فرایند شکل گیری چالش های توسعه حرفه ای اعضای هیئت علمی در دانشگاه غزنی ، افغانستان

1. 1.      Introduction

        Todays, faculty members as the valuable capitals of each higher education institute play a decisive role in training specialist forces in the community (Arasteh, 2005). Faculty members' capability is considered as one of the factors affecting quality improvement in higher education system since they play an important role in creating insight and training professional and specialized skills, along with helping students (Alstete, 2000, as cited in Ahmad Abadi & Bazr Afshan, 2017).  Estenert (2000 as cited in Nave Ebrahim & Pour Karimi, 2008) believed that the life of higher education institutions depends on faculty members’ interest and expertise. Accordingly, the professional improvement of faculty members plays a fundamental role in innovating and enhancing university position. Professional development was designed to prevent obsoleting faculty members' knowledge and information although determining their needs is very difficult (Kang, as cited in Jamshidi, 2007). According to Dee and Daly (2009), professional development is a set of the activities designed to encourage faculty members for their professional improvement and growth through creating the planned changes in their expertise, skill, attitude, career path, and personal life.

      In general, different definitions were provided by scholars for the concept of the professional development of faculty members. The word possesses two broad and minor meanings synchronously. Regarding broad meaning, it involves an extended range of the activities aiming the improvement of student learning, while minor one includes the activities helping faculty members to grow and improve professional capabilities. Harvard University provided the professional development plans of faculty members as sabbatical leaves in 1810 for the first time. However, most of the professional development plans of faculty members were not institutionalized even in the developed countries and implemented as occasionally and case-by-case before 1970s (Watts, 2009). According to Ejtehadi, Ghorchian, Jaafari & Shafi Zadeh (2011), the changes in the field of the professional development of faculty members occurred in four stages:

      First stage: Faculty member as scientist (1950s & 1960s): the most of development plans in these decades were related to the promotion of their scientific competences.

      Second stage: Faculty member as instructor (mid 1960s to 1970s): education-related topics became at the priority of the development plan of faculty members due to the special conditions of this period. Further, the establishment of specialized centres in the university was highlighted, teaching improvement projects and educational workshops were seriously pursued, and finally professional and organizational development (POD) network was established in higher education during 1974.

      Third stage: Faculty member as developer (1980s): new approaches were provided in this stage for educating and developing faculty members by considering the establishment of the office of faculty member development in campuses and credits allocated by private foundations for testing and assessing.

           Fourth stage: Faculty member as learner (1990s): Faculty members played the role of guide in teaching-learning process by using active and participatory methods in this decade.

      Recently, the concept of professional development considers faculty member as network builder. Additionally, the networks consisting of faculty members and higher education leaders have been formed to respond to the problems of this system and provide useful solutions for solving challenges (Ouellet, 2011, as cited in Mobini, Abbas Pour & Mobin, 2014). Considering these changes, the professional development of faculty members has become one of the fields of interest of higher education researchers in the recent years (McAfee, 2008; Swezey, 2009; Karny, 2019; Parsons, 2019). Parsons et al (2019) believed that using technology progress, educational facilities, and international experiences results in facilitating the professional development of faculty members. Further, they found that 45 and 39% of participants evaluated online professional development plan as very good and medium at the end of its education course in the United States, respectively. Swezey and Finn (2014) considered individual traits, commitment to continuous growth and change, adherence to specialized and pedagogy knowledge, and commitments beyond teaching environment as the perception and understanding of faculty members about the professionalism of faculty members. According to MacAfee (2008), components such as the technology, diversity, space, personnel, financial credits, assessment, content, implementation, and evaluation of development plans are regarded as the conditions of the faculty member development of two-year colleges in Kansas State.

      In Iran, Ghorooneh, Mir Kamali, Bazargan & Kharazi (2014), found that the personality traits, motivation, scientific background, professional commitment, and responsibility of faculty members are the most important factors affecting professional development, respectively. Among organizational factors, organizational culture and climate, system of career promotion, managerial factors, opportunity of flourish, and structural and livelihood factors play the highest role on professional development, respectively. According to Ghasemi and Salehi (2016), there are two serious challenges for the professional development of the faculty members newly hired in the universities. The first challenge includes educational barriers such as the lack of professional needs-based specialized training courses, high volume of lessons, lack of attention to newly-hired faculty members ability and expertise, assignment of specific, important, basic lessons to old faculty members (the ownership right of some lessons), and business look at lessons. However,  the second one or research challenges involve the lack of collaboration between institutions and organizations for contracting research plans, dominance of the positivist look and attitude at study in various fields and subsequently extension of a single expectation in the fields having different natures, cross-sectional look at study and its outcomes, time-consuming accepting and publishing articles, non-allocation of financial credits and laboratory facilities, and focus on monitoring.

       Regarding Afghanistan as a country involved in war and turbulent political events during three recent decades, the universities as knowledge-expanding centers and places for creating the space of tolerance and culture of toleration can play an important role. During recent decade, Afghan universities were gradually activated and developed and its higher education system could grow quantitatively. Based on the statistics of the Ministry of Higher Education, 38 public and 128 private higher education institutions with around 300000 students are now operating in Afghanistan although this qualitative growth yet fails to cover most of individuals in the age group applicant for higher education (18-24 years). Further, the youngness of higher education system results in failing to respect qualitative criteria in the all fields related to faculty members, student, and curriculum. The statistics issued by Afghan Ministry of Higher education represented that 5800 instructors are now teaching in public universities. Considering empirical evidences and the personal experience of one of current authors, most of these faculty members are young and devoid of prolonged professional experience. Accordingly, assessing the current status of these instructors with respect to professional growth and development can be regarded as one of the main concern of the policy and planners of Afghan higher education. For example, Ghazni University can be mentioned as one of newly established universities in Afghanistan.

      Since the city of Ghazni possesses bright historical background and is the heir of a great culture in the history of Afghanistan, it is highlighted by the government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the recent years. Ghazni University was established in 2008 in order to expand public education system and resolve the needs of the community of Ghazni. Based on the official report, Ghazni University possessed 102 active faculty members in 2017, most of whom held bachelor's degree. Additionally, it has five faculties involving Education, Agriculture, Language and Literature, Economic, and Sharia, which operate in different fields and train human force. Considering that Ghazni University is a newly established and young institution, a set of drawbacks has been observed in various fields, especially professional development and performance.

      Despite the existence of reports, previous studies, and several evidences about the problems facing faculty members of Ghazni University, the reviews performed by authors represented that no study was conducted on the process of forming the challenges related to the professional development of faculty members in this university. To this end, the present study tried to explain the process of forming these challenges and provide the basis for resolving these challenges by planning correctly and appropriately. In this regard, following questions were posed:

1. What is the core category of the process of forming the challenges related to the professional development of faculty members in Ghazni University?

1. What are the causal conditions creating the core category of the process of forming the challenges related to the professional development among faculty members in Ghazni University?

1. What are the strategies for dealing with the core category of the process of forming the challenges related to the professional development among faculty members in Ghazni University?

1. What are the contextual conditions affecting the strategies for dealing with the core category of the process of forming the challenges related to the professional development among faculty members in Ghazni University?

1. What are the environmental conditions influencing the strategies for dealing with the core category of the process of forming the challenges related to the professional development among faculty members in Ghazni University?

1. What are the outcomes of applying the strategies for dealing with the core category in the process of forming the challenges related to the professional development among faculty members in Ghazni University?

