factors affecting the job performance of academic staff

APA Citation: Naseer, M. S. (2010, April). Factors affecting the role performance of academic staff in the Maldives College of Higher Education. Paper presented at the Second Annual International Research Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities, Bangkok, Thailand.

Title: Factors affecting the job performance of academic staff

in the Maldives College of Higher Education

Mariyam Shahuneeza Naseer

M.Ed. in Educational Management (International Programme)

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to explore the job performance of lecturers in

the Maldives College of Higher Education and to investigate the factors related to the

job performance of lecturers in the Maldives College of Higher Education. A

quantitative approach will be adopted by using questionnaires to collect data from

lecturers at the Maldives College of Higher Education. A focus group interview will

be used as an additional tool to provide a deeper understanding. The questionnaire

will be developed after reviewing substantial literature in conjunction with the job

description of the lecturers in the Maldives College of Higher Education.

In essence, this study investigates the hypothesis that in order to improve staff

performance it is necessary to identify the complex set of personal and contextual

factors that combine to provide job satisfaction for an individual in the teaching

profession.

This study is expected to be beneficial in the following ways. First of all, the

result of study will contribute to the development of academic staff’s job performance

at Maldives College of Higher Education and the enhancement of teaching-learning

process excellence. Second, it is expected to practically improve policy

implementation regarding the job performance of academic staff at Maldives College

of Higher Education and other academic institutions. In addition, by exploring

possible associations between job performance and workplace factors one will be

better able to define more responsive environments for academic staff. Lastly, it will

contribute to the understanding of the factors that affect the job performance, one will

be better able to identify why the job performance problems persist and take

corrective steps.

APA Citation: Naseer, M. S. (2010, April). Factors affecting the role performance of academic staff in the Maldives College of Higher Education. Paper presented at the Second Annual International Research Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities, Bangkok, Thailand.

Title: Factors affecting the job performance of academic staff

in the Maldives College of Higher Education

Mariyam Shahuneeza Naseer

M.Ed. in Educational Management (International Programme)

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University

Rationale

The performance of academic staff plays an important role in the lives of

students as it affects the quality of education they receive. By identifying the factors

that affect the performance of academic staff, the quality of students’ learning could

be improved. According to the literature, research suggests that age is positively

related to performance. Regarding gender, the research findings are equivocal.

Discrimination is seen to play a role in the selection of males over females in certain

jobs. Women may perform better in these jobs if they are given a chance. Other

research findings suggest that males are better at certain types of competitive jobs

while females perform better in non-quantifiable aspects of certain jobs.

Given the importance of education and the undeniable role played by

academic staff, it is essential to recognize the extent to which variation in the quality

of academic staff affects student performance. This has led to an ongoing interest in

the determinants of student achievement, including teacher quality. The vast majority

of the empirical work on teacher quality has relied on observable teacher

qualifications to measure teacher quality (Koedel and Betts, 2007). Research indicates

that the qualifications are only weakly related to student performance (Hanushek,

1986, 1996).

In a time of widespread educational change, academic staff are to engage with

expectations about the future direction of the community in which they operate in

relation to changes in society at large. In this context, it is essential to be aware of the

many factors that contribute to, and have an impact on, teacher performance. Day to

Mariyam Shahuneeza Naseer 2

day morale and commitment to teaching as a career are not only associated with

attrition rates overall, but also with quality of teaching (Ashton and Webb, 1986;

Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy 1986).

Theoretical framework and literature on the job performance of academic staff

There is some disagreement in the literature on the effect of their level of

education on the performance of academic staff. While some research findings

suggest that performance is affected by the level of education, others show that there

is no such relationship. Moreover, some research shows that education level is

negatively related to undesirable work behaviours which in turn affect the job

performance.

A limited amount of research has been carried out on the relationship between

academic position and job performance, income and job performance and duration of

employment and job performance. According to the literature, rank (position) is a

strong predictor of job performance, that is, the higher the rank, the better the

performance. A limited amount of research has been completed on the relationship

between income and job performance. It suggests that the link between salary and job

performance is direct. As for duration of employment, performance increases up to a

certain stage in a career and then it starts to decline. It has been shown that, up to the

16th year, performance increases in certain circumstances.

Numerous studies have been completed on the effect of job satisfaction of

academic staff on the decision of academic staff to leave their profession at a very

early stage. Moreover, academic staff retention has become an important issue.

According to Weiss (1999) adverse workplace conditions affect new teachers’

commitment and intentions to stay and may leave an indelible imprint on the structure

and quality of teaching itself. Weiss also pointed out that according to some studies

done in 1987-1988, 1993-1994 and 1994-1995, of the American teachers who were

dissatisfied with teaching as a career, the majority reported concerns with inadequate


support from the school administration, poor student motivation to learn and student

discipline problems.

