Exploring the Factors Affecting the Motivational Pattern of Faculty Members with a Social Responsibility Approach: A Case Study of Islamic Azad University in Tehran
Keywords:
Motivation, faculty motivation, social responsibilityAbstract
This study aimed to identify and explain the factors affecting the motivational pattern of faculty members with a social responsibility approach at Islamic Azad University in Tehran. This qualitative study was conducted using a grounded theory approach. The participants consisted of faculty members and experts in educational management, higher education management, faculty professional development, and social responsibility. Purposeful and snowball sampling methods were used, and semi-structured interviews continued with 20 participants until theoretical saturation was achieved. After full transcription of the interviews, the data were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding with the aid of MAXQDA software. To enhance credibility, member checking, prolonged engagement with the data, and review of coding by multiple researchers were employed. The findings indicated that the motivational pattern of faculty members with a social responsibility approach can be explained through 6 dimensions, 23 components, and 60 indicators. The causal factors included human-centered leadership, organizational support, evaluation system, and trust-based organizational culture. The contextual factors comprised human interactions, administrative structure, organizational culture, scientific resources, quality of work life, and social conditions and macro-level educational policies. The intervening factors included managerial instability and structural inconsistency, injustice in evaluation and resource allocation, administrative bureaucracy, job burnout, limited research resources, workload pressure, restricted scientific communication, and academic isolation. Strategic factors were identified at the individual, educational, research, organizational, and social levels, while the consequences were categorized into individual, educational, research, organizational, and social outcomes. The results suggest that faculty motivation within the framework of social responsibility is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by the interaction of individual, organizational, and social factors. Strengthening human-centered leadership, fair evaluation, organizational support, administrative facilitation, and a culture of trust can enhance faculty motivation, job satisfaction, teaching and research quality, and the university’s social role.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Abbas Mirzahosseini (Author); Fereshteh Kordestani; Yalda Delgoshaei (Author)
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