Motivational Factors Affecting the Educational Performance of Faculty Members

Abstract

Introduction: Knowledge of Faculty members’ views about factors affecting occupational motivation is helpful in creating occupational motivation for predicting and interpreting their behavior. The purpose of this study was to assess the motivational factors affecting the educational performance of faculty members of Semnan University of Medical Sciences from their own perspective. Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 145 of the faculty members of Semnan University of Medical Sciences were selected by simple random sampling in order to identify the factors affecting occupational motivation. Data collection tool was a researcher-made 20-item questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale. It was designed based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory and its content validity and reliability were confirmed through test-retest. Data were analyzed using chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: According to the faculty members’ views, the external factor “being respected in the workplace” with the mean score of 3.48±0.98 and the internal factor “intrinsic interest in teaching” with the mean score of 4.57±0.61 were the most important factors respectively. Conclusion: Results showed that in general, both internal and external motivational factors were effective in the performance of faculty members. Therefore, to improve their performance, managers should provide necessary tools to increase faculty members’ motivation.

Keywords

• motivational factors
• faculty member
• educational performance