scholarly journals Effect of Personal and Occupational Characteristics on Attitudes to an Obligatory Retirement Age—A Content Analysis Investigation

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Eyal Eckhaus ◽  
Nitza Davidovitch
Keyword(s):  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Academic Rank ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Senior Faculty ◽  
Statistical Research ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Academic Administration ◽  
Occupational Characteristics ◽  
Academic Faculty

This study is a pioneer study examining the effects of personal and occupational background variables on the attitude of faculty members to an obligatory retirement age in academia. Previous studies on performance measures of academic faculty in research, teaching, academic administration, and contribution to the community, testified to associations between faculty member achievements and their personal characteristics (gender, age) as well as features related to their academic field of occupation (faculty, academic rank, tenure). Hence, these quality measures of academic faculty have meaning for and influence on research, even after the customary retirement age. Obligatory retirement age is a well-known issue and it is arousing much interest in general, and in academia in particular. Academic work includes activity focused on research, teaching, advisory work, participation in academic committees and conferences—namely, activities that require human thinking. This leads to the question of whether and to what degree personal and occupational characteristics are associated with the attitude of faculty members to retirement age. One hundred and eight questionnaires administered to senior faculty were collected in a case study of a single university. Qualitative and statistical research tools were employed, with the aim of creating a model that expresses the association between faculty members’ personal and occupational characteristics and their attitude to retirement age in academia. The research findings show that the background variables affecting the attitude of faculty members to retirement are age and tenure—faculty members’ age and status as tenured faculty determine their objection to the obligatory retirement age.

scholarly journals How do Academic Faculty Members Perceive the Effect of Teaching Surveys Completed by Students on Appointment and Promotion Processes at Academic Institutions? A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Eckhaus ◽  
Nitza Davidovitch
Keyword(s):  
Research Performance ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Senior Faculty ◽  
Statistical Research ◽  
Academic Appointment ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
Research Findings

It is commonly thought that the promotion of faculty members is affected by their research performance. The current study is unique in examining how academic faculty members perceive the harm or damage to academic appointment and promotion processes, as a direct effect of student evaluations as manifested in teaching surveys. One hundred eighty two questionnaires were collected from senior faculty members at academic institutions. Most respondents were from three institutions: Ariel University, Ben Gurion University, and the Jezreel Valley College. Qualitative and statistical research tools were utilized, with the goal of forming a model reflecting the effect of the harm to academic appointment and promotion processes, as perceived by faculty members. The research findings show that the lecturers find an association that causes harm to their promotion processes as a result of student evaluations. Assuming that students' voices and their opinion of teaching are important – the question is how should these evaluations be treated within promotion and appointment processes: what and whom do they indicate? Do they constitute a reliable managerial tool with which it is possible to work as a foundation for promotion and appointment processes – or should other tools be developed, unrelated to students' opinions?

scholarly journals Teaching Students to Think - Faculty Recommendations for Teaching Evaluations Employing Automated Content Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitza Davidovitch ◽  
Eyal Eckhaus
Keyword(s):  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Senior Faculty ◽  
Statistical Research ◽  
Teaching Evaluations ◽  
Automated Content Analysis ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
Research Findings

Many studies have been conducted on teaching evaluations completed by students and on myths and facts concerning these evaluations performed by students at academic institutions. The current study is unique in examining the meaning of teaching evaluations as perceived by academic faculty members in Israel through direct questions, with an emphasis on faculty's recommendations for improving the evaluations to make students' comments meaningful for enhancing and advancing their teaching. The perception of evaluations is unique too. Evaluations are part of faculty's learning outputs in their courses, with the aim being for graduates of academic systems to have the ability to provide objective and fair assessments.One hundred seventy seven questionnaires were gathered from senior faculty at several academic institutions. Qualitative and statistical research tools were used in order to form a model that expresses the negative implications as seen by faculty members and alternatives for measuring the performance of faculty in academic teaching. The research findings indicate that lecturers note "professional" alternatives and see teaching evaluations as a populist rather than a professional tool. Moreover, although the lecturers gauge the damage caused to them as a result of student evaluations, where the enormous damage caused to them is disproportionate to the number of respondents, and although faculty members believe that student evaluations are untrustworthy, students' opinions on the courses are important. Their recommendation is that the evaluation should be a tool for teaching how to perform evaluations and convey criticism – and in this field not much has been done in academic institutions, if at all. Academia sees evaluations as a technical matter, a means of satisfying students by letting them express their opinions and of giving students a feeling that the system is attentive to their voice, to their views.Indeed, students' voice is important to the lecturers – their opinions of teaching are important – and that is precisely why action should be taken to render these evaluations fair. Students should understand the power of the words that express their evaluation of the lecturers. This point of view is a first of its kind, where academic faculty members support students' opinions and provide recommendations aimed at their improvement.

scholarly journals Senior Faculty Opinions on the Significance of Retirement Age - Employing Natural Language Processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Nitza Davidovitch ◽  
Eyal Eckhaus
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Academic Institution ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Senior Faculty ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Academic System ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
Research Findings

