A study on faculty engagement with special reference to arts and science colleges of Kerala

Abstract

Education plays a pivotal role in the development and growth of a country. The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report and the Education Commission’s Learning Generation Report state that "171 million people could be lifted out of extreme poverty if all children left school with basic reading skills". Education is a pre-requisite for employment generation and the development of the workforce in any country. The development of manpower entirely depends upon the education system that is being practised in a country, which contributes towards the development of a civic society. Higher education is demanded on the job market, and to enhance critical thinking abilities, the institutions must focus on quality. Along with well-equipped infrastructure, the availability of books and materials, and access to libraries and computer systems, priority must also be given to highly qualified faculty members. The contribution of faculty members to inculcate values and make them socially responsible should be appreciated. As a result, it is critical to focus the efforts of faculty members in higher education to reap the maximum benefits from them. The present study attempts to evaluate the contributing factors of faculty engagement, measures the level of engagement of faculty members in Government, Aided, and Autonomous arts and science colleges. The study also measures the outcomes of faculty engagement and intends to develop a model for engaging the faculty members. Both secondary data and primary data were used in the study. Secondary data were collected from research articles, earlier studies, books in connection to the area of study, research publications, dissertations, theses, Government publications, reports, newspapers, and websites of the University Grants Commission (UGC), National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), Directorate of Collegiate Education (DC), and Deputy Directorate of Collegiate Education (DD). Primary data have been collected from 390 faculty members of arts and science colleges in Kerala. Independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, post-hoc tests, correlation, and multiple regression has been employed for the analysis. Research says that organisational, psychological, economic, social and management factors are related with teaching, research and service engagement. It has been found that no significant difference among faculty members with respect to teaching and service engagement. While engagement level in research is different for faculty members belonging to Government and Autonomous colleges. The current study endeavoured to bring out the factors that contributes to faculty engagement. A high necessity arises for the policy makers and regulatory bodies to come up with a range of policies and guidelines that cater the needs and requirements of faculty members in order to make them content. The statistical model proposed by the researcher may be taken as a base for this purpose as it has been framed by giving due consideration of the higher education set up of the state.