Faculty recruitment, retention, and success in dental academia.

Previous reports addressing issues pertaining to faculty recruitment and retention have generally been based on structured surveys of current faculty and the opinions of senior educators. Results from those studies cannot reflect the opinions of the spectrum of persons in academia. Qualitative research, by using in-depth interviews with past, present, and future academics, was conducted to determine as broadly as possible the perceptions of those involved in, or considering, academic careers about the barriers to recruitment, retention, and success or failure in academia. Similarities and differences in the perceptions of groups at different career stages were detected.