This study is a pioneer study examining the significance of retirement in terms of lost investments and outcomes. Research findings on the output of academic faculty and on measures of excellence in higher education indicate that upon retirement the academic institution as an organization loses not only faculty who are still capable of contributing both to research and to teaching, but rather also two other important products: valuable knowledge and experience accumulated by senior faculty in the academic system in light of the institution’s investments in them. 107 questionnaires were collected from senior faculty members in a case study of one academic institution. A combined research method was utilized, consisting of qualitative and statistical analysis, with the aim of exploring the significance of retirement in terms of lost input and output, as perceived by academic faculty members. The research findings indicate that indeed, as perceived by the faculty, academic institutions as an organization lose faculty who are still capable of contributing to both research and teaching, as well as valuable knowledge and experience accumulated by senior faculty members within the academic system, after being nurtured by the academic institution.

scholarly journals Degree of Organizational Loyalty among Kuwait University Faculty

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Maryam Ahmad Abdullah Al-Mazkour
Keyword(s):  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Academic Rank ◽  
Kuwait University ◽  
Organizational Loyalty ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
The University ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Descriptive Survey

The study aimed to measure the degree of organizational loyalty among faculty members at Kuwait University. The study used analytical descriptive survey method, and developed a questionnaire comprising (20) items which was administered to a sample comprising (183) faculty members. The study revealed that the degree of organizational loyalty is medium with a mean (3.01). Also, the study revealed no statistically significant differences among the respondents due to the study variables: gender, nationality, age, years of experience, type of college, and academic rank. In the light of these results, the study provided a number of practical recommendations and suggestions for further studies, i.e. instilling the spirit of teamwork and responsibility towards the university and nation, evaluating the performance of faculty members, promoting organizational loyalty by holding training courses, deepening religious awareness, paying more attention to factors that regulate work environment, conducting similar studies in other institutions, and other studies to reveal the relationship of organizational loyalty with personal characteristics, job satisfaction, and organizational justice. 

scholarly journals Advantages of Employment after Retirement – A Content Analysis Approach. What Is Academic Professional Experience Worth After Retirement Age?

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Nitza Davidovitch ◽  
Eyal Eckhaus
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Research Performance ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Academic Experience ◽  
Senior Faculty ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic System ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
Performance Ability ◽  
Faculty Employment

This study is a pioneer study that examines the advantages of faculty employment after retirement age from the perspective of academic faculty. The economic-industrial literature suggests that prior experience is a major consideration in the industry, particularly in the process of selecting suppliers, and the weight given to occupational experience has an effect on other advantages as well.  108 questionnaires administered to senior faculty were collected in a case study of a single university. A combined research method including qualitative and statistical analyses was employed, with the aim of exploring the advantages of faculty employment at institutions of higher education after retirement age. The current research findings show that most of the faculty members claim that the experience accumulated by faculty who have passed the retirement age is their strongest advantage. Furthermore, professional-academic experience was found to correlate with other advantages, namely knowledge, international contacts, deeper familiarity with the global academic system, improved teaching capabilities, and improved ability to guide advanced studies. This, in addition to the advantages of personal-professional skills: more patience and greater research performance ability.  The findings raise the practical question of the implications for the academic system in general and for the public academic system in particular. In other words, how does the public system of higher education translate the advantages of previous academic experience beyond retirement age? What are the benefits for colleagues, young faculty, the institutions – and the system of higher education in general, with regard to research, teaching, and contribution to the community?

scholarly journals Gender disparity within academic Canadian urology

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Ilin ◽  
Emilie Langlois ◽  
Sabeena Jalal ◽  
Faisal Khosa
Keyword(s):  
Gender Disparity ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Academic Rank ◽  
H Index ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
Insignificant Difference ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
Rank Differences ◽  
Academic Positions ◽  
Temporal Bias

Introduction: Increasing female matriculation into medical school has shown an increase in women training in academic urology, but gender disparity still exists within this male-dominated field. This study aims to evaluate publication productivity and rank differences of Canadian female and male academic urologists. Methods: The Canadian Residency Matching Service (CaRMS) was used to compile a list of 12 Canadian accredited urology programs. Using each institution’s website, faculty members’ names, genders, academic positions, and leadership ranks were noted. SCOPUS© was consulted to tabulate the number of documents published, citations, and h-index of each faculty member. To account for temporal bias associated with the h-index, the m-quotient was also computed. Results: There was a significantly higher number of men (164, 88.17%) among academic faculty than women (22, 11.83%). As academic rank increased, the proportion of female urologists decreased. Overall, male urologists had higher academic ranks, h-index values, number of publications, and citations (p=0.038, p=0.0038, p=0.0011, and p=0.014, respectively). There was an insignificant difference between men and women with respect to their m-quotient medians (p=0.25). Conclusions: There is an increasing number of women completing residency in urology, although there are disproportionally fewer female urologists at senior academic positions. Significant differences were found in the h-index, publication count, and citation number between male and female urologists. When using the m-quotient to adjust for temporal bias, no significant differences were found between the gender in terms of academic output.

scholarly journals Student Evaluation of Lecturers – What do Faculty Members Think about the Damage Caused by Teaching Surveys?

