Date of Award

August 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Foundations & Research

First Advisor

Robert Stupnisky

Abstract

All university faculty pursuing scholarly goals tackle complex tasks over long periods, yet some must overcome additional adversity and challenges to succeed. Recent studies have measured faculty research success according to their self-reported accomplishments in research activities, publications, and grant writing, and motivation was a predictor of success (Stupnisky, BrckaLorenz, et al., 2019; Stupnisky et al., 2023). This dissertation describes a three-study program of research that examined how faculty navigated barriers to research success through the lens of different theories of motivation.Faculty face barriers in completing research because it often involves a lengthy and emotion filled process, from research design to literature review, sampling, data collection, analysis, and writing; thus, Study 1 examined faculty grit, or passion and perseverance toward long-term goals (Duckworth et al., 2007) as well as the Control-Value Theory of Emotions (Pekrun & Perry, 2014). Counseling psychology faculty were recruited (N = 131) and two structural equation models tested if grit and emotions predicted perceived teaching (Model 1) and research success (Model 2). Results showed that grit predicted control and value, which in turn predicted emotions, and then perceived research success. Grit, however, did not predict control and value for teaching. Study 2 used an Exploratory Mixed-Methods design to examine how a major societal event that created significant work and life barriers for faculty, the COVID-19 pandemic, impacted research motivation and success. Researchers conducted 12 focus groups of (N = 57) and collected survey data (N = 611) from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) faculty, with both methods asking participants about the level of impact COVID-19 had on their research success. The qualitative phase yielded five themes of how COVID-19 impacted faculty research: dependent status, marital status, STEM field, and tenure status. Next, in the quantitative phase the Protection Motivation Theory (Norman et al., 2015) was applied to examine research value, control, competency, COVID-19 research impacts, and research success. Integration of the qualitative and quantitative analyses showed that faculty who had dependents and who were on the tenure track but not tenured experienced the most negative impact from COVID-19. Further, these impacts may have been due to a decreased level of control over their research, as research control was a strong predictor for research success among STEM faculty. Study 3 (N = 504) examined how a potential cognitive barrier, the symptomology of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), impacts faculty self-determined motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2021) and research success. In an online survey of 504 faculty, ADHD symptomology was measured using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS, v1.1 Screener, Kessler et al., 2005), which included two subscales measuring the inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive ADHD subtypes. Two structural equation models were tested that examined the ADHD symptomology using the whole scale and, separately, the two subtypes. Findings from the first model showed that the ASRS predicted basic psychological needs, motivation, and, in turn, research success.; however, when ADHD symptoms were separated into two subscales only inattentiveness predicted basic needs, motivation, and research success. These three studies in the current program of research examined a range of barriers that are associated with faculty motivation and research success. Faculty members who identify with each of these barriers (long-term tasks, COVID-19, ADHD symptoms) will find this valuable information as they navigate their research. First, when struggling to complete long-term tasks, STEM faculty can use the findings from the current research to understand how grit influences motivation and start to think about ways to improve their grit, which may ultimately improve their motivation and research success. Second, although future STEM faculty members may not experience a global pandemic in their careers, this research highlights how factors such as staying home with dependents, losing access to data collection, and threats toward career development are associated with research success. Factors such as these can occur at any time in STEM faculty careers so studying them during a pandemic will help prepare faculty and administration when these factors occur outside of a pandemic. Finally, examining the barrier of unmanaged ADHD symptoms will highlight how important it may be to identify STEM faculty experiencing these symptoms and how these symptoms are associated with decreased psychological needs toward their research. Further, this research could help identify a public health need for STEM faculty in diagnosis and treatment of ADHD by first examining how the elevated symptoms could be associated with decreased productivity.

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