University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Faculty retention at private colleges in China

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Faculty retention at private colleges in China

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Content i

FACULTY RETENTION AT PRIV ATE COLLEGES IN CHINA
by
Huaxuan Wu

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2020

Copyright 2020 Huaxuan Wu

ii
DEDICATION

For Ling and Tom, of course

iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank my parents: Ms. Xiumei Chen and Mr. Qicui Wu, for
their unconditional love and support over the last 44 years. Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational
College, founded by my parents and managed by Ms. Yafang Chen, sponsored my Global Ed.D.
study, for which, I am grateful.
My wonderful journey at the Rossier School of Education would not be possible without
the guidance and tolerance from the dedicated faculty members and administrators. Professor
Mark Robison and Dr. Sabrina Chong opened a door to the brave new world for me. Professor
Tracy Tambascia, my dissertation committee chair, and committee members, Professor Ruth
Chung, and Professor Cathy Krop showed me the path, guided me with their wisdom, and
inspired me with their passion.
Without the collaboration and friendship of my peers at the school, I would not be able to
advance this far. Every and each one of my classmates from Cohort 7 has provided extended
support to me. We will remember each other for many years to come. Specifically, I would like
to thank Luke Li of Cohort 7 and Joyce Gong of Cohort 6 for conducting the interviews for
despite their busy schedules.
Last but not least, I will remember my uncle Mr. Shuilong Wu, who dropped out of
primary school but always had strong passion for educational equity. He helped create tens of
thousands of college places for students in need. His wisdom, agility, and generosity will never
be forgotten.

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vii
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix
Chapter One: Introduction ...............................................................................................................1
Background of the Problem .................................................................................................1
Importance of Addressing the Problem................................................................................4
Organizational Context and Mission....................................................................................5
Organizational Performance Status ......................................................................................5
Organizational Performance Goal ........................................................................................6
Description of Stakeholder Groups ......................................................................................7
Stakeholder Performance Goals ...........................................................................................8
Stakeholder Group for the Study .........................................................................................8
Purpose of the Project and Questions ..................................................................................9
Conceptual and Methodological Framework .......................................................................9
Organization of the Project ................................................................................................10
Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 11
Higher Education Expansion in China ............................................................................... 11
Development of Private Higher Education in China ...................................................12
Developmental Challenges ..........................................................................................13
Policies and Regulations ..............................................................................................14
Funding ........................................................................................................................14
Quality and Credibility ................................................................................................15
Student Enrollment ......................................................................................................15
Faculty Recruitment and Retention at Chinese Private HEIs ............................................16
Efforts Implemented to Address Retention Issues .............................................................17
Social Security System Reform ...................................................................................17
Competitive Incentive Schemes ...................................................................................18
Training and Development ...........................................................................................18
Enhancement of Public Recognition ............................................................................18
Faculty Members’ Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences ......................19
Knowledge and Skills ..................................................................................................19
Motivation ....................................................................................................................21
Organizational Influences ............................................................................................23
Chapter Three: Methods ................................................................................................................27
Participating Stakeholders .................................................................................................28
Survey Sampling Strategy and Rationale ....................................................................28
Interview Sampling Strategy and Rationale ................................................................29
Data Collection and Instrumentation .................................................................................30
Surveys .........................................................................................................................30
Interviews .....................................................................................................................32
Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................32
Credibility and Trustworthiness .........................................................................................33

v
Ethics..................................................................................................................................34
Limitations and Delimitations ............................................................................................35
Chapter Four: Findings ..................................................................................................................37
Participating Stakeholders .................................................................................................38
Survey Participants ......................................................................................................38
Interview Participants ..................................................................................................39
Knowledge Findings ..........................................................................................................41
Motivation Findings ...........................................................................................................45
Faculty Members Need to Perceive a Long-term Commitment to the College as
Beneficial for Their Career ..........................................................................................46
Faculty Members Need to Have Sense of Belonging, so that They Will Stay
Longer with the College...............................................................................................47
Faculty Members Need to Receive Public Recognition, so that They Will Remain
Employed at the College ..............................................................................................49
Organizational Findings .....................................................................................................52
The College Needs to Cultivate a Culture that Values a Sense of Belonging for
Faculty Members in Order to Improve Retention ........................................................53
The College Needs to Have a Culture of Fostering Career Development in Order
for Faculty Members to Engage and Stay ....................................................................54
The College Needs to Develop and Implement Effective Incentive Programs to
Motivate and Retain Faculty Members. .......................................................................55
The College Needs to Improve Support Programs in Order to Enhance Performance
of Faculty Members .....................................................................................................56
An Emerging Theme ..........................................................................................................58
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................58
Chapter Five: Recommendations ...................................................................................................60
Key Findings ......................................................................................................................60
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................62
Proposed Recommendations and Implementation Plan .....................................................63
Recommendation 1: Cultivate a Culture that Creates and Values Sense of
Belonging .....................................................................................................................63
Recommendation 2: Promote Fair and Meaningful Public Recognition .....................64
Recommendation 3: Develop and Implement Competitive Incentive Programs
with Performance-related Criteria ................................................................................66
Recommendation 4: Create a Culture of Fostering Career Development of
Faculty Members .........................................................................................................69
Evaluation Plan ..................................................................................................................71
Level One: Reaction ....................................................................................................71
Level Two: Learning ....................................................................................................72
Level Three: Behavior .................................................................................................72
Level Four: Results ......................................................................................................72
Suggested Evaluation Plan ...........................................................................................73
Limitations .........................................................................................................................75
Suggestions for Future Research .......................................................................................75
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................76
References ......................................................................................................................................78

vi
Appendix A Survey Questions .......................................................................................................84
Appendix B Interview Questions ...................................................................................................86
Appendix C Information Sheet ......................................................................................................88

vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Stakeholder Performance Goals ..........................................................................................8
Table 2 Assumed Knowledge Influences .......................................................................................21
Table 3 Assumed Motivation Influences ........................................................................................23
Table 4 Assumed Organizational Influences ..................................................................................26
Table 5 Demographic Information of Survey Participants ............................................................39
Table 6 Demographic Information of the Interview Participants ..................................................40
Table 7 Assumed Knowledge Influences .......................................................................................41
Table 8 Assumed Knowledge Influences, Findings and Validation ...............................................45
Table 9 Assumed Motivation Influences ........................................................................................46
Table 10 Assumed Motivation Influences, Findings and Validation .............................................51
Table 11 Assumed Organizational Influences ................................................................................53
Table 12 Assumed Organizational Influences, Findings and Validation........................................57
Table 13 Validated Influences ........................................................................................................61
Table 14 Validated Influences and Recommendations ..................................................................62
Table 15 Recommendation 1: Cultivate a culture that creates and values sense of belonging ......64
Table 16 Recommendation 2: Promote fair and meaningful public recognition ...........................66
Table 17 Recommendation 3: Develop and Implement Competitive Incentive Programs With
Performance-Related Criteria ........................................................................................................68
Table 18 Recommendation 4: Create a Culture of Fostering Career Development of Faculty
Members ........................................................................................................................................70
Table 19 Suggested Evaluation Plans for the Proposed Solutions .................................................73

viii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. As a faculty member at the college, I believe I am making an impact on young
people from different provinces. ....................................................................................................42
Figure 2. I understand that a stable faculty is critical to sustainability of the college. ..................43
Figure 3. I understand that stability of faculty helps teaching quality improvement and student
learning. .........................................................................................................................................44
Figure 4. I believe long-term commitment to the college is beneficial for my career. ..................47
Figure 5. A sense of belonging is important for me to continue working at the college. ..............48
Figure 6. I am motivated to stay by public recognition such as Teacher of the Year award. .........50
Figure 7. I am proud of being a faculty member at the college. ....................................................50
Figure 8. If I had the chance to teach at a public university next year, I would choose to leave...51
Figure 9. The college has effectively created a culture of belonging among faculty members. ....54
Figure 10. The college fosters career development of faculty members. ......................................55
Figure 11. The college has implemented effective incentive programs in order to motivate and
retain faculty members. ..................................................................................................................56
Figure 12. The college has support programs to enhance the well-being of faculty members. .....57

ix
ABSTRACT
Despite rapid growth in the last three decades, private higher education institutions
(HEIs) in China are still facing many challenges such as insufficient funding and resources,
unsatisfactory teaching quality, lack of long-range planning, and shortage of qualified faculty
members. In particular, private HEIs in China have difficulty retaining quality faculty members.
This study aims to explore how private colleges in China can improve retention of faculty
members, using Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College as the organization of study. By
applying the gap analysis model (Clark & Estes, 2008), the study examined the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences that are related to faculty retention at the college.
Surveys and interviews were used to collect data from faculty members to validate assumed
influences. The findings indicated that faculty members have adequate knowledge of the
importance of stability, while motivation and organizational influences indicated there are clear
needs for improvement in sense of belonging, public recognition, incentive program, and career
development. In addition, an emerging theme indicated that a rigorous performance evaluation
system should be in place to ensure fairness. Based on the findings, four recommendations were
proposed, followed by implementation and evaluation plans.

Key Words: Higher education, Private high education, China, Faculty, Retention
1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
High-quality faculty are a vital part of the success of higher education, so recruiting and
retaining them should be a top priority for higher education personnel (Herzog, 2010). However,
most private higher education institutions (HEIs) in China are facing challenges in recruiting and
retaining quality faculty members (Jiang, 2011; Luo & Zhu, 2017; Ma, 2016; Xu, 2014).
According to statistics from China’s Ministry of Education, there were 746 private HEIs in
China in 2017 (up from 39 in 2000), accounting for more than 28% of the total of 2,631 HEIs in
China. The shortage of quality faculty private universities is partially due to the fact that public
HEIs offer additional job stability, higher social status, and better social benefits such as pension
and medical care (Jiang, 2011). As a result, private HEIs have difficulty hiring experienced and
capable teachers. According to statistics from China’s Ministry of Education, the teacher student
ratio at private HEIs is 1:20 in 2017, lower than the 1:16 ratio at public HEIs (MoE, 2017). Xu
(2018) argued that the larger class sizes are due to the limited number of high-quality faculty
members at private HEIs, and also the turnover and instability of existing faculty members. The
problem of practice addressed by this dissertation is recruitment and retention of qualified
faculty at private colleges in China. Given the rapid growth of the private higher education sector
in China, if private HEIs are not able to attract and retain high-quality faculty, they will not be
able to survive and maintain sustainable growth and quality in the long run.
Background of the Problem
Over the past three decades, Chinese higher education experienced a "dramatic
expansion" in terms of enrollment growth (Shi, 2015). In 2017, China had a total of about 27
million undergraduate students, up 46% from about 19 million in 2007 (MoE, 2017). The
private, or non-government HEIs, have also recorded rapid growth since the start of the 21st

2
century. According to statistics from China’s Ministry of Education, there were 746 private HEIs
in China in 2017 (up from 39 in 2000), accounting for more than 28% of the total of 2,631 HEIs
in China (MoE, 2017). Students attending private HEIs are typically from more well-off families,
compared with those attending public HEIs (Wen, 2005).Moreover, their scores on college
entrance examination are usually 50% lower than students that are admitted by public
universities and colleges. For example, in 2019, the lowest score for three-year vocational
college admission was 220 for arts subjects, much lower than 464 for 4-year universities
(FPEEA, 2019).
Despite their growth, private HEIs in China are facing many challenges such as
insufficient funding and resources, unsatisfactory teaching quality, lack of long-range planning,
and shortage of qualified faculty members (Jiang, 2011; Lei, 2012). In particular, private HEIs in
China have difficulties recruiting and retaining quality faculty members, because they are not a
desired or ideal choice for those who want to pursue a long-term academic career (Jiang, 2011).
In China, faculty members at private HEIs are usually young graduates or newly retired teachers
from public HEIs, because it is difficult for private HEIs to attract and retain talent with
significant experience and aged between 35 and 55 (Xu, 2018). In addition, private HEIs in
China are facing additional challenges losing talent to public HEIs as the latter are generally
more favorable because they offers more job stability, favorable social status, and better social
benefits. (Xu, 2014).
Researched based efforts have been made to tackle the recruitment and retention issues at
private HEIs in China (Chen, 2011; Luo & Zhu, 2017; Xu, 2014). Some of the findings suggest
that social security system reform (Chen, 2011; Luo & Zhu, 2017), competitive incentive
schemes (Luo & Zhu, 2017; Ma, 2016), training and development (Luo & Zhu, 2017), and

3
enhancement of public recognition (Ma, 2016) have the potential of addressing these problems.
However, there is limited evidence that which of these efforts are more effective than the others.
China’s social security system recognizes faculty within public HEIs as government
employees, while faculty with private HEIs are usually treated as employees of private enterprise
that receive limited social security support from the government. For instance, most faculty
members within private HEIs receive a much lower level of pension, health insurance, housing
fund, and unemployment insurance (Luo & Zhu, 2017). Social security reform that brings the
benefits of instructors working at private HEIs to the same level as public HEIs could drastically
change the recruitment and retention of instructors at private universities (Chen, 2011).
Competitive incentive schemes are another potential tool to solve the recruitment and
retention issues. Luo and Zhu (2017) provided an example showing that in Jiangxi Province,
salary of faculty with private HEIs is much lower than their counterparts with public institutions.
Therefore, a scientific and appropriate compensation system that is consistent with local
economy development should be introduced to attract and retain high-quality faculty members
with private HEIs (Luo & Zhu, 2017).
Meanwhile, training and development is also an important factor that helps job retention
of teachers and employees (Luke et al., 2018; Xu, 2014). Luo and Zhu (2017) proposed that a
long-term and stable training and development system should be introduced, so that faculty
members’ needs to acquire additional knowledge, enhance capabilities, and pursue further
development can be satisfied. Luke et al. (2018) also echoed that human resource managers
should focus on developing and implementing a range of training and development practices that
motivate and energize employees.

