Re-Defining the Meaning of Impact

Abstract

A major concern for doctoral students finishing their doctoral degree program is determining if they can make a significant contribution to their discipline. How is it possible for someone to have a definitive impact on their field of study? The majority of doctoral students I have worked with feel their biggest impact to the field will be through research. In graduate school we spend a great deal of time thinking and reading about how impact is measured through our research. With a sense of optimism and idealism, the expectation when beginning a career as a faculty member is to have a significant impact on the field one works in–in my case Kinesiology. That certainly was my goal when I took a tenure–track, assistant professor position in 2006. However, the impact that I believe I was going to make took a dramatically different direction than I originally intended. In this chapter, I hope to provide insight on how the meaning of impact has changed for me as I transitioned from a doctoral student to an assistant professor at a regional comprehensive university. I hope to also elaborate on specific strategies that I have used to redefine impact while developing a standing within my field at the university and beyond.