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Nitza Davidovich ◽  
Eyal Eckhaus
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Student Evaluation ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Senior Faculty ◽  
Student Surveys ◽  
Teaching Evaluations ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
Research Findings

Many studies have been conducted on teaching evaluations and student surveys. The current study is unique for examining, by means of direct questions, the meaning of teaching surveys as perceived by academic faculty in Israel. Senior faculty members at academic institutions completed questionnaires, with a total of 182 questionnaires collected. We employed mixed research methods, beginning with qualitative analysis followed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), with the goal of developing a model that reflects faculty members’ beliefs on teaching surveys. The research findings show that the lecturers find that student evaluations are detrimental to their relationship with their students, and adversely affect their teaching practice and interpersonal interactions with their students. In view of the importance attributed to students' voices and their opinions of teaching, the question is how should these evaluations be addressed, Do teaching surveys constitute a reliable managerial tool and a foundation for improving teaching – or should other tools be developed to improve teaching practices, independent of students' opinions?

Investigating the Use of Personal in Formation Management Strategies by Faculty Members of three Medical Sciences Universities in Iran

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-120
Author(s):  
Alireza Shirazi ◽  
Mikaeil Molazadeh ◽  
Ahad Zeinali ◽  
Ghazale Geraily
Keyword(s):  
Personal Information ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Academic Rank ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Persian Language ◽  
And Gender

In this study, the purpose was to investigate Personal Information Management (PIM) activity rate regardingfourPIM aspects o f acquisition, maintenance, organization, and retrieval o f faculty members in three universities, i.e., Tehran University o f Medical Science (TUMS), Iran University o f Medical Sciences (lUMS), and Shahid Beheshti University o f Medical Sciences (SBUMS). The relationship between PIM use and workplace, academic rank, and gender factors were also studied. A Persian-language questionnaire was used to measure PIM performance of participants. Data were analysed using statistical tests. Findings showed that most o f the participants preferred desktop computers for saving theirpersonal digital information. Also, the percentage of PIM use by the faculty members was reported as 50-75%. However, no significant associations between PIM use by the faculty members and their workplace, academic rank, andgenderwerefound.

scholarly journals Internationalisation strategy, faculty response and academic preparedness for transnational teaching

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (9) ◽  
pp. 1084-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tasawar Nawaz
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Cultural Teaching ◽  
Internationalisation Strategy ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Transnational education (TNE), interpreted as the mobility of education programmes and providers between countries, has grown exponentially as a worldwide phenomenon in recent years. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have mainly used such opportunities to internationalise their degrees and programmes, and have paid scant attention on preparing academics to teach cross-culturally. As a result, academics being at the coalface of teaching and learning often feel under-informed, under-supported, underprepared and under-confident when it comes to cross-cultural teaching, suggesting that universities have largely failed to prepare their academic faculty members to face the challenges of internationalisation. This is particularly important for new and young players such as the post-92 universities in the UK. However, such institutions have largely been ignored by the previous research in this area. Reverting the research focus on young HEIs, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of preparing faculty staff members in the context of a post-92 university in the UK, to teach cross-culturally at partner institutions via the TNE route. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts Deardorff’s intercultural competency process model to develop a framework (focussing on three core elements of knowledge, skills and attitudes) that could help the academic staff members to prepare for teaching internationally. The paper is based on a detailed analysis of university’s internationalisation strategy, policy documents and related reports for the 1999–2016 period. The initial analysis is further supplemented by 11 interviews with the main stakeholders, i.e. academics, educational developers and policy makers. Findings As the post-92 university in focus, like its counterparts, continues to proliferate its degrees and programmes through the TNE route, academics who are tasked with transnational teaching have an increased responsibility to develop the competencies required to work with learners from diversified cultural backgrounds. However, there has been less interest at university or faculty level in ensuring that academic faculty members who teach in transnational context are prepared for the specific rigours of transnational teaching. Research limitations/implications The research findings have broader implications at individual, organisational and industry-level for individual academic faculty members to progress further in their career, HEIs to improve the quality of training programmes and policies and the HE industry to adjust the strategy towards internationalisation. Practical implications In the absence of any formally structured training, the paper proposes pre-departure informal training workshops/seminars conducted by seasoned academics at faculty, school or department level to help new academics transform their knowledge, skills and attitudes in order to facilitate positive interactions with students in a cross-cultural teaching environment. Although the focus is on one post-92 university; however, the proposed framework could be adopted across HEIs worldwide. Originality/value The paper is based on a detailed analysis of university’s internationalisation strategy, policy documents and related reports for the 1999–2016 period. The initial analysis is further supplemented by 11 interviews with the main stakeholders, i.e. academics, educational developers and policy makers. Informed by the best practices, the paper also discusses the implication of intercultural competencies for cross-cultural teaching.

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