4
In addition, unfavorable public recognition is another challenge in faculty recruitment
and retention for private HEIs in China. There are perceptions that faculty with private
institutions are not “formal” teachers and they have lower social status, because private HEIs are
usually perceived to be of lower quality and their management systems are not as good as their
public counterparts (Ma, 2016). Jiang (2011) argued that faculty with private HEIs should be
granted the same legal status as their public counterparts, so that qualified teachers can gain
higher social status and be retained.
To date, however, little progress has been made in solving the problem of a lack of high-
quality faculty in China’s private HEIs. Therefore, further research is necessary to help private
HEIs overcome the difficulties in recruitment and retention of high-quality faculty members.
Importance of Addressing the Problem
The problem of low faculty recruitment and retention at private HEIs in China is
important to solve for a variety of reasons. First, inevitably, the shortage of quality teachers will
result in declining quality of instruction (Dee, 2004). In addition, issues such as interruption of
teaching and research activities, increased operating costs, and sustainability of private HEIs will
also emerge (Luo & Zhu, 2017). Furthermore, this problem negatively impacts Chinese private
HEIs’ general goal to achieve sustainable growth, as shortage of faculty will hamper teaching
quality and reputation of private HEIs. Teaching quality is closely related to and has significant
impact on student enrollment at private HEIs (Yu et al., 2015). Therefore, shortage of quality
faculty undermines teaching quality, which in turn result in poor student enrollment, which is the
main source of income for most private HEIs in China (Lei, 2012). The fact that most private
HEIs in China are facing the talent shortage issues also represents a larger national problem of
inequality between private HEIs and their public counterparts. The inequality in talent, together

5
with other factors such as funding and policy support, will in turn hamper growth and
development of private HEIs across different parts of China. Consequentially, if capacity of
private HEIs decreases, a large number of students will lose the opportunity to receive higher
education.
Organizational Context and Mission
Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College, founded in 1992 by the Wu family, is a private
higher education institute accredited by China’s Ministry of Education. The college started as a
photography training school with an initial enrollment of six students in 1992. In 1996, the
training school became an accredited vocational school offering three-year senior secondary
education programs, with 200 students. The college enrolled 5,700 students with around 300
teaching faculty members, including 180 full-time members and 120 part-time members as of
February 2019, providing three-year vocational education to high school graduates. The college,
located in southern China’s Fujian Province, runs seven schools offering more than 30 programs
including accounting, advertising, business management, early childhood education, fashion
design, nursing, photography, and shoe-making, among others. With a mission to serve the local
economy by training and developing skilled professionals for specific industry sectors, the
college has delivered more than 20,000 graduates, with an employment rate of over 96%
(Huaguang V ocational College, 2019).
Organizational Performance Status
The organizational performance problem at the root of this study is recruitment and
retention of quality faculty members. As of February 2019At present, Huaguang V ocational
College had a total of 180 full-time faculty members. Among them, there are six professors, 12
assistant professors, 60 lecturers, and more than 100 teaching assistants. In addition, there are

6
only two, or one percent of faculty members, who have a doctoral degree; at all 38 HEIs
(including both public and private) in Fujian Province, this figure was 24.63% in 2017 (MoE,
2018). Recruitment of high-quality faculty members, however, has been difficult. More than 30%
of open positions have been unfilled and current faculty members need to take on extra workload
in order to meet demands of students. Meanwhile, the annual turnover rate of faculty at HVC
was 25.7% in 2016 and 20.48% in 2017 (HVC, 2018), which is high when compared to faculty
turnover at other universities: in 2014, the turnover of faculty members at all HEIs (both private
and public) was 2.30% (MoE, 2016). The overall quality and instability of faculty has adverse
impact on the college’s mission to train and develop skilled professionals for development of the
local economy. To improve performance consistently, it is imperative for the college to hire
quality faculty members and retain them effectively. Failure to do so can result in declining
instructional quality, low graduation rates and low employment rates of students, and decreasing
student enrollment.
Organizational Performance Goal
Huaguang V ocational College’s goal is that by December 2024, it will improve its annual
faculty retention rate from 80% in 2018 to 95% in 2024. The goal was set by the college’s board
of directors at the annual board meeting in 2017. The current rate of faculty turnover has caused
declining quality in instruction and research quality, low graduation rate, and is not sustainable
for Huaguang V ocational College. By having high caliber and stable faculty, the college will
have the critical and fundamental human capital to conduct research, develop curriculums,
deliver lectures and workshops, and drive student performance improvement. Consequentially,
positive results from the work of faculty members will contribute to overall performance of the

7
college and help the college achieve its mission to serve the local economy by supplying quality
graduates.
In Fujian Province, there are currently 37 private HEIs in total, including 21 vocational
colleges and 16 universities. Huaguang V ocational College plays an important role in providing
education not only to young people in this province, but also students from other provinces.
However, the college needs a stable faculty in order to continue to be successful and offer high-
quality vocational education.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
There are three key stakeholder groups considered in this study, each contributing to the
achievement of the organizational performance goal: board of directors, faculty members, and
students. The governing body of the college that sets its strategic directions and drives the pursuit
of organizational goals consists of the board of directors, owners, senior leadership, and external
board of directors. Meanwhile, faculty members are the key contributors to the achievement of
the organization’s performance goal, as faculty retention, quality of instruction and research is at
the core of the college’s future development. In addition, students’ performance will be the
evidence that illustrates advancement of the organizational goal. Therefore, students are an
integral group of stakeholders.

8
Stakeholder Performance Goals
Table 1
Stakeholder Performance Goals

Stakeholder Group for the Study
While the joint efforts of all the three stakeholder groups will contribute to the
achievement of the overall organizational goal of improving annual faculty retention rate from
80% in 2018 to 95% in 2024, faculty members play a key role, as they are the decision makers of
retention. In order to recruit high-quality faculty members and increase their retention rate, the
faculty members group has a performance goal that by December 2024, new faculty hired with
advanced degrees and qualifications will remain in post for at least four years. If the faculty
member group’s performance goal is not achieved, the college will not be able to improve
quality in its teaching and research, and the students will not be able to receive quality education
and training, and consequentially, the overall organizational mission will be difficult to achieve.
Organizational Mission

Huaguang V ocational College strives to facilitate local economy growth by training and
development of skilled professionals for fast-growing industry sectors.
Organizational Goal

By December 2024, Huaguang V ocational College will improve its annual faculty retention rate
from 80% in 2018 to 95%.

Board of Directors

By December 2020, the board
of directors will develop a
strategic plan to increase
enrollment to 10,000 students,
supported by stable and high-
quality faculty.

Faculty Members

By December 2024, new
faculty hired with advanced
degrees and qualifications will
remain in post for at least four
years.

Students

By December 2024, 95% of
students will pass all exams
and graduate with a diploma.

9
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project is to conduct a gap analysis to examine the knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences that facilitate the college’s performance goal to
improving faculty recruitment and retention. While a complete gap analysis would focus on all
stakeholder groups, for practical purposes the stakeholders to be focused on in this analysis are
faculty members. The analysis will focus on causes for high-quality faculty recruitment and
retention due to gaps in the areas of faculty members’ knowledge and skill, motivation, and
organizational resources. The analysis will begin by generating a list of possible or assumed
influences that will be examined systematically to focus on actual or validated causes.
As such, the questions that guide this study are the following:
1. What is faculty members’ knowledge and motivation related to staying in post and
contributing to Huaguang V ocational College’s performance goal by December 2024?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and faculty members’
knowledge and motivation?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, a systematic, analytical method that helps to clarify
organizational goals and identify the gap between the actual performance level and the preferred
performance level within an organization, will be implemented as the conceptual framework.
The methodological framework will include qualitative interviews, and a survey to produce
descriptive statistics. Assumed faculty knowledge, motivation and organizational influences that
interfere with organizational goal achievement will be generated based on personal knowledge

10
and related literature. These influences will be assessed by using surveys, document analysis,
interviews, literature review and content analysis. Research-based solutions will be
recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive manner.
Organization of the Project
Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provided the reader with the
context of private higher education in China and faculty quality, general background of the
organization of study, and key concepts commonly found in a discussion about recruitment and
retention. The organization’s mission, goals and stakeholders as well as the initial concepts of
gap analysis were introduced. Chapter Two provides a review of current literature surrounding
the scope of the study. Topics of faculty recruitment and retention, typically within the private
HEI context in China, will be addressed. Chapter Three details the assumed interfering
knowledge, motivation and organizational elements on goal achievement as well as methodology
when it comes to choices of participants, data collection and analysis. In Chapter Four, the data
and results are assessed and analyzed. Chapter Five provides solutions, based on data and
literature, for closing the perceived gaps as well as recommendations for an implementation and
evaluation plan for the solutions.

11
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter Two focuses on analyzing retention of faculty at private HEIs. It begins by
reviewing the private higher education sector in China, the challenges that privates HEIs are
facing, followed by analysis of factors that impact faculty retention at HEIs in general, and
concludes with analysis on existing literature on causes and initial findings on solutions
regarding faculty retention at private HEIs in China.
Higher Education Expansion in China
China’s higher education sector has experienced significant growth over the last few
decades. The number of regular (full-time) HEIs increased from 1,020 in 1997 to 2,631 in 2017.
Meanwhile, both enrollment scale and GER (gross enrollment rate) in Chinese higher education
underwent dramatic expansion (Shi, 2015). Enrollment scale is the number of students that study
at Chinese HEIs. The GER, according to definition of UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2019), is
“number of students enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a
percentage of the official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education.”
In China, the number of undergraduate students surged from 3,174,362 in 1997 to 37,790,000 in
2017. The GER for undergraduate students grew from 9.1% in 1997 to 45.7% in 2017 (MoE,
2018).
Since 1998, the Chinese Ministry of Education has expanded the higher education system
by increasing admission and enrollment in order to meet social and economic development
demands. For example, access to higher education is one of the most important means of
promoting social equity (Shi, 2015). Meanwhile, China’s consistent growth in GDP also requires
an additional supply of talent. Shi (2015) analyzed studies of the expansion and found many
reasons for the growth: demand for talent to sustain economic growth, reducing the pressure on

12
high schools, discouraging test-oriented teaching and learning, high unemployment rate in labor
market, and the influence of international trend for mass higher education. In particular, the
expansion of higher education is expected to reduce the unemployment rate; if a large portion of
high school graduates cannot go to college, they will enter the labor market, and therefore
increase the supply of workers and increase the unemployment rate.
Although the Chinese higher education system has advanced considerably, there are still
problems that need to be addressed), including quality, equity, and unemployment (Shi, 2015).
First, the issue of quality emerged as there is a shortage of qualified faculty and the level of
admission requirements is lower than previous years. There is also unbalanced economic and
educational development in different parts of China, and a disparity in higher education
distribution and availability by region and level, which raises equity concerns. Lastly, the
increasing number of college graduates may result in an oversupply of labor and the
unemployment rate of college graduates is increasing.
Despite the challenges, China has converted its higher education from elite to mass
education in a short period of time (Lei, 2012). As an integral part of China’s higher education
expansion, private higher education has also witnessed significant development.
Development of Private Higher Education in China
The private higher education sector in China has grown over recent decades, and has
become an integral component of Chinese higher education, with “great potential” for future
development and improvement. (Lei, 2012, p 275). The Chinese government accredited the first
private HEI in 1994, and the number of private HEIs grew significantly since then. According to
statistics from China’s Ministry of Education, there were 746 private HEIs in China in 2017 (up
from 39 in 2000), accounting for more than 28% of the total of 2,631 HEIs in China (MoE,

13
2018). The private HEIs employed 316,174 full-time teachers and enrolled 6,284,554 students in
2017 (MoE 2018). Su (2010) argued that the significant growth of private HEIs “represent one of
the most significant developments in Chinese higher education” (p 157). Moreover, the growth
is a “timely response to China’s rapid economic development and market needs” and a result
from “a lack of resources for public higher education and rapid economic development.” (Jiang,
2011. p. 395).
The growth of Chinese private HEIs can be attributed to the inability of the government
to accommodate increasing demand for higher education and educational reform (Jiang, 2011).
Chinese private HEIs, comparing with their public counterparts, charge double the tuition fees,
and mainly enroll students who are unable to meet the admission criteria of public HEIs. Due to
the limited number of places available at public HEIs, private HEIs are still sought after by
students.
With the rapid expansion, private HEIs in China have been facing serious challenges in
their development as well.
Developmental Challenges
Compared with their public counterparts, Chinese private HEIs are at a disadvantage in
many aspects and challenges abound in China’s private higher education sector. Most rely
heavily on tuition fees and some private donations, and they face financial struggles and
problems rooted in insufficient resources, quality issues, and lack of long-range planning (Jiang,
2011; Lei, 2012). Yan and Lin (2010) attributed these challenges to issues with policy and with
social, historical, and cultural causes.
In addition, Lei (2012) argued that there are three major challenges that Chinese private
HEIs face: perceived low quality and low reputation, fierce competition, and decreasing number