1. 2.      Research Method

          In the present study, the statistical population included all faculty members in Ghazni University through purposive sampling method. The research method was grounded theory and data were collected by using the in-depth semi-structured interview. The interviews were continued until reaching theoretical saturation in order to construct theory based on the logic of repetition (Strauss & Corbin, 2016; Gall et al., 2017). During data collection process, concepts and predicates were gradually accumulated until the 10th interview in which concluding and assessing predicates led to the core category of "anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture", upon which next questions were set and continued. Although the theoretical saturation of data was partly ascertained in 12th interview, interviews were continued until 14th interviewee in order to ensure saturation and fill the conceptual holes of model. The strategies of member checking, peer examination, and researcher participation, and reflexivity were used for ensuring the validity of the study and some of the participants reviewed the final report of the first stage and analysis process or obtained categories and expressed their opinion during these strategies (Cresweel & Miller, 2000). In the next stage, several faculty members in educational sciences department assessed findings and commented. Further, the participants were assisted in analysing and interpreting the data at the same time. The interviews were directly conducted by one of the authors who is the citizen of Afghanistan by presenting in the different faculties in Ghazni University and each interview lasted between 90 minutes to 2 hours. Among the interviewees, two participants were female, three persons held bachelor's degree and others had master's degree, and the minimum and maximum of their working experience were between 1 and 10 years respectively.

1. 3.      Results

        Regarding the step-by-step analysis of findings by using the analytical techniques of Strauss and Corbin, the concepts were highlighted as analysis unit in the levels of the full text of interview, paragraph, phrase, and sentences. Additionally, attempts were made to extract open codes by separating the text of interview into the elements having message within lines or paragraphs, among 930 initial codes were obtained through open coding, which were classified into 53 sub-categories and divided into 21 main categories in the stage of axial coding (Figure 1).

        During the processes of selective coding and integration, the text of the conducted interviews was assessed several times in order to integrate and refine theory and the phrases and ideas. Accordingly, the relationships between main categories and the paradigmatic model of the challenges related to the professional development of faculty members in Ghazni University were formed. Finally, the revealed categories with their relationships were placed in the six dimensions of paradigmatic model involving causal conditions (seven categories), main category (the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture), strategy (two categories), environmental conditions (three categories), contextual conditions (five categories), and outcome (three categories) (Fig. 2).

Figure 1. The process of data management and model evolution in three stages of coding

Figure  2.  Paradigmatic Model of Process of Forming the Challenges related to the Professional Development of Faculty Members in Ghazni University

1. Core phenomenon

Interviewees focused on the main phenomenon (Core category) of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture in this model. In the present study, the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture was regarded as a category which is described by all factors and impacts. Regarding the process of the professional development of faculty members in Ghazni University, the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture was considered as logical focal category and represented the validity of findings and analyses since the suitability of university climate and culture is regarded as one of the most important conditions of professional development in the university. The way of discovering the main category can be observed in some of the participants as follows.

      Participant No. 10 said:

“One of the issues is that there is still no global, science-based, and fundamental look within universities. Individuals yet see academic issues, even in universities, by using the eerie glasses of tribe and race and the eerie address of political strangled space existed in Afghanistan throughout history.”

      Participant No. 8 said:

 “The formation of ethnic groups within university also leads to negative competitions in university and our fail to achieve real progress.”

       Participant No. 6 said:

 “The issue of ethnic and religious differences in Ghazni lead to the lack of professional development in Ghazni University, which both faculty members and students suffer from. For example, faculty members are sent to other countries for scholarships mostly based on the ethnic issues caused by ethnic prejudices.” 

      Participant No. 12 said:

“Many faculty members not only do not interest in supervision system, but also prevent its implementation. Unfortunately, if this issue is taken seriously, we see that some groups are created there (within university), which prevent its implementation. Although we are interested in implementing this work and some cases are conducted at the university level, the ministry prevented it by inferring politicians.”

2. Causal conditions

Causal conditions include the factors leading to the main phenomenon of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture directly and consisted of seven main categories of thelack of motivation and low quality of freshmen students, inadequate salary and inappropriate welfare status of faculty members, inefficiency of recruitment system and shortage of faculty members, weakness of educational and research system, lack of supervision and quality assurance system, weakness of academic communications and collaborations, and lack of participating faculty members in making decision.

      Lack of motivation and low quality of freshmen students: It is regarded as one of the most important categories leading to the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture directly. Further, accessing the objective of overcoming the challenges of professional development is impossible by disregarding this category. In this regard, Participant No. 1 said, “The lack of the interest and motivation among the students for lesson and scientific issues is considered as one of the problems. Additionally, most of talented students go to the universities of Kabul, while students with lower talent enter into Ghazni University, leading to the presence of faculty members in class without preparation and scientific research.”

      Participant No. 7 said:

“Inadequate salary and inappropriate welfare status of faculty members: The salary and facilities considered by university for faculty members affect their work procedure strongly: Inadequate salary is also considered as one of the problems for the faculty members of Ghazni University, which leads faculty members not to focus high on their lesson topic and do other tasks outside university.”

       Inefficiency of recruitment system and shortage of faculty members: Inefficiency of recruitment system is regarded as one of the factors which resulted in forming the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture. Further, the lack of adequate faculty members was one of the problems emphasized by the faculty members of Ghazni University. In this regard, Participant No. 4 said:

“At least four faculty members should be in each department, while some departments are empty and their faculty members have gone to outside country for continuing their education, leading to the creation of problem for us. Additionally, lack of faculty members has forced us to hire contract or honorary faculty members from outside. Hiring faculty members based on the criteria instead of capability is considered as the other main reason for producing these problems. In other words, most of the faculty members hired in Afghan universities are devoid of required competence.”

      Weakness of educational and research system: Research in university is regarded as significantly important. In fact, educational and research system gives credit to university. Participant No. 14 said:

 “The lack of a research center in Ghazni University is one of its problems. Further, the absence of workshops and scientific seminars in this university are some of its problems.”

      Lack of supervision and quality assurance system: Each institution including university needs a potent monitoring system. Participant No. 1 said;

 “Ghazni University is devoid of a control and supervision system to appreciate faculty members for his good work or punish him for his shortcoming. Appreciating the faculty members working well and possessing scientific activities are considered as one of the cases resolving these challenges.”

      Weakness of academic communications and collaborations: Using the methods of communications and collaborations between universities is considered as one of the strategies for dealing with the challenge of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture. The lack of communication and collaboration between different universities results in remaining university climate and space as stagnant. Participant No. 3 said, “In general, the communications between universities are weak not only in Ghazni University, but also in the level of Afghanistan and there is no scientific and research collaboration and strong communication between universities expect of a few cases. Accordingly, the faculty members of different universities also do not collaborate to each other scientifically.”

      Lack of participating faculty members in making decision: Participating in making decision is considered as one of the principles of development and organization should create the sense of responsibility in all of its own members through participating in making decision to achieve success. Participant No. 9 said:

“Since the managers of university, faculties, and even departments and all university agents are determined by influencing the strong individuals outside university, they are devoid of complete and adequate familiarity with in-university climate and space, leading to vulnerabilities for university.”

3. Strategies

According to Strauss and Corbin, strategies are considered as the actions and interactions applying in normal procedure and pattern of managing situations by individuals during dealing with issues. Further, they are the behaviours conducted or expressed by people, organizations, and communities. Two fundamental groups of strategies involving the employment of faculty members in other jobs and their motivation and apathy were recognized in the present study.

      Employment of faculty members in other jobs: Seeking faculty members to teach in other educational institutions or economic affairs is considered as one of the strategies for dealing with the phenomenon of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture. Participant No. 11 said:

“Since the salary of faculty members is low, some of them work outside their university such as private universities or schools and educational courses or do economic affairs personally, along with working in Ghazni University.”

      Lack of motivation and apathy of faculty members: Decreasing the motivation and apathy of the human force of university is one of the results of governing in-university anti-developmentalism climate and culture. Participant No. 6 said:

“Considering these interpretations and the problems leading to the governance of this climate in this university, faculty members are demotivated, and consider the process of professional growth and development as low unimportant.”

4. Contextual conditions

Forming the challenges related to the professional development of faculty members in Ghazni University is affected by the bases in which the strategies for dealing with the challenge of anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture are generated, and finally its effects on outcomes. Contextual conditions were recognized in the present study in the form of five categories involving educational finance, laws and regulations, structure and management of university, equipment, facilities, and technology, and university autonomy.

      Educational finance: Various methods can be determined to allocate the resources for educational services (students) and their providers (university), each of which affects the behaviour of students and university differently. In fact, this effect allows governments to manage educational system through financial mechanisms (Naderi, 2004). In this regard, Participant No. 13 said:

 “The issue that we do not work well with respect to skill results in moving university toward weakness and being devoid of professional development plans. For example, a university needs laboratory, a university requires workshop, and a university needs practical works, which their costs should be funded, but unfortunately we did not see it, even the students operating in physics and chemistry fields do not conduct the practical aspect of their work, leading to the lack of learning in them.”

      Laws and regulations: Laws and regulations are considered as one of the most important bases of applying the strategies for dealing with the challenge of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture. Participant No. 5 said:

“University managers should be determined based on the laws and regulations of the Ministry of Higher Education, not illegally, either at senior management level or junior one.”

      Structure and management of university: Organizational structure should be able to do two important works of providing a framework about responsibilities and communicating between the main pillars of organization and making organization as a coherent and unified set in which all activities are coordinated (Daft, 2007). In this regard, Participant No. 2 said:

“What we are observing is that university president and its senior managers are unfortunately devoid of managerial capabilities in some issues when we look at their activities. In fact, they have inadequate information about managerial knowledge. An individual placed in the top of a university should be aware of management, while he is devoid of this knowledge.”

      Equipment, facilities, and technology: Learning tools and methods were evolved by developing information and communications technology (Zarabian, 2018). Accordingly, possessing and utilizing technology and equipment in teaching the lessons of university provide an appropriate basis for learning. Participant No.3 said:

“Technology, as another factor existing in local and international level, is not available in Afghanistan, especially Ghazni University. In fact, another 50-100 years of attempt causes for us to reach this level since technology is rapidly growing in the international level, while these facilities are unavailable in Afghan universities, especially Ghazni one. For example, there is no projector or laboratory to represent the slide or experiences of others as video or seminar.”

      University autonomy: The topic of university autonomy is posed when university managers can design and implement a plan based on their own needs. Participant No. 2 said:

“We cannot make and implement all of our decisions only based on the laws and regulations of the Ministry of Higher Education, but we should consider environmental conditions and do our works. For example, we cannot tell the students that they should come to university with special formal dress, which is considered as a main challenge. If we do this work, we may face the reaction of people such as demonstration. The management of university should be partly flexible, not what the law wants. Additionally, it is important that university president should communicate with people and local councils to prevent their destruction in the university appropriately.”

5. Environmental conditions

 Analysing the interviews indicated that there are some factors as environmental conditions which are related to these conditions leading to its continuity or non-continuity, along with those affecting the process of forming the challenges related to professional development in Ghazni University directly. The causal conditions of the phenomenon of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture are generated under environmental conditions, not in vacuum. Thus, describing the process of forming the challenges related to professional development in Ghazni University needs to understand these conditions. In the present study, environmental conditions included three main categories of cultural-social issues, political environment, and security.

      Cultural-social environment: Culture forms the most important level of environmental conditions (Farasat Khah, 2008). The schools and educational system of the communities in which the culture of demanding efficient education was generated well obligate themselves to observe the requirements for the efficiency of educations. In this regard, Participant No. 10 said:

 “Community and people do not look at Ghazni University as a credit and global institution and the university still has its vulnerabilities according to the opinion of people. The traditional and tribal culture governing in the community yet penetrates within educational system and Ghazni University with respect to cultural, leading to the vulnerability of Ghazni University.”

      Political environment: Educational policy-making is considered as one of the first policy making activities in the field of administrating public affairs by governments since it is regarded as the origin of the sociability and mobility of the individuals of community toward other policies (Niaz Azari et al., 2011). Unsustainable policies result in facing education with fundamental challenge. Participants No. 2 said:

“The insufficient attention of the Ministry of Higher Education and senior government officials to Afghan universities is considered as another reason for existing problems in Ghazni University. In fact, government in Afghanistan pays much attention to security issue, which results in neglecting universities and educational centres by central government and its senior officials.”

      Security: There is a mutual relationship between university and security. In fact, efficient education results in enhancing security in the community, while improving and solving educational issues in universities require appropriate security status to provide the basis for solving their problems by supplying security. In this regard, Participant No. 1 said:

“Security problem is the main challenge in Ghazni University. Unfortunately, we face security problems in most of the areas in Afghanistan and security events sometimes occur in Ghazni and the path of its university, leading to the negative effect on the spirit and level of collaboration of faculty members and prevention of doing their work with good spirit. Even, some of our faculty members try to come to university less only due to security problems.”

6. Outcomes

Based on the paradigmatic model of Strauss and Corbin, doing or not doing a defined interaction for responding to current challenges or administrating or maintaining a position by individual(s) results in creating desired or unwanted outcomes. The outcomes of the present study included disturbing the process of empowering students, being unable to respond to the needs of community and labour market, and endangering progress in university.

      Disturbing the process of empowering students:

Due to professors' coping strategies with the challenge of “anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture”, the process of empowering students faces disruption. Participant No. 7 said:

 “Due to the presence of current challenges, the graduates of this university are devoid of required awareness and expertise and community cannot benefit from their capacity for its growth.”

      Being unable to respond to the needs of community and labour market:

 Resolving the needs of community and labour market and achieving the objectives intended by education in the university are considered as one of the most important outcomes of overcoming the challenges related to professional development in Ghazni University, which was not attained according to the opinions of interviewees. In this regard, participant No. 11 said:

“Failing to resolve mentioned problems results in graduating the students who cannot resolve the expectations and demands of community and labour market. Additionally, policy makers should aim to train the students who be able to solve the problems of community and labour market.”

      Endangering progress in university:

Endangering growth and development in university is considered as one of the outcomes of applying the strategies for dealing with the challenge of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture. Participant No. 9 said:

 “The inability of officials in solving problems and challenges results in facing the process of growing and progressing university with ambiguity and doubt, creating negative opinions by people, and failing university to implement the projects required by this university.”

1. 4.      Conclusion

         The results of the present study confirmed paradigmatic model, representing the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture as the main axes of the process of forming the challenge related to the professional development of faculty members in Ghazni University. This issue is affected by some factors such as lack of motivation and low quality of freshmen students, inadequate salary and inappropriate welfare status of faculty members, inefficiency of recruitment system and shortage of faculty members, weakness of educational and research system, lack of supervision and quality assurance system, weakness of academic interactions and collaborations, and lack of participating faculty members in making decisions. Considering the opinion of key informants and their experiences and perceptions about the status of the professional development of faculty members in Ghazni University, some strategies such as employment in other jobs and lack of motivation and apathy of faculty members were obtained. These strategies were used by participants for dealing with the main phenomenon of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture. Additionally, the role of environmental conditions such as cultural-social and political environment and security and contextual conditions such as educational finance, laws and regulations, structure and management of university, equipment, facilities, technology, and university autonomy should be considered to establish and implement mentioned strategies. Finally, some outcomes such as disturbing the process of empowering students, being unable to respond to the needs of community and labour market, and endangering progress in university should be expected by considering these actions and reactions and using the strategies for dealing with the challenge of the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture.

      The results of the present study are consistent with those of some other studies (e.g., Ghorooneh et al., 2014; Ghasemi and Salehi, 2016; Swezey and Finn, 2014; MacAfee, 2008). In general, implementing the following activities is suggested by considering the challenges:

• Placing the establishment of academic communications and collaborations with successful universities in Afghanistan and other countries for scientific exchange and utilization of their experiences on the agenda of the policy-makers in university,
• Increasing the salary and benefits of faculty members in order not to do other job for earning income,
• Involving faculty members in making decisions at different managerial levels such as selecting manager and recruiting new members,
• Equipping university with required facilities, equipment, and technology such as library, laboratory, especially high-speed internet,
• Adopting required measures for increasing security,
• Awarding the required autonomy in making decisions and supplying and allocating resources to university,
• Establishing supervision and quality assurance system in the university,
• Formulating a tool for measuring the scientific development of universities,
• Specifying the priority and weight of categories in forming current status,
• Validating the qualitative model of the study by using structural equations model.