Research into teacher job performance is becoming more important given not

only that growing number of teachers leave the profession but also that dissatisfaction

is associated with decreased productivity (Chiu, 1998). There is no agreed definition

of teacher job performance or of what constitutes teacher performance and how it can

be measured. Teacher satisfaction and related performance level has been linked to

how they experience the role of the teacher in terms of contributing to student

achievement, helping students, positive relationships with students and others, self

growth and so on. Context seems to be the most powerful predictor of the job

performance (Sackett, 2002). If the work context is conducive to providing

satisfaction, performance may be correspondingly high. This refers to a teacher's

affective relation to his or her teaching role and is a function of the perceived

relationship between what one wants from teaching and what one perceives it is

offering to a teacher. Job satisfaction among teachers will be low if their working

environment does not facilitate satisfaction of their needs. Giving teachers more

autonomy and a sense of empowerment appears to make teachers more professional

and to improve job performance (Choy, Chen and Ross, 1998).

Numerous studies have been done on factors affecting students’ performance,

and there is evidence to suggest that one of the very important factors is the

performance of academic staff. According to Yeh (2009), “student achievement may

be improved if high performing teachers are substituted for low performing teachers”.

This clearly indicates that performance of academic staff plays an important role in

student achievement.

Earlier studies clearly indicate that performance of academic staff is highly

important and identify various factors that affect the performance of academic staff.

They range from student behaviour and attitude in a classroom to responsibilities of

staff and the conditions of the workplace. These factors also play an important role in

determining retention in the field. According to Odell and Ferraro (1992), the

organisational support of new teachers has been linked to their retention. Successful


experience of teachers depends at least in part on an environment that responds to

their needs. Professional development support is one among them (Choy, Chen and

Ross, 1998). Collegial and supportive social organisational conditions can encourage

teachers to work together to support each other and to use and develop a common

knowledge base (Little, 1982; Little & McLaughlin, 1993; Rosenhiltz, 1989a).

Case studies illustrate that assuming leadership roles can lead to enhanced

understanding of teachers about their teaching (Darling-Hammond, 1994; Wasley,

1991, 1994). Similarly, increased participation in decision making has been associated

with increased professional development activity and curricular reform (Liberman,

Darling-Hammond & Zuckerman, 1991). Weiss (1999) suggested that when teachers

have more opportunities for autonomy and discretion, they are empowered to make

decisions about how they teach which encourages them to take an active role in

school leadership. Professionalizing the structure of teaching not only enables

teachers to play an important part in school leadership but also maximizes

opportunities for advancement and variation in job roles. When teachers feel involved

in important decision making about the school budget or evaluation, when they work

cooperatively, or set school discipline policy, they are more likely to perceive

positively the school leadership and culture, and to have higher morale, stronger

career choice commitment, and plan to remain in the field longer. Moreover, when

principals communicate their expectations clearly, enforce student rules of conduct

and support teachers in doing so, provide instructional or management guidance and

necessary materials, and when teachers are evaluated fairly and recognized for a job

well done, teachers are more inclined to have high morale, to be committed to their

career choice and to fully anticipate that they will stay in teaching. Involved teachers

and supportive principals are essential to responsive school leadership.

Context of the research

Since performance of academic staff is a very important aspect of education, it

is essential that concerned personnel are aware of the factors that affect the

performance of academic staff. It will help in making policies that would get the


maximum from the academic staff. This, in turn, would improve the quality of

education the students receive, improve the level of student satisfaction and also it

would help in creating a satisfactory work environment for the academic staff.

Workplace conditions appear to play a key role in keeping academic staff in

the field. According to Weiss and Weiss (1998) teachers are becoming increasingly

more involved in how they are evaluated. The Maldives College of Higher Education

currently faces a staff retention problem. The majority of students evaluate their

teachers’ performance with less satisfaction. Three times in the past two years (2008-

2009) teachers have gone on strike showing their frustration regarding their jobs as a

result of the pay and working conditions which they feel do not match their

performance and responsibilities. The situation indicates serious problems concerning

academic staff performance that urgently need to be solved.

The College is the only public degree-granting institution in Maldives. The

educational system was highly centralised, and decision making is top-down.

Currently, decentralisation of education system is in process. General education is

divided into three main levels: primary level for five years, middle level for two years

and lower secondary level for three years. The schools in each island of Maldives

come under the responsibility and supervision of the Ministry of Education.

Among the total population of 204 Academic staff in the Maldives College of

Higher Education, 194 Academic staff are requested to fulfill survey questionnaires

and the remaining number of 10 Deans from 10 faculties will be interviewed later on.

This study has been designed to investigate the factors that affect job

performance of academic staff in the institution with the intention of contributing to

the development of academic staff job performance at Maldives College of Higher

Education and the enhancement of the quality of teaching-learning process. In

addition, it is expected to practically improve policy implementation regarding the

performance of academic staff at Maldives College of Higher Education and other

academic institutions. Last but not least, by exploring possible associations between

performance and workplace factors it should be possible to better define a more

responsive environment to meet the needs of the academic staff. By coming to


understand the complexity of the factors that affect the performance, it should be

possible to identify why the performance problems persist. In essence, this study

investigates the hypothesis that in order to improve staff performance it is necessary

to identify the complex set of personal and contextual factors that combine to provide

job satisfaction for an individual in the teaching profession.

Research Objective

The research aims to examine the experience of teachers in regard to job

performance. The study will attempt to find out how much variation there is in terms

of the factors that can be attributed to the experience of teaching in order to analyse

how job performance is perceived by these teachers and what actions can be taken to

improve it. The key objectives of this study are:

1. To identify the factors affecting job performance of academic staff of the

Maldives College of Higher Education from their experience.

2. To investigate ways to improve the job performance of academic staff of the

Maldives College of Higher Education drawing on the literature in relation to

the data and drawing on the views of the teachers themselves.

The research upon which this paper focuses will be carried out in May 2010. It

will be conducted in two phases: In the first phase the data will be collected among

academic staff in Maldives College of Higher Education through survey

questionnaires. The second phase of the study involves conducting semi-structured

interviews with 10 Deans of ten faculties. The present study is designed to answer the

following research questions:

1. What are the factors that affect the job performances of academic staff in the

Maldives College of Higher Education?

2. What aspects of the academic staff’s role have an impact on job performance?

3. Why do these aspects impact on job satisfaction?


Methodology

This research will make use of both quantitative and qualitative research

methods. Primary data will be collected from the entire population in order to identify

the major factors that affect the job performance of academic staff in the Maldives

College of Higher Education.

Questionnaires and structured interviews will be used as research instruments.

In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to analyse the

factors that affect the job performance of academic staff in the Maldives College of

Higher Education in relation to age, gender, marital status, level of education,

academic position, income and the duration of employment.

The questionnaire has been modified from Amin and Khan’s (2009) Acquiring

Knowledge for Evaluation of Teachers’ Performance in Higher Education using a

Questionnaire, International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security

(2), 1, 181-187. Amin and Khan had been contacted via e-mail and asked for their

permission to have the questionnaire modified.

The questionnaire will be piloted in the following ways. First, the content

validity of questionnaire will be checked through the review of the thesis advisors

and, where necessary, questions will be modified in line with the conceptual

framework of the study. The reliability will be verified by testing the reviewed and

improved questionnaire with the 30 academic staff of Haa Alif. Atoll Education

Centre, who have qualifications similar to that of the actual study participants. The

result will be analysed using the formula of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Lastly, the

quality of the questionnaire will be improved by asking the thesis advisors to check

the appropriateness and the content coverage again, before it will be used for the data

collection from the actual study participants.

The questionnaire consists of two parts. In part 1, it includes the personal

factors of the participants. Those include age, gender, marital status, level of

education, academic position, income and duration of employment. In part 2, it

contains the six attributes used to study the factors that affect the job performance of


academic staff. They include personal abilities; teaching learning process;

responsibility and punctuality; administrative skills; supervision; and professional

ethics.

Participants are requested to examine each item and to respond with 1=lowest

level of job performance, 2=low level of job performance, 3=moderate level of job

performance, 4=high level of job performance and 5=highest level of job performance

as self evaluation of their job performance.

Factors that are identified as having an effect on the academic staff’s

performance are categorised into six major aspects. These factors include personal

abilities; teaching learning process; responsibility and punctuality; administrative

skills; supervision; and professional ethics.

The questionnaire uses a Likert scale that ranges from 1-5 as noted above and

for every question on the questionnaire, the teachers will have to respond by selecting

only one option on the Likert scale and a total of 194 academic staff will be used to

assess the factors that affect the job performance of the academic staff in the Maldives

College of Higher Education. It has been decided to use the entire population for this

study since the population is very small. Structured interviews will be used as a

research instrument to collect qualitative data from the Deans of the ten Faculties.

The process of data collection is planned as follows. First, the researcher will

contact with the Deans of the ten Faculties of the Maldives College of Higher

Education and a cover letter requesting for data collection from the Faculty of Social

Sciences and Humanities would be given to them personally. It is followed by making

appointments for interviewing with Deans of the Faculties of the Maldives College of

Higher Education and the questionnaire will be distributed among the academic staff.

After that, completed questionnaires will be collected from the Faculties within two

weeks. Lastly, appointments with the Deans of the Faculties will be made individually

for the interviews.

Descriptive statistics will be first used to present information of population

which will be in terms of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation.


Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) will be applied to analyse data. It aims to

investigate the factors affecting the job performance of academic staff of Maldives

College of Higher Education.

Contributions of the study

This study is expected to be beneficial in the following ways. First of all, the

result of study will contribute to the development of academic staff’s job performance

at Maldives College of Higher Education and the enhancement of teaching-learning

process excellence. Second, it is expected to practically improve policy

implementation regarding the job performance of academic staff at Maldives College

of Higher Education and other academic institutions. In addition, by exploring

possible associations between job performance and workplace factors one will be

better able to define more responsive environments for academic staff. Lastly, it will

contribute to the understanding of the factors that affect the job performance, one will

be better able to identify why the job performance problems persist and take

corrective steps.

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