The Process of Forming Professional Development Challenges for Faculty Members of Ghazni University, Afghanistan

Abstract

The purpose of study was to explain the process of shaping the professional development challenges of the faculty members of Ghazni University of Afghanistan. The research approach was "qualitative" and the research method was "Grounded Theory". The target group consisted of faculty members of Ghazni University who were selected by purposeful theoretical sampling. In-depth semi-structured interview was used for collection of data. Interviews were conducted on up to 14 cases and theoretical saturation was obtained. The data were analysed in three levels of open, axial, and selective coding. Triangulation approach was applied for assessing the credibility of findings. Findings indicated that the lack of students' motivation, inadequate salary and inappropriate welfare status of faculty members, inefficiency of recruitment system and shortage of faculty members, weakness of educational and research system, and lack of supervision and quality assurance system, weakness of academic communications and collaborations, and lack of faculty members participation in making decision process resulted in forming the core concept of "the anti-developmentalism of in-university climate and culture". Further, contextual conditions such as educational finance, laws and regulations, structure and management of university, equipment, facilities, and technology, and university autonomy and environmental conditions such as cultural-social and political environment and security provided potentials for the descriptive reactions of faculty members including employment in other jobs and lack of motivation and apathy, resulting in disturbing the process of empowering students, being unable to respond to the needs of community and labour market, and endangering progress in university.