14
of students. Jiang (2011) also emphasized that Chinese private HEIs have an urgent need to
“strengthen their core competitiveness and to ensure the retention of appropriate teaching
quality” (p. 395).
Policies and Regulations
Chinese private HEIs are facing more policy and regulatory restrictions, given their
independence from the government. Wang (2014) argued that the higher education sector is still
dominated by public universities, despite heavy dependence on private resources. Tian and Liu
(2018) echoed point, and noted that investment in private education is still a lower priority in the
higher education system in China, compared with their public counterparts. As a result, the
policies and regulations in China favor public HEIs more. For example, public universities
receive more resources and funding, while private HEIs are sometimes prevented from
participating in national or regional research projects. Fluctuations come with rapid growth,
affected by changes in government policy and regulations. Ma and Abbott (2016) also
maintained that regulation does influence the growth of private HEIs, whose operators perceive
that government regulation impose considerable constraints on costs and restrict the way in
which they operate.
Funding
Most Chinese private HEIs have funding challenges as their sources of income are
limited. The reality is that most private HEIs in China rely too much on the tuition fees they
collect from students. They are they are almost 100% dependent on tuition fees and private
donations, because of constraints in social, historical, cultural, and policy factors (Jiang, 2011).
The public HEIs receive most of the funding from Chinese government, in addition to tuition
fees. In addition, private HEIs also have considerable difficulties in obtaining bank loans to

15
finance their development (Su, 2012). Therefore, there is an increasing financial gap between
public and private universities (Liu 2018).
Quality and Credibility
Employers, parents, and students usually perceive private HEIs in China are of a lower
level of quality and credibility. None of the 985 or 211 universities, which are leading institutions
chosen by the Chinese government for additional investment and promotion, are privately
owned. Lei (2012) summarized two reason behind the perception. First, most private HEIs are
for profit and they are perceived to be more for profit rather than for quality. Second, most HEIs
are facing challenges attracting qualified faculty and students, and therefore the quality and
credibility may be compromised. Liu (2018) also argued that quality of private HEIs becomes a
more serious issue when the students pays two or three times more in tuition that their peers at
public HEIs.
Student Enrollment
Although student enrollment is key to the success of Chinese private HEIs, they have
been struggling to attract larger number of students. Every year, the Chinese Ministry of
Education and its provincial departments will determine offerings of majors and programs, as
well as quotas for number of places available to private HEIs. The government restrictions on
academic offerings appears to be the greatest for private HEIs (Ma & Abbott, 2016). Meanwhile,
the admission requirements are becoming lower for private HEIs in order for them to recruit
adequate numbers of students (Shi, 2015), and they need to compete against both public HEIs
and their private peers (Chen, 2011). In general, there are three factors that constrain private
HEIs in student enrollment: perceived low quality and low reputation, fierce competition with
both public and private HEIs, and decreasing number of student population (Lei, 2012).

16
While policies and regulations, funding, quality and credibility, and student enrollment
are all developmental challenges for private HEIs in China, a fundamental challenge facing the
sector is faculty recruitment and retention.
Faculty Recruitment and Retention at Chinese Private HEIs
Chinese private HEIs have been experiencing difficulties recruiting and retaining high-
quality faculty members. According to Shi (2015), the main challenge for Chinese private HEIs
is the shortage of well-qualified faculty, both in quantity and quality. There are many factors that
impact recruitment and retention of faculty members at HEIs. Although the reality of hiring and
retaining faculty could vary in different countries, there are notable factors that are universal
across continents: academic job satisfaction (Padilla-González & Galaz-Fontes, 2015),
remuneration (Shen & Xiong, 2015), and professional development (Slowey & Kozina, 2015).
O’Meara, Lounder, and Campbell (2014) also maintained that better opportunities, the likelihood
to get tenure, family and geographic reasons, and work environment and fit are also important
factors of recruitment and retention at HEIs. In terms of pull factors, Zhou and V olkwein (2004)
identified five major ones: the external job market, perceived external extrinsic rewards, research
opportunities, teaching opportunities, and family considerations.
In China, faculty members at private HEIs are usually young graduates or newly retired
teachers from public HEIs, because it is difficult for private HEIs to attract and retain talent with
significant experience and aged between 30 and 60. Private HEIs in China are also losing talent
to public HEIs as the latter are generally more favorable, offering additional stability, higher
social status, and better social benefits (Xu, 2014). In addition, faculty members at private HEIs
in China are paid less than their peers in public, HEIs and they are not eligible to apply for some
local and national academic research projects (Jiang, 2011).

17
In a bid to overcome the difficulties, a variety of research has been conducted and efforts
implemented.
Efforts Implemented to Address Retention Issues
Practitioners in China private higher education sector have made continuous efforts to
address the challenges faced in rapid expansion. Many studies have studied the causes and
impacts of recruitment and retention issues at private HEIs in China (Chen, 2011; Luo & Zhu,
2017; Xu, 2014). Some of the findings suggest that social security system reform (Chen, 2011;
Luo & Zhu, 2017), tailored management system and incentive schemes (Ma, 2016; Luo & Zhu,
2017), training and development (Luo & Zhu, 2017), and enhancement of public recognition
(Ma, 2016) could contribute to successful retention.
Social Security System Reform
Social security system reform is considered as an effective way to improve faculty
recruitment and retention at Chinese private HEIs. In China, faculty members with public
universities are considered employees of the public sector and they have shiye bianzhi, which
guarantees better social security benefits such as a pension, housing fund, and medical care.
Meanwhile, most faculty members with private HEIs are treated as employees of private
companies (qiye bianzhi) and their social protection is usually of much lower level than their
public counterparts, as there is a gap between shiye bianzhi and qiye bianzhi in terms of level of
benefits they can get. The quality of instructors at private HEIs could be improved if the gap is
eliminated (Chen, 2011). Ma (2016) also maintained that a healthy, reasonable, and fair social
security system is necessary so that faculty members with private HEIs can have access to same
level of social security benefits as teachers with public HEIs.

18
Competitive Incentive Schemes
Competitive and reasonable compensation is also critical in recruitment and retention.
Faculty members at Chinese private HEIs are usually paid less than their public counterparts
(Jiang, 2011). According to an analysis by Luo and Zhu in 2017, a reasonable pay system, which
provides similar pay as public HEIs, is helpful to attract and retain talent and it is imperative for
private HEIs to establish a compensation system that matches local economic and social
development. Xu (2018) went further to suggest that expectancy value is helpful in motivating
instructors with private HEIs, as the introduction of an evaluation system and performance
related pay scheme will be effective in retention. In addition, Xu (2014) argued that fairness of
compensation and non-monetary forms of compensation would also be effective.
Training and Development
Training and development can increase level of job satisfaction and retention rate. Luo &
Zhu (2017) suggested that private HEIs should provide faculty members with training and
development opportunities, build a long-term and sustainable training system to satisfy the
faculty’s needs to enrich knowledge, improve capabilities, and advance career development. In a
case study presented by Xu (2014), professional development programs implemented for faculty
with private HEIs in Shanghai have positive impacts on faculty members’ job satisfaction and
anticipated retention. Xu (2018) also pointed out that faculty members who have obtained higher
degrees and qualifications should be publicly recognized and rewarded.
Enhancement of Public Recognition
Enhanced public recognition brings a greater of sense of pride. There is a public
perception that teachers at private HEIs are not “former university teachers,” because they do not
have shiye bianzhi, as teachers with public HEIs. Instead, they are considered employees of

19
private companies. Therefore, they are not as well respected as their public counterparts and their
sense of pride is lower (Ma, 2016). The Chinese government has done some experiments to grant
teachers with private HEIs with shiye bianzhi status. However, the initiative was implemented at
a small number of private HEIs only, and there is no timetable for a nation-wide implementation.
Despite the fact that there are at least hundreds of journal articles covering the
recruitment and retention challenges that trouble private HEIs in China, few of them have
explored root causes using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The extant literature relies
more on assumptions in the identification of the challenges, rather than results found through
systematic and well-designed surveys and interviews.
Moreover, many of the suggestions or proposed solutions were not tested in a real-world
setting. It is also rare to find from published research that implementation and evaluation of
solutions is actually performed by an owner of a private HEI in China. Therefore, my research
topic could potentially provide a different angle and be an interesting addition to the literature.
Faculty Members’ Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
Knowledge and Skills
According to Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) taxonomy of knowledge, there are four
types of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge. The
taxonomy provide a holistic overview of the different knowledge types that individuals need to
succeed at tasks. Factual knowledge includes basic and discrete elements that “one must know to
be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in it” (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001, p. 64).
Conceptual knowledge refers to the interrelationship among factual knowledge elements within a
larger context and includes knowledge of classifications, principles, theories, models, and
structures. Procedure knowledge focuses on how to do something, such as subject-specific skills,

20
algorithms, techniques, methods, and procedures. Finally, metacognitive knowledge is
knowledge about self: Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) define metacognitive knowledge as
“knowledge of cognition in general as well as awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition”
(p. 46). Individuals’ knowledge and skills, according to Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis
conceptual framework, is one of the three factors that can cause performance gaps, in addition to
motivation and organizational barriers. Exploring assumed knowledge influences, together with
motivation and organizational influences, establishing any gaps and providing the necessary
support, will be instrumental in supporting faculty retention and recruitment.
Faculty knowledge of their impacts on young people’s lives. Faculty members at the
college teach students from more than 10 provinces across China. Faculty members are
influencing students and helping them build up knowledge and skills that are necessary for their
life and career. If faculty members understand and value the impacts that they are making on the
young people, they are more likely to have a sense of pride or achievement, which could be a
positive factor in their retention.
Faculty knowledge of the relationship between faculty stability and sustainability of the
college. Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) described conceptual knowledge as the
interrelationships among basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to function
together. It is more complex, organized forms of knowledge. In this study, there is an apparent
relationship between faculty’s stability and sustainability of the college. Faculty members need
to understand and appreciate that a stable and sustainable faculty contribute to various key
success factors such as teaching quality and student learning. This study will explore the degree
to which faculty members see the importance of faculty stability.
Table 2 presents a summary of the three assumed knowledge influences discussed above.

21
Table 2
Assumed Knowledge Influences
Assumed Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type
Faculty knowledge of their impact on young people’s
lives.
Factual
Faculty knowledge of the relationship between faculty
stability and sustainability of the college.
Conceptual

Motivation
In addition to knowledge and skills, motivation is another key influence on performance
of individuals and ultimately, of an organization. Schunk, Pintrich, and Meece (2008) defined
motivation as “the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained” (p. 4).
Clark and Estes (2008) described motivation as the “internal, psychological process that gets us
going, keeps us going, and helps us get things done” (p. 44). Most researchers agree that there
are three indices of motivated performance: active choice, persistence, and mental effort (Clark
& Estes, 2008; Mayer, 2011). When an individual makes an active choice, the intention to
pursue a goal is replaced by action, he or she begins to actively pursuit a goal. Once he or she
has started, persistence becomes critical as it helps to prevent the individual from engaging with
distractions and give up in the face of challenges. If people get distracted too often or for too
long by less important goals, there is a persistence problem that adversely impacts their
performance (Clark & Estes, 2008). Mental effort, which enables people to work smarter and
develop novel solutions, is necessary for people to generate new learning and knowledge (Rueda,
2011). Underlying the motivated behaviors of active choice, persistence, and mental effort, there
are a number of motivation influences including value, self-efficacy, attributions, goal and goal
orientation, interest, and emotion, among others. In the following section, three motivational

22
factors are put forth as impacting faculty members in achieving their goal in retention: utility
value, interest, outcome expectancies.
Utility value. Pintrich (2003) defined utility value as the perceived usefulness of a task.
Accles (2010) argued that utility value is determined by how well a task fits into an individual's
goals and plans or fulfills other basic psychological needs. In order for faculty members to stay
with the college for more than four years, they need to perceive a long-term commitment to the
college as beneficial for their careers. If the college successfully upgrades to a university, it is
highly likely for faculty members to receive better compensation and benefit packages, enhanced
social status, as well as more career development opportunities. If faculty members focus more
on benefits of the upgrade from 3-year college to 4-year university, they are more likely to have
higher motivation.
Interest value. Renninger et al. (2014) described interest as “a phenomenon that emerges
from an individual’s interaction with his or her environment” (p. 5). Individuals tend to choose to
pursue tasks that are aligned with their personal interest, and there are clear connections between
people’s interests and performance goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). Schraw and Lehman (2009)
demonstrated that personal interest can effectively facilitate learning and motivation. Interest, as
a motivation factor, has both intrinsic and extrinsic aspects. When people have intrinsic interest,
they choose to do something because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable. When people have
extrinsic motivation, they choose to do something because it leads to a separable, beneficial
outcome (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In order for faculty members to continue employment, they need
to have a strong sense of belonging to the university community, which represents intrinsic
interest. Sense of belonging is the experience of “being valued, needed, or important with respect
to other people, groups, or environments” (Hagerty, Williams, Coyne, & Early, 1996, p. 236).

23
Faculty members tend to stay longer if they have a sense of belonging to the educational
institution and community (Hessler & Ritchie, 2006). In addition, if faculty members value
public recognition during their stay at the college, which is an extrinsic interest, they are also
more likely to stay longer.
Table 3
Assumed Motivation Influences
Motivation
Construct
Assumed Motivation Influence
Utility Value Faculty members need to perceive a long-term commitment to the
college as beneficial for their career.
Interest (intrinsic) Faculty members need to have sense of belonging, so that they
will stay longer with the college.
Interest (extrinsic) Faculty members need to find public recognition meaningful, so
that they will remain employed.

