Identifying and Prioritizing Organizational Factors Affecting the Professional Development of Faculty Members: A Mixed Approach

The purpose of this study was to determine and prioritize organizational factors affecting the professional development of faculty members. The research method is exploratory in terms of purpose of data collection and in terms of data collection. In the qualitative section, 34 internal and external researches were identified and evaluated using cross-sectional method to determine the organizational factors influencing professional development. Then, to determine the importance of these factors in the quantitative section, the viewpoints of faculty members and heads of departments of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman were used (N = 650). Sample size in this section was determined using Cochran formula of 242 persons. Based on cross-sectional results, 15 factors influencing the professional development of faculty members were identified and their importance was emphasized by faculty members and heads of departments. These components were categorized by nature into five categories: organizational structure, technology, organization, organizational resources, and strategy; organizational resources ranked highest and technology factor ranked lower than other factors. It seems that the 15 components extracted in this study can play a significant role in the professional development of faculty member.