The research productivity of Indonesian professors of higher education

Abstract

This is a study of factors influencing the research productivity of Indonesian faculty in public higher education. These factors are divided into three broad categories corresponding to: (1) ascriptive, (2) achievement and (3) organizational variables. As the validity of the productivity concept is difficult to ascertain, three different measures were employed. These were: (1) a simple summative count of all self-reported scholarly writing, (2) a summative scale with each separate item weighted, and (3) a subjective self-evaluation measure. Data was collected for the specific purpose of this study at the end of 1982. From the population of 20,945 tenured faculty in Indonesia, 11,269 54 percent were interviewed using an extensively pretested interview schedule. Using multiple regression analysis, models were specified for each of the three dependent variables. Following initial breakdown analysis of means, a multiple regression analysis was conducted. The three groups of predictor variables do not have equal influence on research productivity. The ascriptive variables have the smallest association with all three dependent variables. The achievement block of variables has almost three times as many significant coefficients than does the organizational block in the two “objective” count measures of productivity. In the specification for self-evaluation, the organizational block has a slightly larger number of significant coefficients.