Organizational Influences
In addition to knowledge and motivation, organizational influences are another factor that
determines whether stakeholder goal and organizational performance goal can be achieved or
not. In a metaphor introduced by Clark and Estes (2008), if people are cars, knowledge is the
engine and transmission system, motivation is the fuel, and organizational factors are the road
conditions. The metaphor indicates that organizational values, policies, procedures, and material
resources are necessary in the pursuit of performance goals. According to Gallimore and
Goldenberg (2001), organizational influences can be categorized into two: cultural models and
cultural settings. Cultural models are “shared mental schema” or “normative understandings of
how the world works, or ought to work” (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001, p. 47), such as values,
beliefs, and attitudes that are generally invisible and automated. Cultural settings, in comparison,

24
are norms and mores of a particular culture, which are usually visible, concrete manifestations of
cultural models. Cultural settings focus more on who, what, when, where, why, and how (Rueda,
2011). The following section reviews two cultural model influences, sense of belonging and
culture of fostering career development, and two cultural setting influences, incentive programs
and support programs.
Sense of belonging. Culture is a powerful force in performance and it develops and
evolves overtime (Clark & Estes, 2008). Sense of belonging, as an invisible cultural model,
plays a critical role in organizational performance and staff retention. According to Henderson
(2014), belonging is “a primal human urge and need” (p.89) and is a sense of home, which
engages employees and delivers results. Barak (2000) believes that an individual’s perception of
being included will have positive impacts on both job satisfaction and organizational
commitment. Henderson (2014) echoed Barak’s argument and maintained that if a person feels
belonging within a culture, he or she will have higher degree of comfort and feel at home in the
environment (Henderson, 2014). Therefore, in order for faculty members to stay longer, it is
necessary for the college to cultivate a culture that creates and values a sense of belonging
among faculty members. If faculty members have a strong sense of belonging, they are more
likely to be retained.
Culture of fostering career development. A culture that fosters career development
benefits both an organization and also its people. Therefore, leadership of an organization should
play a key role in creating a culture that prioritizes career development (Conger, 2002). Faculty
members, like employees in other organizations, would welcome a culture that fosters career
development, as most of them keen to move upward in terms of academic ranks or managerial
levels (Luo & Zhu, 2017). Meanwhile, career development opportunities are widely considered

25
as a major factor that influences retention (Luo & Zhu, 2017). Therefore, it is necessary for the
college to foster a career development culture for faculty retention, which will in turn facilitate
the performance goal of upgrade. This study will explore the degree to which faculty perceive
that the university has a culture that fosters career development.
Effective incentive programs. Material resources is an important organizational
influence on stakeholder performance, as organizations require tangible supplies and resources to
achieve goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). Incentive programs, a major component of material
resources available to employees, play a key role when an organization is pursing challenging
but possible goals (Clark & Estes, 2008). In order to retain high-quality faculty members at the
college, incentive programs such as performance related pay, retention bonus, project-based
allowances can be effective tools. In general, it is rare for faculty members with private colleges
to earn as high an income as their counterparts at public HEIs, as the latter are financed by the
government and receive heavy subsidies. If the overall compensation of faculty at private
colleges can become comparable or even higher than public HEIs, their willingness to stay will
become stronger. The study will explore the degree to which faculty perceive their compensation
package to be reasonable and competitive.
Support program improvement. In addition to career development and incentive
programs, supports on faculty member’s day-to-day work and life is also critical to retention
(Xu, 2018). Such support programs include benefits such as pension, housing, medical care,
rewards, as well as team activities, labor union activities, and supports to teaching and research
activities. In order for faculty members to stay, the college needs to review current support
programs and actively explore ways of improvement.

26
Table 3 lists the four assumed organizational influences for faculty members to meet their
goal of remaining in post for at least four years.
Table 4
Assumed Organizational Influences
Organizational
Influence Category
Assumed Organizational Influences

Cultural Model Influence 1 The college needs to cultivate a culture that creates and values
a sense of belonging for faculty members in order to improve
retention.
Cultural Model Influence 2 The college needs to have a culture of fostering career
development in order for faculty members to engage and stay.
Cultural Setting Influence 1 The college needs to develop and implement effective
incentive programs in order to motivate and retain faculty
members.
Cultural Setting Influence 2 The college needs to improve support programs to in order to
enhance performance of faculty members.

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CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
The problem of practice addressed by this study is retention of qualified faculty at private
colleges in China. Using Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College as a case, the college had set a
performance goal to improve its annual faculty retention rate from 80% in 2018 to 95% in 2024.
The study focused on influences for high-quality faculty retention problem due to gaps in the
areas of faculty members’ knowledge and skill, motivation, and organizational resources.
Chapter Three elaborates on participating shareholders, research design and methods for
data collection and analysis, credibility and trustworthiness of the study, ethics considerations, as
well as limitations and delimitations. In particular, this study primarily used both quantitative and
qualitative methodologies, including survey and interviews, to collect data and find out reasons
behind the performance gaps. As such, the questions that guide this study are the following:
1. What is faculty members’ knowledge and motivation related to staying in post and
contributing to Huaguang V ocational College’s performance goal by December 2024?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and faculty members’
knowledge and motivation related to staying in post?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
It is also important to note that the my family owns the organization being studied. Most
faculty members and other employees at the college were aware that I was working on this study
that focused on faculty retention. The identity of the researcher has considerable impacts on data
collection, as well as credibility and trustworthiness of this study. For instance, it was unlikely
that survey participants would decline when they were invited to answer the survey questions
because they want to be viewed by as a cooperative employee. In addition, some of the survey

28
participants and interview participants may have chosen to not share their real views and may
have provided more favorable answers as they did not want to be seen as outliers.
Participating Stakeholders
The participating stakeholders of the study are faculty members at Quanzhou Huaguang
V ocational College, a non-government higher education institute accredited by China’s Ministry
of Education. At present, the college has 5,700 students and around 300 teaching faculty
members, including 180 full-time members and 120 part-time members. In this study, survey and
interview were used to collect data and the full-time faculty members were the population to
sample from.
Survey Sampling Strategy and Rationale
The survey respondents are faculty members at Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College.
According to the survey sampling criteria discussed above, there are 180 full-time faculty
members and 20 of them were hired in the last six months. Therefore, the sample size that met
the two criteria is 160, who were the target respondents of the survey. The inclusion of all 160
faculty members guaranteed representativeness because everyone is included in this
comprehensive sampling study (Johnson & Christensen, 2014). The participation of all the 160
faculty members were to provide a holistic and collective view on their knowledge and
motivation related to staying in post, and also the organizational and culture context that the
faculty members are interacting with. At the college, there is a union representing all employees.
The head of the union contacted the faculty members and share the online survey through
WeChat, a popular online messaging service with a total of more than one billion active users.
Email was not the best way to contact them because the college does not provide work email to
faculty and most of them use private email accounts.

29
Criterion 1. The participants were full-time faculty members. Faculty members who
worked on a full-time basis are more appropriate for this research because they are official
employees, while part-time faculty members are temporary and usually have other jobs and
commitments.
Criterion 2. The participants were employed at the college for more than half a year.
Usually it takes some time for newly recruited faculty members to become familiar with the
college and its performance goal. Therefore, the newcomers may not be prepared to answer
questions in the survey.
Interview Sampling Strategy and Rationale
From the population of 160 faculty members who had been with the college for more
than six months, I asked two external researchers to interview 12 of them in-depth following the
survey. The two researchers were experienced qualitative researchers from the University of
Southern California. I used maximum variation sampling to purposely select a representative and
relatively wide range of individuals. Characteristics of maximum variation included, but not
limited to, age, gender, tenure, degree, and professional ranks. Moreover, there are six schools
within the college. Ideally, each school should have at least two participants. In addition, tenure
with the college will also be used a parameter to include faculty members with different tenures.
I chose 12 interviewees because I predict that in answering my research questions, 12 interviews
will reach a point of saturation or redundancy and therefore no new insights are forthcoming
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). To start with, I asked the human resources department to prepare a
list of all full-time faculty members, with details of their name, age, gender, tenure, degree,
qualification, and the school they are at. The list was provided to two external researchers, who

30
selected 12 interviewees from the list according to maximum variation of age, gender, tenure,
degree, and professional ranks.
Criterion 1. The participants should be full-time faculty members. Faculty members
recruited on full-time basis are more appropriate for this research because they are official
employees, while part-time faculty members are temporary, relatively unstable, and usually have
other jobs and commitments.
Criterion 2. The participants should have been with the college for more than half a year.
Usually it takes some time for newly recruited faculty members to get familiar with the college
and its performance goal. Therefore, the newcomers may not be well-prepared or ready for the
interviews.
Criterion 3. There are all together six schools within the college. Ideally, each of the
colleges should have two faculty members participating in the interviews.
Data Collection and Instrumentation
This study used surveys and interviews to collect data from full-time faculty members at
the college. The survey covered 160 faculty members. Following the survey, 12 interviews were
conducted on random sequences to collect additional and more insightful data and information.
Surveys
A total of 160 full-time faculty members, who had been with the college for more than
six months, was asked to participate in the survey. The head of the college’s union created an
online communication group on WeChat to include all the 160 faculty members and send the
survey invite to them through WeChat. However, as the WeChat group is an open group and
members can invite other people to join as well, 31 faculty members and administrators who did
not meet the two set criteria (full-time faculty member with half a year tenure) also became part

31
of the WeChat group. Therefore, there were a total of 191 faculty members and administrators at
Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College who participated in this survey. Based on the large
number of surveys returned, I deduced that some of the surveys did not meet the criteria; some
survey participants may have been administrators or faculty who had not been with the college
for more than six months. It is also possible that some participants may have completed the
survey more than once. I was not able to exclude them as there was no screening question in my
survey.
The survey was available on Qualtrics for two weeks and was presented in Chinese, as
some of the faculty members did not have an adequate level of English proficiency. I translated
the survey from English to Chinese myself to make sure that the two versions are consistent. The
survey includes three general demographic questions and 12 KMO related questions, each four
of them to address knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences respectively. The 12
KMO related questions uses a four-point Likert Scale (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly
disagree) and takes about 10 minutes to complete, according to feedbacks from a piloted survey
conducted for a previous course. In order to preserve the validity of survey results, the survey did
not identify the respondents. To increase the response rate, a random online drawing of a total of
USD 200 was given. As I was not be a member of the online communication group, I transferred
the money to the head of the union, who administered the drawing.
Validity, as Salkind (2016) noted, refers to whether an assessment tool measures what is
intended. The survey in this study included questions that I developed. As a content validity test,
I sought advice from my professors and committee members to make sure that the survey items
accurately reflected the target topic. In addition, I did a pilot survey to test the questions in a

32
small group of 20 faculty members. The response rate was more than 90% and the answers re
highly relevant.
Interviews
I did not conduct the interviews myself because I am an owner of the college and in a
supervisory position to the interviewees. Instead, two external researchers was brought in to
conduct the semi-structured interview. They selected 12 faculty members for face-to-face
interviews, according to defined criteria. The interview includes 11 questions related to
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. All the questions are open-ended, probing
or inquiring about the interviewees’ views and opinions on faculty retention and the college’s
potential upgrade from a three-year college to a 4-year university. The interviews used a semi-
structure approach, which allows researchers to “focus on the particular phenomena being
studied, which differ between individuals or settings and require individually tailored methods”
(Maxwell, 2013, p. 88). Each interview took about one hour and will be conducted in Mandarin.
The interviews took place at a third-party venue outside of the college, so that the interview
participants felt and comfortable. The interview protocol is in Chinese. With permission from the
interviewees, the interviews were recorded and then transcribed in Chinese by an independent
service provider. It is unlikely for the interviewees to respond in English because of their level of
proficiency in this foreign language. In order to preserve anonymity of the interviewees, the
records were locked in a safe outside of the college and the transcripts were encrypted and
password protected.
Data Analysis
I used Qualtrics to analyze the data collected from the survey. For survey responses,
percentage and frequency were calculated and analyzed. Meanwhile, descriptive statistical

33
analysis was conducted. Data from the survey was presented in table or bar charts. I used the
survey results to understand faculty members’ self-reported views on knowledge, motivation,
and organizational factors related to retention. I also triangulated survey results with data gather
from interviews to check if there are similarities or disparities.
I was not be able to begin interview data analysis during the data collection process, as
the interviewers were two external researchers. Data analysis started after receiving the
transcripts from the interviewers. My first step was to use open coding, looking for empirical
codes and applying a priori codes from conceptual framework such as the gap analysis
framework. The, second phase of analysis was conducted to aggregate empirical and a priory
codes are aggregated into emerging analytic/axial codes according to knowledge, motivation, and
organization. In the third phase of data analysis, I identified pattern codes and themes that
emerge in relation to the conceptual framework and research questions. For instance, to test a
hypothesis that competitive incentive program will effectively improve retention, I developed a
priori codes such as “salary,” “performance related pay,” and “bonus.” During the data analysis
process, more relevant empirical codes emerged. I then used axial coding to involve relating data
together to reveal categories, and then identify patterns or themes that illustrate how useful
competitive incentive program is, in order to address part of the research question.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
In order to increase credibility and trustworthiness of this study, triangulation was used
because it enhances research to be accurate (Patton, 2002). First, two external researchers were
used to conduct the interviews, so that they can triangulate the results and make comparison. The
interviewees were divided into two groups, each researcher worked with one of the two groups.

