Towards a parsimonious model of faculty motivation, engagement, and work performance: A case study of a Chinese university

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The domain of faculty internationalization is under-researched, especially in the context of China. Extant research does not lend itself to applied insight, despite offering theoretical and methodological precision. OBJECTIVE: Based on the motivational systems theory, this study developed a parsimonious measure of overall faculty motivation (including capacity beliefs, context beliefs, emotions, and goals) and investigated its effect on work performance through the mediating effect of engagement in internationalization among faculty in a Chinese research-centric university. METHODS: Data of 229 faculty members were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach. RESULTS: Faculty responses indicated that: i) the second-order overall faculty motivation scale is superior to individual items in measuring the effect of overall faculty motivation on faculty engagement and work performance; ii) overall faculty motivation positively influences faculty engagement; iii) overall faculty motivation promotes work performance; iv) faculty engagement mediates the relationship between overall faculty motivation and work performance. CONCLUSION: Faculty responses indicated that the effect of the second-order overall faculty motivation construct is superior to individual items in terms of its effect sizes on faculty engagement and work performance. More so, the measurement model showed that overall faculty motivation exerts a direct and indirect (faculty engagement) positive effect on work performance. Chinese universities should align the goals, capacity belief, context belief, and emotions of faculty with national/institutional goals to yield superior engagement for better performance.