Understanding Faculty–Student Conflict: Student Perceptions of Precipitating Events and Faculty Responses

Handling conflicts with students is a part of most educators' academic lives. Surprisingly little research, however, has investigated student perceptions of sources of conflict or instructor responses to disputes. To gain insight into faculty–student conflict, we administered a survey to 122 undergraduates. Students indicated that they frequently communicated with professors regarding conflicts and were usually dissatisfied with their instructors' responses. We evaluated sources of conflict, faculty responses, and students' preferred responses to provide instructors with detailed information on students' perceptions. Potential benefits of understanding students' perceptions and preferences include improved course satisfaction and attitudes toward learning for students and maintenance of academic standards and heightened job satisfaction for faculty.