34
In addition, data collected from the survey were studied together with data collected from the
interviews, so that different methods can be complementary to each other.
Meanwhile, as a researcher, I have my own subjectivity and my values and expectations
may influence the conduct and conclusion of the study (Maxwell, 2013). In this particular study,
I may have assumptions of the causes and potential solutions already but I relied on the data and
findings from the survey and interviews, so that results of the study can be more objective. In
order to minimize my bias, I used member checking to make sure that the findings are accurate. I
had the two external researchers to conduct the interviews to reduce my contact with
participants. Follow-up questions for participants also took place, so that the interview
participants can help clarify data and provide feedback on the findings (Creswell & Creswell,
2018).
Ethics
Before the survey and interviews, I submitted my study to the Institutional Review Board
(IRB) of the University to Sothern California to make sure that my plan meets the IRB ethical
standards. At the very beginning of the survey, I assured the participants that the survey is
anonymous and voluntary, and the demographic data that the survey collects will be generic and
therefore their identity will not be disclosed. In addition, I elaborated on background and purpose
of the survey, so that the research participants will have sufficient information to make informed
decisions about participating in a study (Glesne, 2011). Meanwhile, for the interview part,
information sheets were delivered to all participants to prepare them for the interviews.
According to Rubin & Rubin (2012), informed consent, or in this case information sheet, helps
ensure that the participants understand the nature of the research and are aware of risks it poses,
and are not forced either covertly or overtly to participate. In addition, according to Glesne

35
(2011), participants have a right to expect that when they give a researcher permission to observe
and interview, the researcher will protect their confidences or preserve their anonymity.
Because I am an owner of the college and in a supervisory position to the interview
participants, I did not conduct the interviews myself. Instead, two external researchers from
another university were brought in to interview current faculty members at my college to make
sure that we do not harm and do not pressure them, while protecting confidences and preserving
anonymity. Importantly, I also let the interviewees know that they are able to withdraw from the
study without penalty at any point (Glesne, 2011). With permission from the participants, the
interviews were taped and transcribed. In order to preserve anonymity of the interviewees, the
records were locked in a safe outside of the college and the transcripts were encrypted and
password protected. Although I did not provide any incentives to the interviewees, who will
always remain anonymous, the interviews may improve the condition of the participants because
improvements will be to current recruitment and retention practices, which will in turn enhance
their working conditions.
Limitations and Delimitations
There are a number of potential limitations in this study. First, because I am relying on
self-reported data only, there is the possibility that they may not provide responses that are
honest. Second, the two external researchers conducting the interviews are not as familiar with
the organization as I am. Therefore, they may not be able to have full understanding of the
context and may not be able to probe further in some context specific questions. Third, the study
focuses on one single private college and may not be able to depict a full picture of all private
colleges across China, although this is not my personal goal of doing this study. Finally, because

36
all the interviews were conducted in Chinese and then be translated in English by me, there could
be loss or inaccuracy although efforts will be made to ensure consistency.
In terms of delimitation, this study focuses on retention only and many other issues
related to the three to 4-year school upgrade, such as governance, finance, student enrollment,
and facilities, are not systematically covered in this study. Another delimitation is that my college
is the only target for this study and other higher educational institutes are not included. In
addition, part-time faculty members are not included in this study as they have other full-time
commitments and are not as closely tied to the college as full-time faculty members. Moreover, I
used the KMO model purposely for this study and excluded other models that could also be
appropriate for addressing my research question.
Chapter Three discusses on participating shareholders, sampling strategy and sampling
criteria of survey and interviews, which are the two data collection instruments of this study. This
chapter also elaborates on how data will be analyzed and measures taken to ensure credibility,
trustworthiness, validity, and reliability. Additionally, ethics considerations, limitations and
delimitations are also discussed. This methods chapter is instrumental and fundamental to data
collection, data analysis, and also presentation of findings.

37
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
The problem of practice addressed by this study is retention of qualified faculty at private
colleges in China, and focusing on Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College. The purpose of this
study is to conduct a gap analysis to examine the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences that facilitate the college’s performance goal to improving faculty recruitment and
retention. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including survey and
interviews, to collect data and learn about the performance gaps. As such, the questions that
guide this study are the following:
1. What is faculty members’ knowledge and motivation related to staying in post and
contributing to Huaguang V ocational College’s performance goal by December 2024?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and faculty members’
knowledge and motivation related to staying in post?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
This chapter presents knowledge, motivation, and organizational findings from the survey
and interviews and examines how they align with the conceptual framework. In addition, this
chapter also considers how the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences interact
with each other and how they impact the problem of practice. The main findings from this
chapter include the following:
1. All survey participants and interview participants agreed that their work has an impact on
the students’ lives and most of them are willing to go the extra mile in order to facilitate
growth of the students.

38
2. Faculty understand that their stable employment may have a positive influences on
teaching quality and student learning, and consequently, sustainability of the college.
3. Long-term commitment, sense of belonging, and public recognitions are helpful in
faculty retention, if the policies and process are rigorous and fair.
4. The college needs to nurture a culture of belonging among faculty members, foster career
development, and improve on incentive and support programs.
5. A theme emerged around motivation and organizational influences: a rigorous
performance evaluation system should be in place to make sure that public recognition,
career progression, and incentive is fair for everyone.
Participating Stakeholders
The participating stakeholders of the study were faculty members at Quanzhou Huaguang
V ocational College, a non-governmentally funded, higher education institute accredited by
China’s Ministry of Education. The college enrolled 5,700 students with around 300 teaching
faculty members, including 180 full-time members and 120 part-time members. In this study,
survey and interview were used to collect data from the full-time faculty population.
Survey Participants
The target survey participants were the 160 full-time faculty members that had been with
Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College for more than six months. As discussed in Chapter
Three, the head of the college’s union created an online communication group on WeChat to
include all the 160 faculty members and sent the survey invite to them through WeChat.
However, as the WeChat group is an open group and members can invite other people to join as
well, at least 31 faculty members and administrators that did not meet the two set criteria (full-
time faculty member with half a year tenure) may have become part of the WeChat group.

39
Therefore, there were a total of 191 faculty members and administrators at Quanzhou Huaguang
V ocational College who participated in this survey and the response rate was 100%. Among the
participants, 127 were female, while the remaining 64 were male. Age of the participants ranged
from 23 to 66, with an average of 33 years. The average tenure at the college of the survey
participants was 6.5 years. In terms of educational background, one of the participants had a Ph.
D. degree, 39 of them had a master’s degree, 148 had a bachelor’s degree, while the remaining
three had associate degrees.
Table 5
Demographic Information of Survey Participants
Measure Item Frequency Percentage
Gender Male
Female
64
127
33.51
66.49

Age 21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
Invalid
78
92
16
2
2
1
40.84
48.17
8.38
1.05
1.05
0.52

Education Doctoral
Master
Bachelor
Associate
1
39
148
3
1.05
20.42
77.49
1.57
Tenure 0-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
Invalid
104
34
46
5
2
54.45
17.80
24.08
2.62
1.05

Interview Participants
Among the 191 survey participants, 68 agreed to participate in a follow-up interview. As
an owner of the college, I was not an ideal person to interview the faculty members. Instead, my

40
classmate from Cohort 7 of Global Ed.D. program, and an alumna from Cohort 6 of the same
program conducted the interviews. Each of them interviewed six participants. The volunteer
interviewers chose the interview participants from a list of 68 people based on maximum
variation sampling to purposely select a representative and relatively wide sample of individuals.
Characteristics of maximum variation include age, gender, degree, and professional ranks,
schools they are with, and their tenure.
Table 6
Demographic Information of the Interview Participants
Measure Item Frequency Percentage
Gender Male
Female
6
6
50.00
50.00

Age 21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
2
7
2
1
16.67
58.33
16.67
8.33

Education Doctoral
Master
Bachelor

1
3
8

8.33
25.00
66.67

Tenure 0-6
7-12
13-18

5
3
4

41.67
25.00
33.33
Academic Title Senior
Middle
Junior and below

4
5
3

33.33
41.67
25.00

School /
Department
Foundation Department
School A
School B
School C
School D
School E
School F

3
2
1
1
1
2
2
25.00
16.67
8.33
8.33
8.33
16.67
16.67

41
Knowledge Findings
In exploring knowledge influences, this study focused on factual knowledge and
conceptual knowledge. Factual knowledge includes basic and discrete elements that “one must
know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in it” (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001,
p. 64). The factual knowledge influence examined in this study is faculty knowledge of their
impact on young people’s lives. Conceptual knowledge refers to the interrelationship among
factual knowledge elements within a larger context and includes knowledge of classifications,
principles, theories, models, and structures. The conceptual knowledge influence explored in this
study is faculty knowledge of the relationship between faculty stability and sustainability of the
college. Validation of the knowledge influences focus on whether there is a need to further
improve faculty members’ relevant knowledge.
Table 6 presents a summary of the two assumed knowledge influences discussed above.
Table 7
Assumed Knowledge Influences
Assumed Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type Validation Tool
Faculty knowledge of their impact on young
people’s lives.
Factual Survey
Faculty knowledge of the relationship between
faculty stability and sustainability of the college.
Conceptual Survey,
interview

Faculty Knowledge of Their Impact on Young People’s Lives
Results from both the survey and interviews showed that most faculty members were
aware that they are influencing the students and helping them build knowledge and skills that are
necessary for their lives and career. Among the 191 survey participants, only six of them
disagreed that they are making an impact on the students, while 67 participants chose “Strongly
Agree” and 118 selected “Agree.” Ten interview participants agreed that what they are doing at

42
the college is helpful to students, specifically in the areas of development and training of
technical skills, guidance in daily life, and advice on careers. They believed what they are doing
is meaningful and will have impacts on students. One of the participants said “our job is very
meaningful because we are involved in their life and we are witnessing their growth… therefore,
I feel that over the last 10 years we may have not been satisfactory in every area, but at least we
feel good about this.” Nine interview participants showed a positive interest in making additional
efforts to facilitate growth of the students. One of them commented:
Previously I have worked for companies for many years. Therefore, I am able to
incorporate my practical experience into lecturing, so that my students can grasp
knowledge that meets market requirements… in addition, based on my personal life
experience, I would also give students further guidance whenever appropriate.

Figure 1. As a faculty member at the college, I believe I am making an impact on young people
from different provinces.

Faculty Knowledge of the Relationship Between Faculty Stability and Sustainability of the
College
All of the survey participants were consistent in their view of the relationship between
faculty stability and sustainability of the college. One hundred and sixty out the 191 survey
participants strongly agreed that “stable faculty is critical to sustainability of the college,” and
0
6
118
67
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

43
the remaining 31 chose “Agree.” Reponses from interview participants are also highly
consistent; they believed that faculty stability plays a “decisive” or “unquestionable” role in
sustainable growth of the college. One of the interview participants commented: “They (faculty
stability and sustainability of the college) are closely tied. I believe stability of the faculty team is
extremely important, not only for the individuals, but also for the college.” Eleven of the
interview participants maintained that faculty stability is critical for sustainability of the college
because it is able to ensure the continuity of teaching, foster development of new teachers, and
therefore improve teaching quality and student learning. One of the interview participants noted:
“If there is a high turnover of faculty members, it will certainly have adverse impact on
development and sustainability of the college.” Comments from interview participants were
echoed by responses from the survey question.

Figure 2. I understand that a stable faculty is critical to sustainability of the college.
One hundred fifty-five survey participants, representing more than 81% of the total 191,
strongly agreed that stability of faculty helps teaching quality improvement and student learning.
Furthermore, 10 out of the 12 interview participants maintained that the capability of faculty
members is the main influence on teaching quality and student learning. Another factor related to
teaching quality is the relationship with students, whether faculty members are able to build a
trusted relationship with students. Quality of students, student’s willingness and interest to learn,
0
0
31
160
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

44
student management, and college facilities also have impact on teaching quality and student
learning. Specifically, compensation and benefits were discussed by two interview participants,
and training and development opportunities, were discussed by another two interview
participants, on what could help improve teaching quality and student learning because faculty
members will be more motivated.

Figure 3. I understand that stability of faculty helps teaching quality improvement and student
learning.

In summary, both assumed knowledge causes were not validated, indicating that there is
no need to educate faculty members on the importance of their stability. All survey participants
and interview participants agreed that their work has an impact on students’ lives, both academic
and professional. In addition, 10 interview participants were willing to go the extra mile in order
to facilitate growth of the students, leveraging their professional knowledge and skills, as well as
personal life experiences. In addition, it was also widely agreed that faculty stability is a key
factor that impacts sustainability of the college. Specifically, stability of the faculty team has a
positive influence on teaching quality and student learning, two important indicators of
sustainability of the college.

0
1
35
155
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

45
Table 8
Assumed Knowledge Influences, Findings and Validation
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence
Findings Validated Not
Validated
Faculty knowledge
of their impacts on
young people’s life.
1. Faculty members believe what they are doing
is meaningful and will have an impact on
students.
2. Faculty members understand that they have
impacts on development and training of
student’s technical skills
3. Faculty members provide guidance on
student’s daily life
4. Faculty members provides advices on
students’ career development
X
Faculty knowledge
of the relationship
between faculty
stability and
sustainability of the
college.
1. Faculty members widely agreed that faculty
stability is a key factor that impacts
sustainability of the college.
2. Teaching quality is important to sustainable
growth of the college.
3. Student learning is important to sustainable
growth of the college
√ X

Motivation Findings
In addition to knowledge and skills, motivation was another key influence to examine in
both the survey and interviews. In particular, two motivational factors that are assumed to
influence faculty retention are utility value and interest value. Utility value is defined as the
perceived usefulness of a task (Pintrich, 2003) and it is determined by how well a task fits into an
individual's goals and plans or fulfills other basic psychological needs (Accles, 2010). Interest
value, which indicates that there are clear connections between people’s interests and
performance goals (Clark & Estes, 2008), has both intrinsic and extrinsic aspects. In intrinsic
interest, it is assumed that faculty members need to have a strong sense of belonging to the
college community, so that they can stay longer. If faculty members value public recognition
during their stay at the college, which is an extrinsic interest, they are also more likely to remain

46
stable. The motivation influences were validated based on if there is a need for improvement,
according to survey and interview findings.
Table 9 presents a summary of the three assumed motivation influences discussed above.
Table 9
Assumed Motivation Influences
Motivation
Construct
Assumed Motivation Influence Validation Tool
Utility Value Faculty members need to perceive a long-
term commitment to the college as beneficial
for their career.
Survey, interview
Interest (intrinsic) Faculty members need to have sense of
belonging, so that they will stay longer with
the college.
Survey, interview
Interest (extrinsic) Faculty members need to find public
recognition meaningful, so that they will
remain employed.
Survey, interview

Faculty Members Need to Perceive a Long-term Commitment to the College as Beneficial
for Their Career
Nearly 85% of survey participants agreed or strongly agreed that long-term commitment
to the college will be helpful for their career. However, 27, or 14.14% of them chose to disagree,
while two of them strongly disagreed. Responses from interview participants echoed the survey
findings: six out of the 12 participants clearly stated that they believe in long-term commitment
to the college. One of the participants stated:
I’ve been with the college for 15 years. I am sure about this (long-term commitment to
the college as beneficial for my career). I have strong emotional attachment to the
college. Let me put it this way: there are a lot of teachers that have (the) same thoughts as
me.

