Lecturers in teacher training institute are encouraged to conduct research and are given
the opportunities to present the research findings in conferences or to publish them in
journals. However, the number of articles produced yearly is not promising compared
to the number of lecturers in the institution. This study seeks to examine the factors
which affect lecturers’ self-efficacy towards research activities. A case study was
conducted in a teacher training institute, involving four lecturers who have more than
20 years of teaching experience. These lecturers were interviewed using semi structured
interview. Through phenomenological approach analysis, five salient factors were
discovered from these interviews, namely, subject matter expertise, motivation, positive
environment, interest and personal strength. This article discusses the nature of these
five factors and their implications on the willingness of lecturers to be involved in
research activities. This article also provides some measures that can be taken to
enhance the lecturers’ self-efficacy towards research
