Many young faculty members fresh out of graduate school who have been teaching for less than five years feel their graduate educations left them underprepared for faculty positions, according to a recently released survey.

Of those surveyed, no more than one-third said they believed their graduate education had prepared them to work effectively in areas such as student advising, serving on faculty committees, conducting research, and writing grant applications.

After a few years on the job, those numbers rose significantly, the survey found. Generally, about 50 percent of faculty members early in their careers said they were now working “very effectively,” but many still reported a lack of confidence.

The survey, conducted online last summer and released last month by the TIAA-CREF Institute, the pension company’s research arm, questioned faculty members and others at 20 institutions in the Associated New American Colleges, which consists of medium-size private master’s-level colleges.

Only about 30 percent of those surveyed reported that their graduate educations had very effectively prepared them to teach undergraduates or conduct research. About 90 percent did not believe they had been very effectively prepared to serve on committees, advise undergraduates, or obtain grants.

After an average of two to four years on the job, three-quarters of those faculty members reported that they were very effective in teaching undergraduates. Nearly half said they were very effectively serving on committees or advising undergraduates.

Less than half reported satisfaction with their salaries, and about 70 percent said their institution “could be more helpful in setting faculty priorities.” One out of three said their institution lacked an effective orientation program for new faculty members. —Allie Grasgreen