47
However, another interview participant argued that his/her long-term commitment to the
college depends on his/her own career planning and also whether the college has a long-term
commitment to faculty members or not. The interview participant commented: “If the college is
worthwhile for me (to have long-term commitment), I think having long-term commitment to the
college will help my career.”

Figure 4. I believe long-term commitment to the college is beneficial for my career.
Faculty Members Need to Have Sense of Belonging, so that They Will Stay Longer with the
College
Similar to previous survey question on long-term commitment, close to 85% of survey
participants strongly agreed or agreed that sense of belonging will improve retention of faculty
members. Meanwhile, the remaining 15% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Ten interview
participants agreed that they have a strong sense of belonging working at the college because
they feel “integrated” and “happy.” One of the interview participants, who has been with the
college for 16 years, commented: “I have a strong sense of belonging. I am close to 40 years old.
If the college wants to keep me, basically I will spend the rest of my career here.” In particular,
six interview participants emphasized that they have a strong emotional attachment to the
college, as they have been through the “ups and downs” with the college and feel that they are a
“member of the family.”
2
27
110
52
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

48
The interview data showed that sense of belonging also comes from care and respect that
the faculty members feel or experience from the college. There was a consensus that the college
cares about faculty members in their work and life. Although there were down times, the college
never delayed in paying salaries. Moreover, increasingly there are more and more policies
implemented to ensure that faculty members are well treated, such as subsidies, support for
research, and “humanistic care,” which was mentioned frequently. An interview participant said:
“Sometimes a small gesture makes me feel warm and cozy. For example, our chairman is a
kindhearted and benevolent person. I feel that he is, and so is our president.”
However, there are still different voices. Among the 12 interview participants, two of
them rated their sense of belonging on a scale of 1 to 10, while the other 10 did not provide their
ratings. The first interview participant, who gave a 7 out of 10, felt a strong sense of belonging
because the college supports development of the school that he/she manages and respected
his/her opinions in decision making. The second interview participant, who rated his/her sense of
belonging at five, felt strong a sense of achievement as he/she was well recognized by students
and has completed various tasks. However, he/she was not sure how the management of the
college viewed him/her and therefore has a lower level of sense of belonging.

Figure 5. A sense of belonging is important for me to continue working at the college.

5
24
85
77
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

49
Faculty Members Need to Receive Public Recognition, so that They Will Remain Employed
at the College
More than 90% of survey participants agreed or strongly agreed that if they receive
public recognition such as Teacher of the Year, they will stay longer with the college. Only less
than 10% of the participants held different views. Meanwhile, most of the interview participants
confirmed that public recognition is a good encouragement and will make people stay longer. An
interview participant stated: “Yes, there are connections between recognition and faculty
stability, because only when you are recognized and appreciated, you will have more confidence
and it also has impacts on your work attitude.” Another participant echoed that: “No matter what
stage of personal growth we are at, such kind of encouragement and incentive gives us a strong
sense of satisfaction and achievement.”
However, interview participants also emphasized that nomination and evaluation of
awards of public recognitions needs to be rigorous and fair, because there is still room for
improvement in terms of policies and process. One of the interview participants commented:
I think sometimes (the) winner of an award may not be the best among all. They are just
someone that the leadership likes because he or she has done something for the college.
The individual may not be the most outstanding in any areas, but he or she was picked.
That’s why people are not convinced.

50

Figure 6. I am motivated to stay by public recognition such as Teacher of the Year award.
Related to public recognition, a total of 167 survey participants agreed or strongly agreed
that they are proud of being a faculty member at the college, representing more than 87% of total
participants. Meanwhile, 24, or 12.57% of the participants disagreed. The disagreement is not
surprising, as 70% of survey participants also reported they would choose to leave if they had a
chance to join a public higher education institution, which would offer additional stability and
higher social status.

Figure 7. I am proud of being a faculty member at the college.

0
19
93
79
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
0
24
122
45
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

51

Figure 8. If I had the chance to teach at a public university next year, I would choose to leave.
In summary, all three assumed motivation causes were validated, indicating that there is a
need for the college to enhance long-term commitment, sense of belonging, and public
recognition. Most of the survey participants and interview participants agreed that long-term
commitment is beneficial for their career. Participants also believed that long-term commitment
needs to be mutual, as it is important that the college needs to share a long-term commitment to
faculty members. The majority of survey participants and interview participants supported the
idea that sense of belonging is important for retention. Although most of them felt that they are
respected and taken care of at the college, there was still room for improvement. In addition,
participants agreed that public recognition was helpful in faculty retention, if the policies and
process are rigorous and fair. Moreover, despite that fact that 87% of survey participants are
proud of being a member of the college, 70% of the survey participants would choose to leave
for a job at a public educational institution if they had the opportunity.
Table 10
Assumed Motivation Influences, Findings and Validation
Assumed Motivation
Influence
Findings Validated Not
Validated
Faculty members
need to perceive a
long-term
commitment to the
1. Most faculty members believe that
long-term commitment to the college is
helpful for their career.
X
5
52
100
34
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

52
college as beneficial
for their career.
2. The college also needs to have long-
term commitment to faculty members.

Faculty members
need to have sense of
belonging, so that
they will stay longer
with the college.
1. Most faculty members believe that
sense of belonging will improve
retention.
2. The college needs to have more care
and respect for faculty members.
X
Faculty members
need to find public
recognition
meaningful, so that
they will remain
employed.
1. Most faculty members believe that
public recognition will improve
retention.
2. Policies and process need to be
rigorous and fair
X

Organizational Findings
Organizational influences, according to Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001), can be
categorized into two types: cultural models and cultural settings. Cultural models are “shared
mental schema” or “normative understandings of how the world works, or ought to work”
(Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001, p. 47), such as values, beliefs, and attitudes that are generally
invisible and automated. Cultural settings are norms and mores of a particular culture, which are
usually visible, concrete manifestations of cultural models. The study explores two cultural
model influences: sense of belonging and culture of fostering career development, and two
cultural setting influences: incentive programs and support programs. The organizational
influences were examined based on if there is a need for improvement, according to survey and
interview findings.
Table 11 lists the four assumed organizational influences for faculty members to meet the
college’s goal of having them remain in post for at least four years.

53
Table 11
Assumed Organizational Influences
Organizational
Influence Category
Assumed Organizational Influences

Validation Tool
Cultural Model
Influence 1
The college needs to cultivate a culture that
values a sense of belonging for faculty
members in order to improve retention.
Survey, interview
Cultural Model
Influence 2
The college needs to have a culture of
fostering career development in order for
faculty members to engage and stay.
Survey, interview
Cultural Setting
Influence 1
The college needs to develop and implement
effective incentive programs in order to
motivate and retain faculty members.

Cultural Setting
Influence 2
The college needs to improve support
programs to in order to enhance performance
of faculty members.
Survey, interview

The College Needs to Cultivate a Culture that Values a Sense of Belonging for Faculty
Members in Order to Improve Retention
More than 65% of survey participants “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the college has
effectively created a culture of belonging. However, 66 participants chose “disagree” and another
six selected “strongly disagree,” indicating that there are still one-third of the participants who
hold a negative view on the college’s culture, which affects faculty sense of belonging.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to address the concerns of the faculty members. Although most
of the interview participants agreed that they see the culture of belonging but there is still room
for improvement. One of the interview participants commented: “I admit that I have some sense
of belonging to the college, but not a great deal…That’s because our policies for promotion need
improvement.” Four other interview participants, when being asked what can be done to enhance
sense of belonging, also mentioned the evaluation standards and process for professional titles,
which is closely related to income and social status of faculty members.

54

Figure 9. The college has effectively created a culture of belonging among faculty members.
The College Needs to Have a Culture of Fostering Career Development in Order for
Faculty Members to Engage and Stay
More than 81% of survey participants supported the statement that the college has taken
actions to foster career development of faculty members. Ten interview participants echoed the
survey findings, saying that the college has not only provided professional and vocational
trainings but also subsidized degreed academic programs. One interview participant said:
Yes, we have career development related trainings going on and on. Every year, when we
find some professional trainings that are appropriate for us, we will apply for attendance.
Usually the college leadership will approve and provide funding. Therefore, we have
placed a lot of importance to (the) development of faculty member.
This finding illustrated Luo & Zhu (2017)’s argument that training and development
opportunities can satisfy the faculty’s needs to enrich knowledge, improve capabilities, and
advance career development. In relation to career development, the topic of evaluation standards
and process for professional titles emerged again from the interviews, indicating that faculty
members at the college care a lot about their professional ranks.
6
60
87
38
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

55

Figure 10. The college fosters career development of faculty members.
The College Needs to Develop and Implement Effective Incentive Programs to Motivate
and Retain Faculty Members.
Over one third of survey participants believed that the college has not implemented
effective incentive programs in order to motivate and retain faculty members, indicating that
there is a gap between what has been done and what the faculty members are expecting. The
interview participants cared more about financial incentives, such as compensation and benefits
like social insurance, housing fund, medical insurance, and unemployment insurance. They
believe that although there have been improvements in recent years, the level of compensation at
the college is at an average level and therefore not attractive enough. One of the interview
participants argued, “Frankly, compensation is the main driver of turnover that have happened.”
Five participants raised the point of performance related pay, arguing that a performance
and result-driven pay system, supported by fair and rigorous standard and process, will help
retain high-quality faculty members and discourage low-performers. This finding aligns with
research published by Xu (2014), which found that fairness of compensation is critical.
2
34
107
48
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

56

Figure 11. The college has implemented effective incentive programs in order to motivate and
retain faculty members.

The College Needs to Improve Support Programs in Order to Enhance Performance of
Faculty Members
More than 80% of survey participants have positive views on the college’s support
programs to enhance the well-being of faculty members. Such support programs includes free or
subsidized school housing, support for children’s education, outings, regular health check-ups,
team building activities, and other regular activities organized by the union. One of the interview
participants shared:
When I joined the college last September, my kid needs to go to grade one of primary
school. However, the space was limited at public schools and it was almost unlikely to
get in given the short notice. Our president went to meet officials at the education bureau
and managed to secure a place. That really means a lot to me.
Another participant also expressed his gratitude:
Both my wife and I work at the college. We live in a college apartment and the rent is
RMB 200 to 300 a month (USD 28.5 to 43) a month. In comparison, the market price is
around RMB 2,000 (USD 285).
Although there is room for further improvement, findings from the survey and interviews
showed that the college has done reasonably well in the provision of support programs.
5
62
91
33
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

57

Figure 12. The college has support programs to enhance the well-being of faculty members.
In summary, all four assumed organizational influences were validated. There is a strong
need for the college to nurture a culture of belonging among faculty members, as one-third of the
survey participants held negative views. Meanwhile, a culture that supports career development
also has positive impacts on faculty retention and the college has provided efficient support. In
addition, the evaluation standards and process for professional titles of faculty members emerged
as a major concern when interview participants talked about sense of belongings and career
development. The college’s current incentive program is facing scrutiny and needs further
improvement, and performance pay emerged as a possible measure. Finally, the colleges have
provided effective support programs, which can be enhanced as necessary.
Table 12
Assumed Organizational Influences, Findings and Validation
Assumed
Organizational
Influence
Findings Validated Not
Validated
The college needs to
cultivate a culture that
creates and values a
sense of belonging for
faculty members in
order to improve
retention.
1. Sense of belonging closely related to
retention
2. There is sense of belonging among
faculty members but needs further
improvement
X
The college needs to
have a culture of
1. The college fosters career
development of faculty members
X
3
36
117
35
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

58
fostering career
development in order
for faculty members to
engage and stay.
2. Evaluation and grant of professional
titles is critical in retention
The college needs to
develop and
implement effective
incentive programs in
order to motivate and
retain faculty
members.
1. Current incentive system needs
improvement
2. Performance driven incentive
programs could be helpful
X
The college needs to
improve support
programs to in order to
enhance performance
of faculty members.
1. Majority of faculty members have
positive views on the college’s
support programs to enhance the well-
being of faculty members.
2. The support programs can be further
enhanced.
X

An Emerging Theme
During the interviews, a theme emerged around motivation and organizational influences,
and that is a rigorous performance evaluation system should be in place to make sure that public
recognition, career progression, and incentive is fair for everyone. One interview participant
suggested, “Promotions should be closely related to performance, not just opinions of school
leaders.” Five participants also raised the point of performance related pay, arguing that a
performance and result-driven pay system, supported by fair and rigorous standard and process,
will help retain high-quality faculty members and discourage low-performers. Interview data also
showed that there is still room for improvement in the college’s performance evaluation system.
Conclusion
Findings from survey and interviews suggested that faculty members are ware that their
work has an impact on the students’ lives, stability of faculty has positive influences on
sustainability of the college. In addition, long-term commitment, sense of belonging, and public
recognitions are helpful in faculty retention, while a culture of belonging among faculty

59
members, career development, and improvement on incentive and support programs are also
critical for stability of faculty members. It is also important to establish a rigorous performance
evaluation system that makes public recognition, career progression, and incentive fair for
everyone.

