Improve faculty effectiveness by sabbatical leave

zahir, Ali Taghi poor; Fakhri, L. Safaei

doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.322

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Participant A4 added that, 'I haven't had a sabbatical in ten years, and I don't think I will be able to get one before I retire'. This finding is aligned with literature that regard sabbatical leave as an important process in the production and exchange of scientific knowledge, as well as the subsequent positive impact on the academic career (Zahir & Fakhri, 2011).…”

Section: Career Management Strategysupporting

confidence: 88%

Perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university

Barnes

Plessis

Frantz

2021

SA Journal of Human Resource Management

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Orientation: Understanding academic career challenges is important at a national and global level, to support academic career progression. Whilst challenges are identified in academic career literature, higher education institutions are identified as complex interdependent structures and, therefore, encouraged to be studied from a perspective of interdependency and complexity.Research purpose: To explore and describe the perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university.Motivation for the study: To address the need for an integrated approach, from an individual and organisational perspective, through a systems-thinking framework (STF), which acknowledges academic career progression as an interdependent and complex system.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative, phenomenological approach, through individual semi-structured interviews with 17 academics, across all career phases. Main findings:The study confirmed typical challenges captured in literature, and identified a number of additional challenges, through a systems thinking approach, as perceived by academics in all career phases. Challenges were identified at individual, departmental, organisational and societal levels. Personality; holistic well-being; team dynamic; institutional culture; role transition; institutional strategies, policies, systems and support, interpersonal/ peer support; social culture in which university is located; regulatory bodies; and external stakeholders are new contributions to the existing literature/knowledge. Contribution/value-add: An understanding of career management challenges, as perceived by academics, for the purpose of strategy development. In addition, -to provide leaders and talent management practitioners in the higher education sector with the components to consider, through a systems thinking approach, when reproducing contextually sensitive maps and negotiating the landscape for academic career success.

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Section: Career Management Strategysupporting

confidence: 88%

Perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university

Barnes

Plessis

Frantz

2021

SA Journal of Human Resource Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This finding, therefore, is also aligned with literature that regards sabbatical leave as an important process in the production and exchange of scientific knowledge, as well as the subsequent positive impact on the academic career (Zahir & Fakhri, 2011).…”

Section: Practicessupporting

confidence: 86%

Institutional culture and academic career progression: Perceptions and experiences of academic staff

Barnes

Plessis

Frantz

2021

SA j. ind. psychol.

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Orientation: The South African higher education system is highly dependent on institutional cultures to enable the progression of academics with the aim to unlock the research potential of the country. Institutional cultures are directed by the values, practices and behaviours of its members.Research purpose: Establish and present, from the academics’ point of view, the values, practices and behaviours that facilitate an enabling institutional culture, which supports the career progression of academic staff.Motivation for the study: A comprehensive and deeper understanding of any higher education institutional culture requires analysis beyond the structural elements and established procedures of the institution. An understanding of how individuals interpret their environment, to support their career progression, is equally important.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative, phenomenological approach was followed, through individual, semi-structured interviews with 17 academics, across all career phases.Main findings: An institutional culture in support of academic career progression includes three major values of: equity and inclusion, an ethic of care and collaboration, that are interconnected to practices such as performance management, a career management system, a comprehensive induction and orientation, a collaborative structure, remuneration, as well as resources and support, together with behaviours, comprising the articulation of team values, alignment of individual and institutional values, as well as a systemic approach.Practical/managerial implications: Understanding the values, practices and behaviours within the context of higher education offers leaders and talent management practitioners the necessary factors to consider as they grapple to understand a culture that enables the career progression of academic staff.Contribution/value-add: Deeper understanding, from the academics’ point of view, the values, practices and behaviours that facilitate an enabling institutional culture, which supports the career progression of academic staff.

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“…The present study investigated the narratives of faculty members who had the experience of the sabbatical leave. A sabbatical leave can be a part of a process which enables the production and exchange of academic knowledge across the globe (TaghePoorzahir and SafaeiFakhr, 2011). The network of extracted themes from the narratives is depicted in Figure 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

STEM faculty members' experience of sabbatical leave: a narrative study

Shirbagi

Gholami

2020

JARHE

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PurposeIn this research, which has involved collecting Iranian faculty members' accounts of their experiences of sabbaticals, the authors are seeking to understand how faculty members make sense of events throughout the process of sabbatical, construction these events into episodes and thereby maintaining unity within their lives.Design/methodology/approachUsing narrative qualitative method and episodic interviews the researchers collected and analyzed the data by applying MAXQDA 2020 software. In this study, the impact of sabbatical leave on faculty members' academic achievement was measured in three ways: individually, professionally and organizationally.FindingsSabbatical leave changed their academic and personal values. In addition, the results of the narrative analysis showed that sabbatical leave experience could enable faculty members to change themselves in terms of their lifestyle and attitudes. A considerable influence on their families was also found. Moreover, from individual dimension, it was found that participants' engagement with their colleagues and their sense of social responsibility especially in environmental protection zone area had increased. Furthermore, in professional and academic area, the participants reported tendency toward more team work, more creative approach and they developed a sense of innovation and willingness to take risks.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study showed that faculty members sabbatical leave experience could stimulate their global thinking toward foreign overseas universities, their students and colleagues and they could have more publications in foreign languages. Based on the findings of the study some reconsiderations in administrative regulations should be taken into account in order to enable volunteer faculty members to take part in sabbatical leave programs.Social implicationsThe authors demonstrate that how Iranian higher education regulations and dominated patriarchy, deprive female faculty members from sabbaticals. In addition, the results indicate that using sabbatical leaves by males, and mostly in STEM fields in Iran are fundamental in producing and reproducing inequalities regarding gender and academic field.Originality/valueThe paper addresses an important topic and by using a relevant qualitative method for examining participants' views in the study has added complementary information to the literature of faculty members' professional development. The study has been conducted in a particular context with a different understanding of the topic, since studying such a topic in Iran is missing almost in the literature.

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Improve faculty effectiveness by sabbatical leave

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university

Perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university

Institutional culture and academic career progression: Perceptions and experiences of academic staff

STEM faculty members' experience of sabbatical leave: a narrative study

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