Gatherings of any significant number of faculty members on the tenure track feature many discussions of the stresses associated with coming up for tenure.

Will I publish enough? Have I offended a senior colleague? Do I know what the review committee really cares about?

The American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting in Denver is no different, with plenty of hallway chatter among younger scholars about their chances.

Research presented here, however, identifies a group of pre-tenure faculty members who are significantly less stressed than their colleagues elsewhere, and who feel that they know what the standards will be. Further, there are only minor gaps in the attitudes of male and female colleagues in this group — even though national surveys have indicated higher stress levels and greater levels of uncertainty about standards among women than men.

Who are these calmer faculty members? Those who teach at Christian colleges.

The study, presented by Gary L. Railsback, dean of the School of Education at Point Loma Nazarene University, was based on survey results from faculty members at 38 colleges that are members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

The council’s members (Point Loma Nazarene is among them) come from a variety of denominations, but all are faith-centered institutions where faculty members abide by statements of faith (some of which are much more detailed than others).

READ MORE: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/05/05/christian