60
CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS
The problem of practice addressed by this study is the retention of qualified faculty at
private colleges in China. Quanzhou Huaguang V ocational College, the organization of this
study, aims to improve its annual faculty retention rate from 80% in 2018 to 95% in 2024. By
conducting a gap analysis to examine the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences,
this this study uses survey and interviews analyze the gaps and propose recommendations. This
chapter will elaborate on the validated influences, develop solutions to address those findings,
propose implementation plans for the solutions, and outline plans to evaluate effectiveness of the
solution. This chapter will also discuss limitations of this study and suggest potential areas for
future research.
Key Findings
Through analysis of responses and data collected from surveys and interviews, seven out
of the nine assumed influences were validated, including three motivation influences, and four
organizational influences. From knowledge perspective, all survey participants and interview
participants agreed that their work has an impact on students’ lives and they agreed that faculty
stability is a key factor that affects sustainability of the college. Therefore, there is little need to
further enhance their knowledge. In terms of motivation, most of the survey participants and
interview participants agreed that long-term commitment is beneficial for the career, a sense of
belonging is important for retention, and public recognitions are helpful in faculty retention.
Organizational findings also suggest that there is a strong need for the college to nurture a culture
of belonging among faculty members, foster career development, develop and implement
competitive and fair incentives, and enhance effective support programs. Specifically, a theme

61
emerged from both motivation and organizational influences: a rigorous performance evaluation
system, which can make public recognition, career progression, and incentive fair for everyone.
Table 13
Validated Influences
Gap
Analysis
Factor
KMO
Construct
Validated
Need
Assumed Influence
Knowledge Factual No Faculty knowledge of their impact on young people’s
lives.
Knowledge Conceptual No Faculty knowledge of the relationship between
faculty stability and sustainability of the college.

Motivation Utility
Value
Yes Faculty members need to perceive a long-term
commitment to the college as beneficial for their
career.

Motivation Interest
(intrinsic)
Yes Faculty members need to have sense of belonging, so
that they will stay longer with the college.

Motivation Interest
(extrinsic)
Yes Faculty members need to find public recognition
meaningful, so that they will remain employed.

Organization Cultural
Model
Yes The college needs to cultivate a culture that creates
and values a sense of belonging for faculty members
in order to improve retention.

Organization Cultural
Model
Yes The college needs to have a culture of fostering
career development in order for faculty members to
engage and stay.

Organization Cultural
Setting
Yes The college needs to develop and implement
effective incentive programs in order to motivate
and retain faculty members.

Organization Cultural
Setting
Yes The college needs to improve support programs to in
order to enhance performance of faculty members.

62
Recommendations
As survey and interview findings revealed that all the participating faculty members
understand that their works have impacts on the students’ life and agreed that faculty stability is a
key factor that impacts sustainability of the college, proposed recommendations will focus more
on motivation and organization influences. The first recommendation is to cultivate a culture that
creates and values sense of belonging. The second recommendation is to promote fair and
meaningful public recognition. The third recommendation is to develop and implement
competitive incentive programs with performance-related criteria. Last but not least, the fourth
recommendation is to create a culture of fostering career development of faculty members.
Table 14
Validated Influences and Recommendations
Recommendations Gap Analysis
Factor
Gaps to be addressed

Recommendation 1

Motivation:
Interest (intrinsic)

Organization:
Culture Model
Faculty members need to have sense of belonging,
so that they will stay longer with the college.

The college needs to cultivate a culture that creates
and values a sense of belonging for faculty
members in order to improve retention.

Recommendation 2

Motivation:
Interest (extrinsic)
Faculty members need to find public recognition
meaningful, so that they will remain employed.

Recommendation 3
Organization:
Culture Setting
The college needs to develop and implement
effective incentive programs in order to motivate
and retain faculty members.

Recommendation 4 Organization:
Culture Setting

The college needs to have a culture of fostering
career development in order for faculty members to
engage and stay.

63
Proposed Recommendations and Implementation Plan
Recommendation 1: Cultivate a Culture that Creates and Values Sense of Belonging
The first proposed solution is to cultivate a culture that values sense of belonging. Sense
of belonging is a critical factor in faculty retention. According to Hagerty et al. (1996), sense of
belonging is the experience of “being valued, needed, or important with respect to other people,
groups, or environments” (p. 236). Faculty members tend to stay longer if they have a sense of
belonging to the educational institution and community (Hessler & Ritchie, 2006).
This first solution addresses both the intrinsic interest construct of motivation and the
organizational culture model construct, as findings suggest that faculty members will stay longer
if they have a strong sense of belonging. Therefore, the college should create such a culture of
belongingness. In this study, more than 65% of survey participants “agreed” or “strongly agreed”
that the college has effectively created a culture of belonging. However, 66 participants chose
“disagree” and another six selected “strongly disagree,” indicating that there are still one-third of
the participants that hold negative view on the college’s culture of sense of belonging. There is
an urgent need to address the concerns of the faculty members. Most of the interview participants
agreed that they see a culture of belonging but there is room for improvement.
Nurturing a culture that supports sense of belonging requires systematic approaches and
additional resources. First, the head of union of the college will set up a dedicated task force to
drive this initiative, under the guidance of the governing board and school leadership. The head
of the union will take on the overall responsibilities, supported by five to six representatives from
the board, school leadership, administrators, and faculty members. The task force, after the
inception, will analyze the current status of sense of belonging amongst faculty members,
identify the gaps, develop action plans, and then implement and evaluate. In addition, as sense of

64
belonging is related to supporting programs and team building activities that require financial
resources, additional budget is necessary to facilitate the ongoing efforts. It is also worth noting
that implementation of the sense of belonging initiative will take longer than other recommended
solutions, as a culture cannot be nurtured immediately. It is estimated that a period of 12 months
is necessary before emergence of positive results.
Table 15
Recommendation 1: Cultivate a culture that creates and values sense of belonging
Recommendation 1: Cultivate a culture that creates and values sense of belonging
Responsible Unit Steps for Implementation Timeframe
Head of Union

Set up a dedicated task force to drive this initiative,
under the guidance of board and school leadership

One month
Sense of Belonging
Task Force
Analyze current status of the sense of belonging
amongst faculty members, identify the gaps.

2 months
Sense of Belonging
Task Force

Develop action plans and implement

12 months
Sense of Belonging
Task Force

Evaluate results of implementation and continuously
improve
1-3 years
Board and School
Leadership

Resources supports including personnel and financial Ongoing
effort

Recommendation 2: Promote Fair and Meaningful Public Recognition
Individuals tend to choose to pursue tasks that are aligned with their personal interest,
and there are clear connections between people’s interests and performance goals (Clark & Estes,
2008). If faculty members value public recognition during their stay at the college, which is an
extrinsic interest, they are also more likely to stay longer. In the study, more than 90% of survey
participants agreed or strongly agreed that if they receive public recognition such as Teacher of

65
the Year, they will stay longer with the college. Only less than 10% of the participants held
different views. Meanwhile, most of the interview participants confirmed that public recognition
is a good encouragement and will help people stay longer. However, interview participants also
emphasized that nomination and evaluation of awards of public recognitions needs to be rigorous
and fair, because policies and process can still be improved.
In order to promote fair and meaningful public recognition, there are four key steps. First,
the college needs to establish an evaluation task force under the guidance of the board and
college leadership. Meanwhile, an external audit team will be engaged to provide independent
advice. The president of the college will be the leader of this task force, with senior members
from the school board, human resource department, academic affairs department, and faculty.
Second, the task force should formulate a strategic plan for all public recognitions, such as
quarterly and annual awards, review current status and identify areas for improvement. The
review process needs to collect direct input from faculty members. Third, a rigorous evaluation
system with clear criteria and transparent process should be developed and implemented to
ensure fair nomination and selection. Lastly, audit by the external team needs to take place on a
regular basis to ensure openness and fairness.
The timeframe for implementation of the public recognition solution will be around 12
months. During the first month, the college can set up the task force and engage a third-party
audit team. In the second month, the task force will begin to develop a strategic plan for all
public recognition, review current status, and identify areas for improvement. In the third month,
a rigorous evaluation system with clear criteria and transparent process should be developed.
Implementation is set to follow in the fourth month. External audit, meanwhile, will be involved
starting the second month.

66
Table 16
Recommendation 2: Promote fair and meaningful public recognition
Recommendation 2: Promote fair and meaningful public recognition
Responsible Unit Steps for Implementation Timeframe
School Leadership

Establish an evaluation task force under the guidance of
the board and college leadership.

One month
School Leadership

Engage an external audit team for independent advice.

One month
Evaluation Task
Force

External Audit
Develop a strategic plan for all public recognition,
review current status, and identify areas for
improvement.

2 months
Evaluation Task
Force

External Audit
Committee
Develop a rigorous evaluation system with clear criteria
and transparent process
3 months
Evaluation Task
Force

External Audit
Implementation begins 4-12
months
Board and school
Leadership
Resources support including personnel and financial Ongoing
effort

Recommendation 3: Develop and Implement Competitive Incentive Programs with
Performance-related Criteria
In order to retain high-quality faculty members at the college, incentive programs such as
performance related pay, retention bonus, and project-based allowances can be effective tools.
Moreover, a compensation system that matches local economic and social development is
imperative in attracting and retaining talent at private HEIs in China (Luo & Zhu, 2017). Over
one-third of survey participants believed that the college has not implemented effective incentive
programs in order to motivate and retain faculty members, indicating that there is a gap between

67
what has been done and what the faculty members are expecting. The interview participants
cared about financial incentives, such as compensation and benefits like social insurance,
housing fund, medical insurance, and unemployment insurance. They believed that although
there has been improvement in recent years, the level of compensation at the college is at an
average market level and therefore not attractive enough. In addition, the findings also reveal that
a performance and result-driven pay system, supported by a fair and rigorous standard and
process, will help retain high-quality faculty members and reduce low-performers. Therefore, it
is necessary for the college to formulate and implement a competitive incentive system, which
positions the college above market average. The incentive system should incorporate rigorous
performance evaluation standards and process to make sure that it is fair to everyone.
There are four action steps to implement the incentive solution. First, the college needs to
review the current incentive system and benchmark it against other private colleges in the Fujian
Province. Second, redesign incentive system and get approval from the board of directors. Third,
kick off pilot implementation and fine-tune as necessary. Finally, overall implementation of the
new incentive solution begins, followed by regular evaluation and review.
In order to facilitate design and implementation of the incentive system, both internal and
external human resources are necessary. Internally, the college needs to set up a dedicated work
group to include representatives from the board, college leadership, faculty, and the human
resources department. A member of the board will act as leader of the work group, taking the
overall responsibilities for the initiative. The head of human resources department will act as the
coordinator and will be responsible for implementation going forward. Externally, it will be
necessary to bring in a professional human resources consulting firm to review current incentive
system, identify the gaps, develop solutions, and guide in implementation.

68
Moreover, design and implementation of a new incentive system will require additional
financial resources. First, it is assumed that the overall personnel costs will increase after
implementation of the new incentive system. The college needs to make sure that the increase is
sustainable and there is enough budget in the years to come. In addition, consulting services will
also incur short-term costs, which is estimated to be around RMB 200,000.
The timeframe for implementation of the incentive system solution will be around 12
months. During the first month, the college can set up the task force, hire an HR consulting firm,
and start reviewing existing incentive system and benchmarking. In the fourth month, the task
force, together with the consulting firm, will start formulating new incentive policies, standards,
and processes, which will be ready for review by the end of the third month. In the sixth month,
implementation will be carried out in select groups or departments and will gradually cover
remaining units.
Table 17

Recommendation 3: Develop and Implement Competitive Incentive Programs With Performance-
Related Criteria

Recommendation 3: Develop and implement competitive incentive programs with
performance-related criteria
Responsible Unit Steps for Implementation Timeframe
A Board Member

Set up a dedicated task force to drive this initiative,
under the guidance of board and school leadership

One month
Incentive Program
Task Force +
External Consulting
Firm
Review current incentive system, identify gaps 3 months
External Consulting
Firm
Develop solutions and facilitate implementation 3 to 12
months
Incentive Program
Task Force
Implement the solutions 6 to 12
months
Incentive Program
Task Force
Evaluate results of implementation and continuously
improve
1-3 years

69

Board and school
leadership
Resources supports including personnel and financial Ongoing
effort

Recommendation 4: Create a Culture of Fostering Career Development of Faculty
Members
Career development opportunities, such as continued education, training, and improved
supports in teaching and research, are widely considered as a major factor that influences
retention (Luo & Zhu, 2017). In this study, more than 81% of survey participants supported the
statement that the college has taken actions to foster the career development of faculty members.
Most interview participants echoed the survey findings, saying that the college has not only
provided professional and vocational trainings but also subsidized degreed academic programs.
Meanwhile, it is also believed that there was more to be done in the career develop of faculty
members. Specifically, the evaluation and granting of professional titles is viewed as a critical
part of career development. Therefore, the college needs to effectively create a culture of
fostering career development of faculty members by formulating a strategic plan, establishing a
career development center, and improving professional title evaluation.
There are four key action steps in developing and implementing a career development
solution. First, the college needs to set up a career development center to support overall career
development responsibilities under the guidance of the board and college leadership. A vice
president of the college will be appointed as head of the center, supported by other members
from the human resources department and faculty. Second, the career development center needs
to formulate an overall plan of career development including strategic goals, budgets, and
roadmap. Also importantly, the college needs to review current professional title evaluation and
grant system and make improvements as necessary to make sure that it is fair and rigorous. The

