Exploring the Factors Affecting Work Engagement Decline of Faculty Members of Public Universities in Iran.

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Extended Abstract
Abstract
Higher education has been a key pillar of every country's development with its purpose being to develop the scientific, technological, cultural, economic, political, and social dimensions of society. It is obvious that reaching this purpose requires engaged faculty members. Whenever they have high engagement, they can create or increase the engagement in their students as well. In this study, faculty members’ engagement for teaching, researching, and social activities has been considered giving rise to this question: what are the factors affecting work engagement decline of faculty members of public universities in Iran? Due to the nature of the study, qualitative research was conducted. Participants were 22 faculty members of public universities of Tehran who were selected by the purposive sampling method and were interviewed in an in-depth and semi-structured manner until theoretical saturation was reached. Then, using thematic analysis the text of each interview was coded regularly and the themes and concepts were identified and categorized into 3 main themes, 8 sub-themes and 18 conceptual categories and discussed. According to the findings, structural barriers, content barriers, cultural barriers, negative tendencies, negative dynamics, barriers related to students, community, colleagues, and dean reduce the work engagement of faculty members of public university in Iran. Exploring the declining factors of faculty members’ work engagement, this research enjoys specific novelty and offers suggestions for resolving or controlling them.
Introduction
Work engagement of faculty members is an important issue which has recently received attention by researchers (Van den Berg, Mastenbroek, Scheepers & Jaarsma, 2017; Van den Berg et al., 2018; Meng & Sun, 2019). Engagement implies a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá & Bakker, 2002: 74). Research conducted in the area of work engagement has mostly focused on the work engagement of employees and sometimes teachers. They are often quantitative and address the relationship between variables, and pay less attention to faculty members’ work engagement (Knight, Patterson, & Dawson, 2017; Choochom, 2016; Bamford, Wong & Laschinger, 2013; Sokolov, 2017; Wilson, 2018). Also, considering the job differences between faculty members and teachers, particular attention needs to be paid to their work engagement. In this study, faculty members’ engagement for teaching, researching, and social activities has been investigated giving rise to this question: what are the factors affecting work engagement decline of faculty members of public universities in Iran?
Case study
In this qualitative research, faculty members of public universities in Iran constitute the research population and data collection was conducted through purposive sampling.
Materials and Methods
Due to the nature of the subject, the research is conducted in a qualitative manner and is based on the interpretation philosophy and the inductive approach. Data collection is conducted through interview with 22 faculty members from public universities in Tehran. The method of data analysis is thematic analysis.
Discussion and Results
After data analysis, the identified factors were categorized into 3 main themes, 8 sub-themes and 18 conceptual categories. According to the findings, structural barriers, content barriers, cultural barriers, negative tendencies, negative dynamics, issues related to students, community, colleagues, and dean reduce faculty members’ engagement.
Conclusion
Exploring the factors affecting work engagement decline of faculty members, it was observed that any increase in work engagement in one specific area of the profession would cause work engagement decrease in other areas. Thus, the phenomenon of balance in work engagement can be emphasized as a new and important concept. It appears the degree of work engagement should be relatively balanced in the various tasks. It is noteworthy that with the emergence of the phenomenon of faculty members with several different jobs, there has occurred a shift in their priorities. In addition, the regulations for their evaluation and promotion have stimulated them to shift from teaching to researching and activities outside universities leading to a fundamental crisis in their engagement, especially engagement to their teaching.

Keywords

References

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