Faith, Work, and Praxis: A Process Model of Integration for Christian Student Affairs Administrators

ABSTRACT

The scholarship regarding faith integration practice has largely focused on faculty work; however, the field faces a paucity of data-supported approaches to understanding faith integration in the work lives of administrators. In this qualitative study, we developed a conceptual model that employs the concept of praxis to analyze the process by which mid-level student affairs administrators integrate their faith in their professional work lives. Findings show that the praxis model illuminates the sources of religious commitment that student affairs administrators drew upon when merging their faith commitments with their work lives. The model also highlights the introspective nature of faith integration, the power dynamics inherent in their interactions with students and superiors, and the individual and systemic change that resulted. Participants' religious habitus, reflective of personal experience as well as professional socialization, were both unconsidered and deliberate. Despite participants' claims that integration occurred organically and reflexively, intentionality before, during, and after integration situations was a hallmark of these exemplars' professional practice. The praxis model may be a valuable professional development tool for individuals, institutions, and graduate programs.