Factors leading to faculty engagement: a comparative study regarding two private universities one in the U.S. and one in Thailand

Abstract

This study examines the factors leading to Faculty Engagement through two private Universities, one in the U.S. and one in Thailand. The underlying focus of this study is to identify related factors that affect Faculty Engagement in order to boost faculty's morale, enhance performance and reduce the turnover to some extent. Winning Faculty Engagement gives universities competitive advantage. Progressive administrators should leverage engagement-enhancing practices as a way to foster faculty performance and, in turn, the overall performance of the university. The nine factors are Culture and Values, Common Purpose, Communication and Cooperation, Relationship with Administrators, My Team, My Job, Learning and Development, Performance and Feedback, and Reward and Recognition These factors were examined as independent variables. The result of the Independent Sample t-Test of two Universities indicates that Dominican University of California (DUC) and Assumption University (AU) are different in four factors: communication and cooperation, learning and development, performance and feedback, and reward and recognition. Multiple-regression model was conducted to identify the most consecutive significant influence factors. In summary, three out of nine factors for DUC and four out of nine factors for AU demonstrated statistically significant relationships with Faculty Engagement. The Correlations Analysis has shown that all nine independent variables were significantly related. This study has found that job satisfaction (meaning at work), reward and recognition (being valued and involved), having a good relationship with administrator and common purposes, and learning and development in a conducive working environment can lead to a high level of engagement and performance amongst all groups of faculty.