The search for meaning and engagement among Malaysian academics

This thesis studies the work experience of Malaysian academics through the theoretical framework of the Job Characteristics Model (JCM). Specifically, this research aimed to explore what constitutes work for Malaysian academics, and to examine the variables that lead towards workplace meaningfulness and work engagement. This was accomplished through three studies. The first qualitative study was carried out on 15 full-time academic respondents recruited from a range of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia, and aimed to examine what are the job characteristics that make up their work experience as Malaysian academics, including the challenges and motivations they face in the workplace and their reported attitudes and beliefs towards their work. The findings were also analysed through the lens of the JCM to determine if the characteristics present in the workplace are relatable to the job characteristics postulated by the JCM. Results indicated that some of the job characteristics that make up the Malaysian academic work experience are related to the characteristics of the JCM, in addition to several other factors such as organisational support, authorship, task variety, meaningful work, and elevated levels of burnout. The second quantitative study analysed the relationship between the reported factors in the first study with job psychological meaningfulness and also sought to generalize the findings of the first study to the general population of Malaysian academics. 350 participants were recruited from a range of Malaysian HEIs. Results indicated significant relationships between the JCM factors of Autonomy, Skill Variety, Task Significance, and Task Identity with job psychological meaningfulness, while Feedback was not a significant predictor. Additionally, factors such as Task Variety and Authorship was also a significant predictor of job psychological meaningfulness. Results also indicated a high level of burnout among Malaysian academics in general, indicating a generalisability of the results from the first study to the Malaysian academic population. The third study examined the relationship between the JCM factors, the psychological state of job meaningfulness, and work engagement levels among the same participants in Study 2. The relationship between burnout and work engagement was also studied. Results showed significant relationships between job psychological meaningfulness and work engagement, as well as significant mediated relationships between the JCM factors and work engagement with job psychological meaningfulness as a mediator. Burnout was also found to be significantly predictive of work engagement, as well as a significant mediator of the relationship between job psychological meaningfulness and work engagement. Implications of these results for the Malaysian higher education sector are discussed

Are lecturers responsible for students’ academic procrastination?

Most studies tend to report that academic procrastination (AP) was caused by students’ internal factors, such as educational self-efficacy, perfectionism, fear of failure, expectancy value belief (perception of the task value), or classroom engagement. Nevertheless, some studies in the past have reported that students’ perception of their educators’ expectancy has significantly predicted their educational efficacy, fear of failure, and perception of the task value. Therefore, we hypothesized that students’ perception of educators’ expectancy predicted the students’ AP, fully mediated by educational self-efficacy, moderated by the expectancy value belief. The data was collected from 361 purposively recruited students from universities in Indonesia and Malaysia who completed the scales of perceived lecturers’ expectancy (PLE), educational self-efficacy (ESE), and expectancy value belief (EVB) and procrastination assessment scale-students (APSS). The data was analyzed by using AMOS-SEM and it was suggested that PLE significantly predicted ESE and APSS. Nevertheless, ESE was not a significant predictor of APSS; therefore, no mediation occurs. Furthermore, the link between PLE and APSS is significantly moderated by the EVB. In other words, lecturers might have played some active role, albeit indirect, in pushing students toward academic procrastination. Further implications, limitations, and suggestions are discussed

The search for meaning and engagement among Malaysian academics

This thesis studies the work experience of Malaysian academics through the theoretical framework of the Job Characteristics Model (JCM). Specifically, this research aimed to explore what constitutes work for Malaysian academics, and to examine the variables that lead towards workplace meaningfulness and work engagement. This was accomplished through three studies. The first qualitative study was carried out on 15 full-time academic respondents recruited from a range of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia, and aimed to examine what are the job characteristics that make up their work experience as Malaysian academics, including the challenges and motivations they face in the workplace and their reported attitudes and beliefs towards their work. The findings were also analysed through the lens of the JCM to determine if the characteristics present in the workplace are relatable to the job characteristics postulated by the JCM. Results indicated that some of the job characteristics that make up the Malaysian academic work experience are related to the characteristics of the JCM, in addition to several other factors such as organisational support, authorship, task variety, meaningful work, and elevated levels of burnout. The second quantitative study analysed the relationship between the reported factors in the first study with job psychological meaningfulness and also sought to generalize the findings of the first study to the general population of Malaysian academics. 350 participants were recruited from a range of Malaysian HEIs. Results indicated significant relationships between the JCM factors of Autonomy, Skill Variety, Task Significance, and Task Identity with job psychological meaningfulness, while Feedback was not a significant predictor. Additionally, factors such as Task Variety and Authorship was also a significant predictor of job psychological meaningfulness. Results also indicated a high level of burnout among Malaysian academics in general, indicating a generalisability of the results from the first study to the Malaysian academic population. The third study examined the relationship between the JCM factors, the psychological state of job meaningfulness, and work engagement levels among the same participants in Study 2. The relationship between burnout and work engagement was also studied. Results showed significant relationships between job psychological meaningfulness and work engagement, as well as significant mediated relationships between the JCM factors and work engagement with job psychological meaningfulness as a mediator. Burnout was also found to be significantly predictive of work engagement, as well as a significant mediator of the relationship between job psychological meaningfulness and work engagement. Implications of these results for the Malaysian higher education sector are discussed