Faculty Members’ Viewpoints on their Empowering Factors and Developing a Structured Questionnaire

Introduction: Study of faculty members’ viewpoints seems to be necessary in order to understand the empowering procedure of faculty members and university development to create a potent atmosphere. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess, recognize and prioritize these factors and accordingly a guide to develop a structured questionnaire, to be used for assessing faculty empowerment in a school /university. Methods: In a descriptive-analytical study, using purposive convenience sampling method, the viewpoints of 53 faculty members of Shiraz and Jahrom medical universities were evaluated. First, using existing literature as well as experts’ opinions, the initial list of strategies was developed and validated then, a questionnaire based on 5-point Likert-scale was developed and its reliability was confirmed (Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient=.85) then it was delivered to study population. Underlying structure of questionnaire was determined by exploratory factor analysis. Bartlett test and KOM index were respectively used for evaluating the sampling adequacy and appropriateness of analysis for structure identification. Friedman test was used for calculating viewpoints’ mean scores. Results: The variables of "Participation in academic activities", "allocating rewards according to professional progress", and "allotting rewards for innovations" showed the highest effectiveness (the means were 17.68, 16.79 and 16.42 respectively). On the other hand, performance evaluation by the students (Mean Rank: 9.87) and the relevant department (Mean Rank: 7.7) showed a minimal effect. The results of Bartlett's analysis and KOM measure showed that the collected data was appropriate for factor analysis. Nine factors having value more than 1 were identified which elucidated 74.5% of total variance of all variables. Conclusion: Several strategies are necessary for faculty members’ empowerment and to enforce workplace development such as access to opportunities, information, support, and resources. Moreover, effective motivation along with sense of being valued and efficient could facilitate the empowerment process. Hence, a well-organized administration based on democratic and collaborative principles could ease this procedure.