Examining motivation theory in higher education among tenured and non-tenured faculty: Scholarly activity and academic rank

Abstract

The pursuit of tenure in higher education is arguably the dominant focus of tenure track faculty throughout the United States' higher education environment, if not a world-wide phenomenon. By applying Vroom's Expectancy theory of motivation, this study intends to investigate the relationship between research productivity and motivation to conduct such activities at higher education institutes by examining the academic productions of tenured and not tenured faculty members. This study sought to confirm the need to further investigate the impact that long-term job security, in the form of tenure, has on faculty academic productivity in higher education. The present study used the data from the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) survey which suggested that there was a significant difference in the number of academic activities among faculty of different ranks and tenure status, especially among full and associate professors, and associate professors and assistant professors, regardless of their tenure status. However, the difference was not significant among the non-tenured full and assistant rank faculty. This may suggest that overall, among the sample population of this study, tenured faculty members were more actively involved in presenting scholarly products.

An Investigation of Learners’ Motivational Drive to Learn Foreign Language: A Look at Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

“…1.2 Motivating Factors for Foreign Language Learning Vroom Expectancy Theory lies as the strong foundation for motivation in learning the foreign language. There are three main components of motivation in Vroom Expectancy Theory, which are Instrumentality, Expectancy and Valence (Agah et al, 2020). Vroom's Expectancy theory firstly, emphasizes that students will put effort in learning a foreign language as they foresee the expected result in learning, which is known as Instrumentality.…”

“…Expectancy can be illustrated as students' perception on the quality of performance will be better if they work harder (Arora & Iyer, 2021). Finally, the theory proposes that the students will also dedicate their time to foreign language learning if they see the benefits in learning the foreign language, which is also known as valence (Nagle, 2021;Sang, 2021;Agah et al, 2020;Vroom, 1964). Osafo et al (2021) also stated that valence could be implied as a stimulating element to achieve positive rewards in learning.…”