Human Needs and Faculty Motivation [electronic resource] / Benjamin Schneider and Mary D. Zalesny.
Need-based theories of work motivation are considered with particular reference to university faculty; it is hypothesized that three different types of people are attracted to the academic setting: (1) those who want to teach, (2) those who want to do research, and (3) those who want to do both. Acc...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1981.
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| Summary: | Need-based theories of work motivation are considered with particular reference to university faculty; it is hypothesized that three different types of people are attracted to the academic setting: (1) those who want to teach, (2) those who want to do research, and (3) those who want to do both. According to need theories, certain fundamental wants and desires over which people have little control are the activators and directors of all human behavior. Academic institutions, through the opportunities they provide, can facilitate or frustrate the gratification of these wants, and by doing so attract, retain, and motivate particular kinds of academic faculty. It is hypothesized that faculty as a group would tend to fit Maslow's higher order need structures and to be more mature in the sense of that word as used by Argyris and McGregor. For most the the need theories, unsatisfied needs are thought to be the activators of behavior. It is suggested that college faculty are probably high on the need for self-actualization, growth, and achievement. As such, they will be attracted to moderately risky settings that offer them the opportunity to be autonomous, to be investigative, to be challenged, and to be successful. It is suggested that faculty who have their needs relatively satisfied are likely to take on a mentoring function while those who are frustrated are more likely to redirect their energies away from students and research. It is proposed that in order to effectively deal with the particular profile of the needs the typical academic may bring to the academic environment, academic institutions must develop and maintain environments that permit gratification for a researcher and teacher by providing a specific combination of attributes. (SW) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED216602. ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY, March 1982). Educational level discussed: Higher Education. |
| Physical Description: | 22 p. |