Faculty engagement in higher education: prospects and areas of research

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushboo Raina ◽  
Puja Khatri

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the available literature on engagement of faculty members teaching in higher education institutions and present forth a strong foundation for researchers of the same area to gain insight into the available literature and prospects of faculty engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory study has been conducted using different keywords to draw a list of relevant research papers on Google Scholar and several online databases like Emerald Management, EBSCO Host, Elseiver, etc. Findings – Various definitions of the major constructs have been captured from which dimensions have been explored. Identification of dimensions and factors has been done by performing extensive literature review. Studies so conducted on the major construct have been tabulated to present a comprehensive picture. Universities across the world have been studied to find out differences with respect to India in terms of their higher education system and practices related to faculty. Originality/value – The paper is original and holds significance as not much literature is available on faculty engagement in published domain and higher education has become an area of keen interest in present times. This paper will give a strong foundation of literature to future researchers who want to pursue their studies in this area.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerald Ozee Fernandes ◽  
Balgopal Singh

PurposeThe higher education system has been entrusted globally to provide quality education, especially to the youth, and equip them with required skills and capabilities. The visionaries and policymakers of the countries around the world have been working relentlessly to improve the standard of the higher education system by establishing national and global accreditation and ranking bodies and expecting measuring performance through setting up accreditation and ranking parameters. This paper focuses on the review of Indian university accreditation and ranking system and determining its efficacy in improving academic quality for achieving good position in global quality accreditation and ranking.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed exploratory research approach to know about the accreditation and ranking issues of Indian higher education institutions to overcome the challenges for being globally competitive. The accreditation and ranking parameters and score of leading Indian universities was collected from secondary data sources. Similarly, the global ranking parameters and scores of these Indian universities with top global universities was explored. The performance gaps of Indian university in global academic quality parameter is assessed by comparing it with scores of global top universities. Further, each domestic and global accreditation and ranking parameters have been taken up for discussion.FindingsThe study identified teaching and learning, research and industry collaboration as common parameter in the accreditation and ranking by Indian and global accreditation and ranking body. Furthermore, the study revealed that Indian accreditation and ranking body assess leniently on parameters and award high scores as compared to rigorous global accreditation and ranking practice. The study revealed that “research” and “citations” are important parameters for securing prestigious position in global ranking, this is the reason Indian universities are trailing. The study exposed that Indian academic fraternity lack prominence in research, publication and citations as per need of global accreditation and ranking standards.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of this study is that it focused only on few Indian and global accreditation and ranking bodies. The future implication of this study will be the use of methodology designed in this study for comparing accreditation and ranking bodies’ parameters of different continents and countries in different economic development stages i.e. emerging and developed economies to know the disparity and shortcomings in their higher education system.Practical implicationsThe article is a review and comparison of national and global accreditation and ranking parameters. The article explored the important criteria and key indicators of accreditation and ranking that would provide an important and meaningful insight to academic institutions of the emerging economies of the world to develop its competitiveness. The study contributed to the literature on identifying benchmark for improving academic and higher education institution quality. This study would be further helpful in fostering new ideas toward setting up of contemporary globally viable and acceptable academic quality standard.Originality/valueThis is possibly the first study conducted with novel methodology of comparing the Indian and global accreditation and ranking parameters to identify the academic quality performance gap and suggesting ways to attain academic benchmark through continuous improvement activity and process for global competitiveness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Van Deuren ◽  
Tsegazeab Kahsu ◽  
Seid Mohammed ◽  
Wondimu Woldie

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze and illustrate achievements and challenges of Ethiopian higher education, both at the system level and at the level of new public universities. Design/methodology/approach – Achievements and challenges at the system level are based on literature review and secondary data. Illustrative case studies are based on university data and interviews with university representatives. Findings – The Ethiopian higher education system has increased its enrollments substantially. The construction of 13 new universities that started enrolling students around 2007 contributed greatly to this achievement. Challenges accompanying this growth lie in funding, quality and quantity of staffing, teaching practices, research and community service, quality assurance and gender balance. Originality/value – The present study contributes to existing literature by describing case studies illustrating challenges and achievements in new public universities in Ethiopian higher education.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Amrein-Beardsley ◽  
Thomas Haladyna

For over 30 years survey instruments have been used in colleges of higher education to measure instructional effectiveness. Extensive research has been conducted to determine which items best capture this construct. This research study was triggered by a college of education’s enthusiastic but failed attempt to create a new and improved instructor survey based on this research. Researchers found that the new instrument was no better than its predecessor. Student halo ratings contaminated results, reliability was lower than expected, and the survey results indicated one single dimension – general teaching effectiveness.  Two associated variables of considerable interest, course relevance and rigor/demand, were also contaminated by student halo rating. Based on these findings and the extensive literature on student surveys of teaching effectiveness, we argue that traditional surveys based on conventional items may be valid for evaluating global teaching effectiveness and other summative purposes but not for the formative, self-diagnostic, and reflective purposes anticipated. New ways of evaluating teaching in higher education are presented and discussed.  The article shares insights into theory-based survey development and a plan for validation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled A. Alshare ◽  
Peggy L. Lane ◽  
Michael R. Lane

Purpose The purpose of this case study is to examine the factors that impact higher education employees’ violations of information security policy by developing a research model based on grounded theories such as deterrence theory, neutralization theory and justice theory. Design/methodology/approach The research model was tested using 195 usable responses. After conducting model validation, the hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression. Findings The results of the study revealed that procedural justice, distributive justice, severity and celerity of sanction, privacy, responsibility and organizational security culture were significant predictors of violations of information security measures. Only interactional justice was not significant. Research limitations/implications As with any exploratory case study, this research has limitations such as the self-reported information and the method of measuring the violation of information security measures. The method of measuring information security violations has been a challenge for researchers. Of course, the best method is to capture the actual behavior. Another limitation to this case study which might have affected the results is the significant number of faculty members in the respondent pool. The shared governance culture of faculty members on a US university campus might bias the results more than in a company environment. Caution should be applied when generalizing the results of this case study. Practical implications The findings validate past research and should encourage managers to ensure employees are involved with developing and implementing information security measures. Additionally, the information security measures should be applied consistently and in a timely manner. Past research has focused more on the certainty and severity of sanctions and not as much on the celerity or swiftness of applying sanctions. The results of this research indicate there is a need to be timely (swift) in applying sanctions. The importance of information security should be grounded in company culture. Employees should have a strong sense of treating company data as they would want their own data to be treated. Social implications Engaging employees in developing and implementing information security measures will reduce employees’ violations. Additionally, giving employees the assurance that all are given the same treatment when it comes to applying sanctions will reduce the violations. Originality/value Setting and enforcing in a timely manner a solid sanction system will help in preventing information security violations. Moreover, creating a culture that fosters information security will help in positively affecting the employees’ perceptions toward privacy and responsibility, which in turn, impacts information security violations. This case study applies some existing theories in the context of the US higher education environment. The results of this case study contributed to the extension of existing theories by including new factors, on one hand, and confirming previous findings, on the other hand.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gulnaz Zahid

PurposeThis interventional study aims to test the effectiveness of thek training approach for higher education faculty members to facilitate students with disabilities (SwD) to promote inclusion in higher education by operationalising approaches on the basis of the social action model. It presents an evidence-based training model created on recognised theories and strategies in the field of disability.Design/methodology/approachThe study follows a single-case pre/post-test intervention design in which data were analysed quantitatively, followed by a thematic analysis of participants' feedback and trainer's reflections. Training sessions were aligned to the social action model, the perspective of reasonable accommodations and introduction to technological support for teaching-learning and policy issues. Eighty faculty members from different schools of a multi-disciplinary Pakistani university participated in these sessions. Data from only 63 faculty members were available for analyses.FindingsTeacher Perceptions of Facilitating Students with Disabilities (TP-FSD) scale served as a pre- and post-test measure. The quantitative assessment revealed knowledge and attitudinal gains after brief trainings. However, when findings were interpreted considering effect sizes and supported by qualitative findings, moderate effectiveness level was evident. Effectiveness can be interpreted by the internal and external validity checks and findings of multiple assessments.Practical implicationsThis study can be replicated by adapting the training approach and by considering its strengths and shortcomings mentioned in detail in the discussion section.Originality/valueThe study tested the effectiveness of brief faculty training to support SwD in a multi-disciplinary university having faculty with varied education and training experience.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Saleh Al Balawi

Factors affecting faculty decisions in the conventional university setup in Saudi Arabia for participating or not participating sin Web-based instruction (WBI) were investigated in this study. Incentives and barriers to WBI, faculty attitudes, and participants’ demographic information were also explored. The study was aimed to investigate the attitudes of the faculty members at three Saudi universities toward WBI in an effort to describe the current status of WBI in the Saudi higher education system. In addition, results of the study could also provide the Saudi universities and the faculty with insight into factors affecting adoption of WBI. Finally, since there have been few implementations of WBI across the country, it was important to explore how WBI is currently used in Saudi universities and to determine critical factors that could affect the implementation of WBI.


2015 ◽  
pp. 15-16
Author(s):  
Marcelo Knobel

There are many factors that motivate the pursuit of an academic career, including academic freedom, prestige, stability, curiosity, among others. However, salary is also key to the future career choices of young talent. In the State of São Paulo, in Brazil, the salary of all public servants is currently tied to the salary of the governor, that, for political reasons, is kept at a rather low value. This fact is already having an effect on thousands of faculty members in the higher education system of the State. In this paper, I discuss how this salary limitation can influence the decision of young talent to follow an academic career and, put at risk a rather well developed higher education system. Furthermore, I discuss this issue in a broader context of strong regulation, a lack of competitiveness to support career development, and how this all undermines the commitment and morale of qualified professors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-607
Author(s):  
Harry Kipkemoi Bett

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion on the overlooked side of motivation among Kenyan lecturers: the motivation to teach. Design/methodology/approach The paper is generally a review of the current status of lecturer motivation in Kenya in relation to their teaching and research. This has been done anchored on Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Findings While the general belief is that lecturers are more motivated to teach than to engage in research owing to immediacy of returns (from teaching), arguments are given showing that contextual factors may contribute to lecturer demotivation in their teaching. Practical implications There is need to increase the number of lecturers in higher education in Kenya so as to mitigate against the overwhelming workload affecting many faculty members. A balance between hygiene and motivators should also be borne in mind, especially in relation to teaching and research. Originality/value The general assumption in literature is that since many lecturers in Kenya are not engaging in research, they must be motivated to teach. This study, however, argues that many contextual challenges do not motivate lecturers in the country to teach.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Rabah Noui

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the policy of massification as a characteristic of the higher education system influences the quality of education? and what higher education model can the authors adopt to reconcile flow and quality?Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted is based on a questionnaire survey of a population of young graduates divided between graduates with a conventional license and LMD license, either in the process of preparing for a diploma or in unemployment or work. But also, the qualitative dimension which, although secondary in this survey, the authors mobilized it through the analysis of open questions relating to the perceptions and representations that young graduates have of their situations.FindingsThe higher education reforms are perceived differently by higher education actors. The results found show that university massification has had the opposite effect by training graduates doomed to unemployment and expatriation.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample for this study is very limited, the results of this finding cannot be generalized to the entire university student as a whole.Originality/valueThis study emphasizes the duality of flow and quality in higher education. The authors have shown the different perceptions of stakeholders in higher education and that despite the multiple reforms of this system the authors still cannot find the best model.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayananda P ◽  
Mrityunjaya V. Latte ◽  
Mahesh S. Raisinghani ◽  
Sowmyarani CN

PurposeStandard quality is very highly important parameter in the education sector. Accreditation is a process where standard quality of education is given and the process of continuous improvement is defined. Emphasizing quality of student education is achieved through outcome-based education system (OBE). Program outcomes signify the comprehension, skills and attitude the students should have at the end of the program. At the end of each course, course outcomes signify the knowledge acquired by the students. Course outcomes assessment is one of the key aspects of the OBE model. In this research, the following four factors: subject quality, number of times subject handled by faculty members, faculty experience and student quality with different weightage, are used for analysis of the target setting for individual courses, used for higher education accreditation. This new approach for target setting will improve the teaching and learning process.Design/methodology/approachFour factors: subject quality, number of times subject handled by faculty members, faculty experience and student quality with different weightage, are used for analysis of the target setting for individual courses, used for higher education accreditation.Practical implicationsUsing proposed approach, higher targets can be achieved in teaching and learning.FindingsNew approach for target setting will improve the teaching and learning process.Research limitations/implicationsProposed approach for target setting will improve the teaching and learning process; it should be implemented across all engineering colleges or universities.Social implicationsAll engineering colleges will have impact on teaching and learning process.Originality/valueThe following four factors: subject quality, number of times subject handled by faculty members, faculty experience and student quality with different weightage, are used for analysis of the target setting for individual courses, used for higher education accreditation.


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