Citation
Hardré, P., Beesley, A., Miller, R. L., & Pace, T. M. (2020). Faculty motivation for research: Across disciplines in research-extensive universities. Journal of the Professoriate, 5, 35-69.
Abstract
This study investigated personal, contextual, and motivational factors that influence faculty research productivity across disciplines. Participants were 781 faculty members in four different academic divisions of 28 U.S. research-extensive universities, in 17 states across the continental U.S. Data were collected as self-reported via online questionnaires, and were analyzed with path analysis using LISREL 8.72 to test a model of factors contributing to faculty members’ research productivity. The model fit the data well, supporting the theorized contributions to faculty productivity. Three variables accounted for the largest amounts of unique variance in research productivity: research valuing and research effort (positively) and teaching load (negatively). This analysis further confirmed the fit of the general model for faculty motivation from our previous research, on a larger and more diverse sample. Qualitative data were coded to identify themes related to the research hypotheses. Implications for faculty work, institutional administration, and future research are discussed.
