist perspective could empower the DCE to ind avenues for professional development, pursue a clinical education research agenda, model professional autonomy, and envision and re- with administration, management, and specialized research at the top of the hi- erarchy. A feminized metric would value those roles inherent to the DCE: student and community engagement, counseling, organization, and content integration. Acceptance and embrace of the feminized nature of the DCE position serves stu- dents and professional community more than have attempts to realign the DCE position to traditional masculine aca- demic roles. Key Words: Clinical education, Feminist critique, Director of clinical education, Scholarship.