Experiences Of Academic Staff Research Articles

Experiences of Academic Staff Towards Promotion and Professional Development in Selected Public Universities in Tanzania: A Situational Analysis

There has been a constant debate regarding fairness during the promotion process and academic growth among the academic staff in higher education around the world. In the context of Tanzania, higher education depends on the academic qualifications, ranks, experience and level of job satisfaction among their academic staff for quality teaching, research and consultancy works. This mixed study focused on the experiences and attitudes of 85 staff on promotion and motivation from a selected public university in Tanzania. Quantitative data were collected from 74 academic staff, 1 professor, 4 senior lecturers, 30 lecturers, 25 assistant lecturers and 14 tutorial assistants. Moreover, 3 staff from the human resources directorate and 8 heads of academic departments were interviewed. The results demonstrated that the majority of the academic staff (82%) were satisfied with the sponsorship process in local and overseas trainings (N = 61) and the duration of three years for new promotions (N = 65 and 88%). On the other hand, the majority of the academic staff were dissatisfied with being involved in decision-making for in-service training opportunities (N = 65, 88%). Similarly, academic staff were dissatisfied with the promotion criteria and promotion process (N = 60, 81%) and (N = 45, 60%) respectively. The qualitative data revealed the dissatisfaction of academic staff on awareness of the current institutional promotion criteria and standards that may open loopholes for rude administrations. It was concluded that promotion in various universities has been associated with some micro politics and hullabaloos. Since academic staff qualifications are global, criteria for promotions should remain homogeneous, fair and equal to all staff.

Exploring the Experience of Degree Apprentices and Academics in Fostering Managerial-Level Competencies: A Case of Vocational Degrees within the UK Higher Education

The paper presents the experience of academic staff and degree apprentices in fostering degree-level knowledge, skills, and behaviour (KSBs) in management fields. Indeed, vocational degrees bring together contemporary academic theory and research with a practical understanding of activities within the sector. A model proposed by Edmund (2007), where a successful work-integrated programme is likened to ‘apprentices, employers, and universities’ in a training approach. As such apprentices' learning journey begins with (apprentice-employer relationships), followed by education (apprentice relationships with the institution) and codification of knowledge (apprentice, employer and learning provider relationship). To operationalize Edmund’s model in this paper, KSBs are acquired by the degree apprentices in the classroom setting (theory) and the application of acquired KSBs in the work environment (practice) to solve real-life issues in management fields. Consequently, a new message is required to reposition the vocational degrees narrative in the public domain as sub-standard degrees that are fit for purpose. To address this issue, the paper established that degree apprentices are well-equipped with advanced methodological and theoretical competencies, they are trained to analyse and manage an ever-changing workplace, and to be self-reliant, adaptable, and confident in their discipline as it develops over time. The paper results confirmed that the vocational degrees pathway is very competent in the development of managerial-level competencies for management professionals. It contributes positively to the management sector in terms of degree-level knowledge, skills, and behaviour. To enhance the credibility of vocational degrees the government needs to do more in the awareness campaign within under-represented communities.

“Being in the digital box”. Academic staff experiences in online practical teaching: A qualitative study from six universities and countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused radical changes in education, as in everything else, bringing many challenges. Despite all the difficulties, the COVID-19 pandemic has enormous opportunities for online teaching and the use of digital technologies. A comprehensive understanding of this period is needed to investigate these opportunities. Thus, this study aims to explore the academic staff's experiences of online teaching and the use of digital technologies in practical skills-based courses in health care education. This study was conducted at six universities from six countries (Türkiye, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania). Data were collected between June 17, 2021 and November 30, 2021 via a focus group with an in-depth interview technique. 22 focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 117 participants. Colaizzi's method was used to evaluate the data to discover, comprehend, and define the experiences of academic staff. The analysis of the interview data resulted in 6 themes, 25 subthemes and 56 categories that captured participants' experiences regarding online teaching of practical skills and using digital technologies in health care education. The findings of the study provide crucial information that will help online teaching and digital technology for practical skills be successfully integrated.

Enhancing Academic Development: A reflexive exploration of Staff and Students’ Experiences on curriculum co-creation

Academic development of students and staff is a critical element in higher education, especially with reference to their engagement in curriculum development. While higher education institutions advocate for the inclusion of students in curriculum co-creation, in practice, this has not been easily implemented. The urgency to create this collaborative ecosystem necessitates a reflexive contribution. In this article, I explore the experiences of academic staff and students on their engagement in curriculum co-creation with a specific focus on developing a study guide for the newly developed module, which is part of the decolonisation process. The emphasis on meta-cognitive skills and the social justice element in the curriculum development process ensures a responsive curriculum that meets the needs of society, students and staff in a cohesive and integrated manner. I underpin this reflective study on Schon’s theory of reflection on action. I argue that engaging students in curriculum creation stimulates deep learning, an empowerment attribute which I explore as it enhances innovative and critical thinking. This study employed qualitative methods of collecting and analysing data, followed by identifying important themes from the data. The reflections and emergent themes provide pathways to enhance academic development to encourage curricula co-creation processes in higher education.

EXPERIENCES OF SOUTH AFRICAN ACADEMICS MOVING FROM CONTACT TO EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING: LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the academic programme of most higher education institutions. To counter this disruption, universities moved from contact to emergency remote teaching. To understand the process of this move, the study explored the experiences of academic staff at a South African university with a transition from contact to emergency remote teaching and the lessons that were learnt for the future. The study was underpinned by Online Collaborative Learning theory (Harasim 2012). A qualitative exploratory case study was conducted to answer the research questions. We generated data from eight academic staff members using focus group discussion and analysed it using an inductive thematic framework. From the analysis, the participants held divergent ideas on digital equity and access to technology, creating online interactive content and teaching modalities, proficiency with the technology and training, limitations with the Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle. The findings indicate the need to prepare academic staff and students for emergency remote teaching before a disruption occurs. The COVID-19 pandemic taught the university that was the research site several lessons about technology-enhanced learning, including the importance of flexibility, technology, student engagement, access and equity, and collaboration. Universities have learned that online learning can be effective but requires careful planning, investment, and ongoing evaluation to ensure success. Importantly, the findings acknowledge that the success of online teaching during the pandemic was influenced by a wide range of factors, including technological infrastructure, pedagogical approach, faculty training and support, student readiness, and the culture of innovation within the community and university.

Review of Teresa Heinz Housel's Mental Health among Higher Education Faculty, Administrators, and Graduate Students: A Critical Perspective (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021).

What does it mean to be mentally ill in academia? This is the central question of Teresa Heinz Housel’s edited book which focuses on the experiences of academic staff, university administrators, and graduate students experiencing mental illness and mental health distress. Divided into three sections of four chapters each, including “Mental Health Distress and Mental Illness in Academic Culture,” “Intersections of Mental Health and Marginalised Academic Populations” and “Institutional Policies on Mental Health and Recommendations for Best Practice,” the book covers a variety of perspectives and experiences and draws on both qualitative and quantitative research methods. [...]

How does day-to-day stress appraisal relate to coping among office workers in academia? An ecological momentary assessment study.

Existing literature indicates that academic staff experience increasing levels of work stress. This study investigated associations between day-to-day threat and challenge appraisal and day-to-day problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and seeking social support among academic office workers. This study is based on an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) design with a 15-working day data collection period utilising our self-developed STRAW smartphone application. A total of 55 office workers from academic institutions in Belgium (n=29) and Slovenia (n=26) were included and 3665 item measurements were analysed. Participants were asked approximately every 90min about their appraisal of stressful events (experienced during the working day) and their coping styles. For data analysis, we used an unstructured covariance matrix in our linear mixed models. Challenge appraisal predicted problem-focused coping and threat appraisal predicted emotion-focused coping. Our findings suggest an association between threat appraisal as well as challenge appraisal and seeking social support. Younger and female workers chose social support more often as a coping style. While working from home, participants were less likely to seek social support. The findings of our EMA study confirm previous research on the relationship between stress appraisal and coping with stress. Participants reported seeking social support less while working from home compared to working at the office, making the work location an aspect that deserves further research.

Challenges in Accessing and Utilizing Information in Digital Resource Platforms by Academic Staff in Selected Public Universities in Kenya.

Digital resource platforms have gained significant recognition as valuable tools for education and research within universities. These platforms enable easy access, sharing and dissemination of information, leveraging the advancements in information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Nonetheless, users of these platforms face challenges in effectively accessing and utilizing these information resources due to complexities in navigation. This issue arises from a mismatch between user expectations and the design of information platforms, which hinders seamless access and utilization of information. This may adversely affect teaching and research output that are core mandates of universities. The purpose of the study was to explore challenges that academic staff experience in accessing and utilizing information in digital resource platforms in the selected public universities in Kenya. The study was based on a pragmatic paradigm where it adopted a mixed method approach. This enabled the research to collect both quantitative and qualitative data that complemented each other in collecting accurate and reliable data. Purposive and census sampling techniques were used to draw respondents from the targeted population. The sample size was 113 respondents comprising 86 academic staff, four university librarians and 23 library staff in charge of digital content. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences was used to analyze quantitative data while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of tables, charts and verbatim reports. The findings showed that academic staff had inadequate digital literacy skills and slow in adopting technology that resulted in ineffective access and under-utilization of e-content. Major challenges faced by academic staff were limited range of digital resource platforms, unattractive visual design, inadequate digital literacy skills and technological dynamism. The study recommended for increased digital resource platforms to facilitate wider access, development of appealing visual design and continuous digital literacy training among users.

Can you feel the change of seasons? Perspectives of academic staff on organizational change

ABSTRACT Research on academic staff experiences with mergers in higher education points out that they often struggle with the change process. Reform appears to go hand in hand with uneasiness and even anxiety, but studies also report mixed results: part of those involved share concerns, others report positive experiences. This study on mergers in Norwegian higher education uses a survey among academic staff, enabling us to compare the experiences of academic staff at merged institutions with staff at institutions that did not merge. We find that academic staff at merged institutions are less positive about developments within their study programmes and research units compared to those not having been part of a merger process. Further fine-grained analyses show that both background characteristics of respondents and discipline play a role as well. Our contribution to the literature on mergers is that attention should be paid to the background characteristics of academic staff, for these factors are important to understand impact.

Building Educational Research Capacity: Challenges and Opportunities from the Perspectives of Faculty Staff of Selected Private Universities in Uganda

This article argues that educational research in Uganda is facing severe glitches, such as low research capacity. Most private universities seem to be more focused on their day-to-day survival than identifying their research-specific needs and engaging in quality research activities. Issues of research capacity-building remain a major concern amid a lack of resources and institutional environments in which academics work. Capacity-building and research engagements would help to strengthen strategic planning and influencing policy. Hence, this study fills this gap. Specifically, it explores the perceptions and experiences of academic staff regarding research capacity-building. The study identifies the challenges that hamper educational research and capacity-building opportunities associated with the development of research capacities as perceived by a sample of staff members in the identified institutions. To achieve this objective, a qualitative research design was adopted using focus group interviews to collect data from a sample of staff. In total, 12 focus group discussions were conducted with between 8–10 persons per group. Rank ordering of responses on specific issues was done during data analysis. The findings showed that the major factors responsible for low research output include capacity-building gaps, lack of financial resources, difficulty in identifying specific calls for abstracts and manuscripts, work overload for faculty staff, limited research writing skills, and bad experiences during previous research engagements, as presented and discussed below. Based on the findings, we make the following recommendations. First, the government should earmark a significant amount in the national budget for research and innovation that institutions in Uganda can easily access, including private academic institutions. Second, institutions should continuously engage their staff regarding research and improve their research capacity through training, workshops and symposiums.

UK Higher Education staff experiences of moral injury during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jonathan Shay argued that social, relational, and institutional contexts were central to understanding moral injury and conceptualised moral injury as a normative response to the betrayal of an individual's understanding of what is right by a more senior/authoritative "other". Using the conceptual lens of moral injury, this paper investigates academic staff experiences of HE during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the rapid transition back to face-to-face teaching that took place in autumn 2020. To collect data, we used an online survey that opened in January 2021 and ran until the end of March 2021. A total of 663 complete questionnaires were received across the survey period. The questionnaire was comprised of ten topic-related questions, each of which included follow-up sub-questions and also invited participants to write in additional information. The majority of participants felt that during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, they had acted in ways that put their own health and wellbeing at risk. Of those who had acted in ways that put their health and wellbeing at risk, they believed that their senior management were the most responsible for them acting in such ways, followed by the UK government. Qualitative data showed a systemic absence of leadership in the sector during the time, a sense of betrayal of staff and students by senior management and the government, and feelings of compulsion to act in ways which put lives at risk. On the basis of these results, we argue that there could be synergies between the situation facing healthcare staff and academics during the pandemic. Many of the experiences of HE academic staff during the pandemic reported to us in this research are resonant with the concepts of betrayal and moral injury and resulted in affective responses which we understand here in relation to feelings of guilt, shame, and anger, leading ultimately to poor mental health and wellbeing. This paper discusses implications for the HE sector going forward.

Discrimination and Exclusion in Higher Education Is Reflected in Multiple Autoethnographies

A synthesis review of 17 autoethnographic (AE) studies revealed experiences of 33 academic staff and graduate students in higher education, the majority of whom are women. These papers, from more than six countries, were found through a Google Scholar search. Most authors identified as marginalised and outsiders in their higher education contexts, whether because of gender, ethnicity, race, or intersectionality. Analysis of tacit and explicit themes in the papers resulted in creation of eight final superordinate themes. The themes represent experiences of fear and insecurity whereby personal vulnerability was exacerbated by lack of cultural and gender awareness in higher education, including obvious examples of White ignorance. Institutional diversity was claimed, but this contrasted with authors’ experiences of exclusionary behaviour. Authors reported endemic racism and sexism, but that it was helpful when institutions provided support for these challenges. AE gives power, volume, and space to rarely heard minority voices. AE synthesis offers an overview of collective experience of similar phenomena or contexts. Such meta-studies are not common in the research literature, and this article provides both evidence of lived experiences of academic staff in 21st century higher education, and a purposeful guide to synthesizing AE research.

Experience of academic staff in mentoring programs

Abstract Mentoring programs developed at universities are an effective method of supporting student development. The participation in these programs brings them many benefits. These benefits include increased prestige in the community, gaining new experiences and achieving defined goals in the case of universities. It is essential to improve the mentoring programs implemented at universities. This article presents the results of research carried out within the framework of the BEGIN project implemented and funded under the Erasmusplus program. The aim of the research was to identify academic staff's experiences of participating in formal and informal mentoring programs. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with respondents from Italy, Poland and Germany. A purposive selection method was used. The research provided clues with a practical dimension on how to implement mentoring programs, usefulness from the student's point of view, effectiveness and efficiency, and how to measure the impact of the program on students.

A comparison of face-to-face and fully online problem-based learning: Student results and staff experiences, 2014-2020.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-directed pedagogy that promotes critical thinking, self-directed learning and communication skills essential for health promotion students and practitioners. This paper reports on student results, student evaluation and staff experience of PBL in the face-to-face and fully online environment in an undergraduate health sciences unit in an Australian university. A single time-point study using quantitative and qualitative administrative student data (2014-2020) and narrative reflection from teaching academics (n=5) was undertaken. Descriptive, independent t test and bivariate analyses for student results data were conducted; an inductive approach was used to analyse qualitative data and create codes. Student sample (n=472) consisted face-to-face (n=358, 75.8%) and online (n=114, 24.2%) enrolments. Final Unit Mark was significantly higher for fully online students compared with face-to-face students in 2018 (P= .007) and 2019 (P= .001). Final Unit Achievement was significantly higher for fully online students compared with face-to-face students in 2018 (P= .017) and 2019 (P= .043). Three themes emerged: The PBL approach; Evolution of PBLs; Student skills and competencies. PBL allows students to learn through facilitated problem solving and strong collaborative skills. The face-to-face and fully online PBLs improved the student and academic staff experience, while supporting the development of critical thinking and self-directed research. Further, it supported students to develop their core health promotion competencies; and enhanced the online student learning experience. SO WHAT?: Vital for contemporary, global graduates, the fully online PBL approach allows students to build critical academic and professional skills utilising current information technology relevant for collaborative professional practice.

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’: reflecting on, and refracting through, academic development in a pandemic year

ABSTRACT Using a creative and playful fairy-tale storyboard approach this paper explores the impact of the pandemic, the move to online and blended learning, and the role academic development can have in the future of learning and teaching. We refract academic staff experiences of teaching during the pandemic through our own experiences as academic developers during this time. We conclude that a balancing act is required to sustain the influence gained in the pandemic whilst retaining the signature pedagogy of playfulness that underpins our work.

Contrapower Harassment in Paramedicine: Experiences of Academic Staff in Australian Universities

Background Although bullying and harassment among academic staff has been well researched, research on students bullying and harassing academic teaching staff (ie, contrapower harassment) is less common. Contrapower harassment has been on the rise in academia over the last decade, partly attributable to changes in the student-faculty staff relationship. This study aimed to understand better the extent and impact of students’ contrapower harassment on paramedic academic teaching staff within Australian universities, as well as actions and interventions to address it. Methods This study used a two-phase mixed methods design. In phase 1, a convenience sample of paramedic teaching academics from 12 universities in Australia participated in an online questionnaire. In phase 2, an in-depth interview was conducted with nine participants from phase 1. Results Seventy-six academic teaching staff participated in the study. Survey results showed that most academics surveyed had experienced harassment from paramedic students, with the highest incidence of harassment occurring during student assessment periods. Alarmingly, over 30% of the academics surveyed had been ‘stalked’ by a student and over 50% had felt powerless and helpless when students had attacked them on social media. Problematic students were identified as those who presented with an over-inflated sense of entitlement or with psychological states and traits that find it challenging to accept feedback and failure, and look to externalise their failures. Reasons for increases in contrapower harassment included a complex mix of consumer and demand-driven education, on-demand (and demanding) instant gratification and degree self-entitlement, and an increase in social media and online learning (particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020). Conclusion Although most of the academics in this study experienced contrapower harassment by students, they also report that most students are level-headed and supportive, and do not carry out this type of harassment. Promoting student professionalism and reassessing student evaluations are starting points for addressing this type of harassment. Further research on the broader systemic issues that influence the contributors to contrapower harassment is needed.

Identification of the barriers and factors affecting the quality of higher education in Allameh Tabataba’i university from the viewpoints of faculty members

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to identify and analyse the obstacles and influential factors of the quality of higher education in Allameh Tabataba’i University based on the viewpoints of academic staff. The study was conducted using a phenomenological approach. The research population included 34 academic staff of the university, who were selected using a purposive sampling method. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews. The perceptions and experiences of academic staff were analysed using Heidegger’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Based on the obtained data, the factors affecting higher education quality at micro and macro levels were identified and categorised with sub-themes. The existing obstacles to the promotion pathway of the higher education quality in Iran were also identified and categorised at the micro and macro levels. The study showed that allocation of increased budget to universities and increasing their autonomy in decision making can improve the quality of higher education.

Institutional culture and academic career progression: Perceptions and experiences of academic staff

Orientation: The South African higher education system is highly dependent on institutional cultures to enable the progression of academics with the aim to unlock the research potential of the country. Institutional cultures are directed by the values, practices and behaviours of its members.Research purpose: Establish and present, from the academics’ point of view, the values, practices and behaviours that facilitate an enabling institutional culture, which supports the career progression of academic staff.Motivation for the study: A comprehensive and deeper understanding of any higher education institutional culture requires analysis beyond the structural elements and established procedures of the institution. An understanding of how individuals interpret their environment, to support their career progression, is equally important.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative, phenomenological approach was followed, through individual, semi-structured interviews with 17 academics, across all career phases.Main findings: An institutional culture in support of academic career progression includes three major values of: equity and inclusion, an ethic of care and collaboration, that are interconnected to practices such as performance management, a career management system, a comprehensive induction and orientation, a collaborative structure, remuneration, as well as resources and support, together with behaviours, comprising the articulation of team values, alignment of individual and institutional values, as well as a systemic approach.Practical/managerial implications: Understanding the values, practices and behaviours within the context of higher education offers leaders and talent management practitioners the necessary factors to consider as they grapple to understand a culture that enables the career progression of academic staff.Contribution/value-add: Deeper understanding, from the academics’ point of view, the values, practices and behaviours that facilitate an enabling institutional culture, which supports the career progression of academic staff.

Participatory Action Research (PAR) – to better understand the experiences of nurse academics working in a team

Background There is considerable literature outlining the high levels of occupational stress nurse academics experience, and the potential effect of workplace pressure on mental health and wellbeing. Objectives/Aims/Hypotheses To support the notion that to succeed in an academic environment, academics are more successful when working in a team, two academics conducted a Participation Action Research study. Design The PAR study was developed in line with a Clinical Skill Project to better understand the experiences of nurse academics working in a team. The Clinical Skills Project involved the write up of 40 nursing skills for publication. Twenty-seven academics were recruited into the project and allocated skills to write, in teams of 2–3, according to clinical expertise and interest. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach formed the framework for the project, as well as, provided an opportunity for the nurse academics to ‘come together’ at fortnightly team meetings to discuss the project and talk about their experience working in a team. Methods Using the PAR cyclical process of observing, reflecting, planning, and acting there was ongoing opportunity for the academic nurses to discuss, question and share knowledge about academic practices. These Interactive reflections were recorded in a team reflective diary during the meetings. Participants were also asked to reflect on their individual experience of working in the team, before, during and after the project. At the completion of the project all reflective comments were transcribed to form a combined narrative. Results Thematic and content analysis was then undertaken to identify any similarities and or differences in academic staff experience. Conclusions The analysis revealed the following key themes. Working in a team creates better staff relationships, Working in a team can change workplace culture and Working in a team can Improve staff health and well-being.

PROFESSIONAL DEMANDS OF LECTURING JOB ON HUMAN CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT: IMPLICATION FOR RAISING PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS EDUCATORS IN NIGERIAN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

The place of lecturing job in achieving the nation’s developmental strides through skilled manpower development is critical and exigent. Accordingly, the need for professional development of lecturers who occupy key academic positions in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, for effective and efficient performance of their professional roles, and in subsequent realization of the nation’s developmental aspirations is a worthy investment. Thus, the main thrust of this paper was to carefully examine the professional demands of lecturing job on human capacity development and its implication on raising professional business educators in Nigerian tertiary institutions, via education policies and relevant literature reviews. Human capacity development in this sense is the consistent enhancement of knowledge, skills, work attitude, competences and experiences of academic staff of tertiary institutions to enable them perform optimally in their lecturing profession. Achieving the above stated aim was premised on the urgent demand to consistently develop lecturers or business educators’ professional capacity in order to sharpen their professional teaching skills through relevant teacher education and qualification, professional membership affiliation to ensure strict compliance of practice to professional standards, quality research publications for development purposes, utilization of retraining programmes for professional knowledge update, ICT training for adaptive and innovative pedagogical approaches for effective job performance in the new normal. The study finally highlighted a plethora of inhibiting factors confronting professional capacity development of lecturers for optimal performance, and also made a few relevant recommendations.