70
professional title evaluation committee, which consists of senior academic members from the
college and other high education institutions, will be responsible for reviewing the standards and
processes. On the financial side, funding is needed for daily operations of the career development
center as well as subsidies for the career development programs for faculty members.
Implementation of the career development initiatives will take 12 months. The review of
current practice and gaps, and external benchmarking will take two to three months while the
career development center is being established and staffed. It will take one month for the center
to become fully functional. The professional title evaluation committee, meanwhile, will need
five to six months to revise and align on improved evaluation standards and processes.
Table 18
Recommendation 4: Create a Culture of Fostering Career Development of Faculty Members
Recommendation 4: Create a culture of fostering career development of faculty
members
Responsible Unit Steps for Implementation Timeframe
School Leadership

Set up a career development center to take overall career
development responsibilities

One month
Career
Development
Center
Review current practice and gaps, and external
benchmarking
2-3 months
Professional Title
Evaluation
Committee
Revise professional title evaluation standards and
processes
5 to 6
months
Career
Development
Center
Implementation of new career development initiatives 6 to 12
months
Career
Development
Center
Evaluate results of implementation and continuously
improve
1-3 years
Board and school
Leadership
Resources support including personnel and financial Ongoing
effort

71
Evaluation Plan
In evaluating effectiveness of training programs, Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2006)
proposed an approach of four sequential levels when evaluating programs: reaction, learning,
behavior, and results. This model, however, is widely applicable to evaluations of policy
programs or interventions. This study employs Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s four-level approach
to evaluate implementation and outcomes of the proposed solutions. Reaction is how people
involved respond or react to the policy, in this study, the faculty members. Learning, the second
level, evaluates if the participants’ knowledge and skills have improved or their attitudes have
changed. Behavior, the third level, looks at the extent that change in behavior has happened
because of implementation of a program. Fourthly, the results are the consequences of
implementation of a policy. Each of these four levels is critical and has an impact on the next
level.
Level One: Reaction
Reaction, according to Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016), is a measure of customer
satisfaction, and measuring reaction is important because it provides valuable feedback,
comments, and suggestions. In this particular study, reaction is faculty member’s satisfaction and
their engagement with the proposed interventions. In order to analyze faculty member’s reactions
on the recommended solutions, surveys will be used to understand their sense of belonging at the
college, reaction sheets will be used to collect faculty member’s feedback on career development
programs, and faculty members’ reaction for public recognition solution and incentive programs
will be observed closely.

72
Level Two: Learning
Learning is the extent to which “participants change attitudes, improve knowledge,
and/or increase skill.” (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016. p. 22). Meanwhile, it is important to
evaluate knowledge, skills, commitment, and confidence, before and after implementation of a
training or policy program. In this study, surveys and/or interviews will be used to find out
participants’ attitude, interest, commitment, and confidence related to the proposed solution.
Meanwhile, test results or certificates will be used to evaluate learning of career development
programs.
Level Three: Behavior
In evaluating policy programs, behavior refers to changes in behavior after
implementation of the program by comparing before and after. Both survey and interviews are
effective methods to collect behavior changes from target group and their supervisors,
subordinates, and other observers. In this study, surveys and interviews will be used to identify
motivational and behavioral changes of faculty members, while observations will be used to find
out changes in work habits.
Level Four: Results
Results of interventions, according to Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2006), can include
reduced turnover, improved quality, and increased production. Meanwhile, it is critical to
measure results before and after the interventions. In this study, improved faculty member
retention, improved teaching quality, and career progression and advancement of academic
ranking of faculty members are the key indicators to focus on.
73
Suggested Evaluation Plan
Using the four sequential levels model, Table 19 provides an overview of the suggested evaluation plans for the four proposed
recommendations.
Table 19
Suggested Evaluation Plans for the Proposed Solutions
Proposed
Recommendations
Reaction
(Level 1)
Learning
(Level 2)
Behavior
(Level 3)
Results
(Level 4)
Cultivate a culture
that creates and
values sense of
belonging
 Survey of faculty members to
find out more about their
sense of belonging at the
college
 Survey to find out
faculty member’s
willingness and
confidence to
contribute to the culture
 Observation to identify
behavior changes
 Improved retention
Promote fair and
meaningful public
recognition.
 Prior public notice of results
before official announcement
 Observation of faculty
members during
announcements of public
recognitions
 Survey to find out
faculty member’s
interest and confidence
to receive public
recognition
 Observations to identify
changes after
announcements of public
recognitions
 Surveys of faculty
members
 Interviews with faculty
members and their
supervisors
 Improved retention

Develop and
implement
competitive incentive
programs
 Prior public notice of the
policy before official
announcement
 Observation of faculty
members before and during
official announcement
 Survey or interview
with faculty members
to gauge their
understanding of
incentive programs and
motivation

 Monitor and compare with
incentive programs of
other colleges
 Interviews with faculty
members and their
supervisors after
 Improved retention
 Improved teaching quality

74
Proposed
Recommendations
Reaction
(Level 1)
Learning
(Level 2)
Behavior
(Level 3)
Results
(Level 4)
implementation to find out
motivational changes
 Observation to find out
changes in work habit

Create a culture of
fostering career
development of
faculty members.
 Use reaction sheets for career
development programs
 Monitor participation and
completion rates of career
development programs
 Test results or
certificates for career
development programs
 Survey of faculty
members about
commitment and
confidence in
completing career
development programs
 More faculty members
seeking career
development opportunities
 Monitor career
progression and
advancement of academic
ranking of faculty
members
 Improved retention
 Improved teaching quality

75

Limitations
There are a number of potential limitations in this study. First, the study focuses on full-
time faculty members only and does not cover the 120 part-time members who are temporary
employees, relatively unstable, and usually have other jobs and commitments. Second, during the
data collection phase, although the survey is anonymous and interviews were conducted by
independent third party, it is still possible that participating faculty members may choose not to
share their real views as they are aware that the researcher is an owner of the college. Third, the
study focuses on one single private college and may not be able to depict a full picture of all
private colleges across China, as there could be differences due to geographical and economic
factors.
Suggestions for Future Research
This study looks at how to improve faculty retention at private colleges in China, with a
focus on what private colleges can do to retain high-quality faculty members. All of the four
proposed solutions have taken into account the resources and capabilities that private colleges
have. However, there are still challenges that private colleges are less likely to tackle in the short
term, such as social security system reform. In China, faculty members with public universities
are considered employees of the public sector and they have shiye bianzhi, which guarantees
better social security benefits such as a pension, housing fund, and medical care. Meanwhile,
most faculty members with private HEIs are treated as employees of private companies (qiye
bianzhi) and their social protection is usually of much lower level than their public counterparts,
as there is a gap between shiye bianzhi and qiye bianzhi in terms of level of benefits they can get.
As Ma (2016) argued, a healthy, reasonable, and fair social security system is necessary so that
faculty members with private HEIs can have access to same level of social security benefits as

76

teachers with public HEIs. It will be interesting for future research to study the social security
system policies in China’s education sectors, its impact on faculty members with private HEIs,
and how the policies may evolve and eventually eliminate the inequality.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to explore how private colleges in China can improve
retention of faculty members. Findings from survey and interviews validated all the seven
assumed motivation and organizational influences. After analysis of the findings, four
recommendations were proposed to address the performance gaps. The first solution to be
proposed is to cultivate a culture that creates and values sense of belonging. The second solution
is to promote fair and meaningful public recognition. The third solution is to develop and
implement competitive incentive programs with performance-related criteria. Lastly, the fourth
solution proposed is to create a culture of fostering career development of faculty members. This
study also outlined implementation plan of the solutions, followed by evaluation measures and
processes.
Although many studies have been done to explore recruitment and retention challenges
that trouble private HEIs in China, few of them have explored root causes using both quantitative
and qualitative methods. The extant literature relies more on assumptions in the identification of
the challenges, rather than results found through systematic and well-designed surveys and
interviews. Moreover, many of the suggestions or proposed solutions were not tested in a real-
world setting. It is also rare to find from published research that implementation and evaluation
of solutions is actually performed by an owner of a private HEI in China. Therefore, this study
could potentially provide a different angle and be an interesting addition to the literature.

77

As an integral part of China’s higher education massification, private higher education
has experienced rapid growth over the last three decades. With the rapid expansion, private HEIs
in China have been facing serious challenges related to their development, including policies and
regulations, funding, quality and credibility, student enrollment, and importantly, recruitment and
retention of high-quality faculty members. A lot can be done to improve faculty retention at
private HEIs, such as the solutions proposed in this study. However, the most fundamental and
probably the most effective solution is to eliminate the social security difference between faculty
members at public HEIs and private HEIs, which means access to same level of social security
benefits (Chen, 2011; Ma, 2016).

78

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84

APPENDIX A
Survey Questions
Research Question

KMO
Construct
Survey Item (question and
response)
Scale of
Measure
ment
Demographics – Sample
Description
NA What is your gender?
Nominal
Demographics – Sample
Description
NA What is your age
Interval
Demographics – Sample
Description
NA What is the highest degree you
earned?
Interval
Demographics – Sample
Description
NA How many years have you been
with the college?
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
K-F As a faculty member at the
college, I am making an impact
on young people from different
provinces.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
K-C I understand that a stable faculty
is critical to sustainability of the
college.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
K-C I understand that stability of
faculty helps teaching quality
improvement and student
learning.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
K-C I understand that stability of
faculty helps teaching quality
improvement and student
learning.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
M-UV I believe long-term commitment
to the college is beneficial for
my career.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
M-I I believe sense of belonging is
important for me to continue
working at the College.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
M-I If I had the chance to teach at a
public university next year, I
would choose to leave.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
M-I Being a faculty member is
important to me.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
M-I I am motivated by public
recognition such as awards.
Ordinal
What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
O-CM The college has effectively
created a culture of belonging.
Ordinal

85

What is faculty members’ K and
M related to staying in post?
O-CM The college a cultivated a culture
of fostering career development
of faculty members.
Ordinal
What is the interaction between
organizational culture and
context and faculty members’
knowledge and motivation
related to staying in post?
O-CS The college has implemented
effective incentive programs in
order to motivate and retain
faculty members.
Ordinal
What is the interaction between
organizational culture and
context and faculty members’
knowledge and motivation
related to staying in post?
O-CS The college has introduced
support programs to in order to
enhance the well-being of
faculty members.

Ordinal

86

APPENDIX B
Interview Questions
KMO Construct Interview Question
Faculty knowledge of their impact on young
people’s life.
K-F
In your view, what impact are you making on
students?
Faculty knowledge of the relationship
between faculty stability and sustainability
of the college.
K-C
How would you relate faculty retention to the
long-term sustainability of the college?
Their remaining at college benefits teaching
quality.

K-C
In your view, what are the factors impacting
teaching quality ？
Their remaining at college benefits student
learning.

K-C
In your view, what are the factors impacting
student learning?
Faculty members need to perceive a long-
term commitment to the college as
beneficial for their career.
M-UV
Some people say long-term commitment to an
organization is beneficial for their career; what
would it take for you to have a long-term
commitment to their career?
Faculty members need to have sense of
belonging, so that they will stay longer with
the college.
M-I
What level of care and respect do you get as a
member of this college?
Faculty members need to appreciate public
recognition, so that they will remain stable.

M-I
How would you relate positive public
recognition to job stability?
The college needs to cultivate a culture of
belonging for faculty members in order to
improve retention.
O-CM
How would you describe your sense of
belonging at the college, if any?
The college needs to have a culture of
fostering career development in order for
faculty members to engage and stay.
O-CM
How would you view the college’s culture of
fostering career development, if any?
The college needs to improve support
programs to in order to enhance well-being
of faculty members.
O-CS
In addition to compensation, what other
benefits or supports does the college provide to
enhance your work and life experience, if at all?

87

The college needs to develop and
implement effective incentive programs in
order to motivate and retain faculty
members.
O-CS
What efforts has the college made to keep
faculty members, if at all? How effective are the
efforts?

88

APPENDIX C
Information Sheet
INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

FACULTY RETENTION AT PRIV ATE COLLEGES IN CHINA
You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study. You should
ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This research study aims to understand how to reduce faculty member attrition at Huaguang
V ocational College.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 30- 50 minute audio-
taped interview. You do not have to answer any questions you do not want to; if you do not want
to be taped, you cannot participate in this study.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will not be compensated for your participation; however you will be given a small gift as a
sign of appreciation.

CONFIDENTIALITY
The audio recordings of the interview will be deleted after transcription. The transcripts will be
kept as an encrypted file on the researcher’s computer until shortly after the dissertation defense
took place. Your identity will not be connected with any of the interview audio files or
transcripts..

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Please contact principal Investigator Huaxuan Wu via email at huaxuanw@usc.edu or phone at
(86) 18602191552 or faculty advisor Dr. Tracy Tambascia at tpoon@rossier.usc.edu or phone
213-740-9747

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board, 1640 Marengo Street, Suite 700,
Los Angeles, CA 90033-9269. Phone (323) 442-0114 or email irb@usc.edu.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Wu, Huaxuan (author)

Core Title Faculty retention at private colleges in China

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Global Executive

Publication Date 07/26/2020

Defense Date 07/10/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag China,faculty,Higher education,OAI-PMH Harvest,private higher education,retention

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tambascia, Tracy (committee chair), Chung, Ruth (committee member), Krop, Cathy (committee member)

Creator Email huaxuanw@usc.edu,wuhuaxuan@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-342004

Unique identifier UC11663393

Identifier etd-WuHuaxuan-8764.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-342004 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-WuHuaxuan-8764.pdf

Dmrecord 342004

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Wu, Huaxuan

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA