What do professors in research and doctoral institutions do all week? an exploration of faculty time, work, and drive

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of academic drive in terms of academic workload, specifically, the number of hours faculty members work. It examines the relationship between academic drive, the percentage of time faculty members allocate to seven academic work spheres (time allocation), and the difference between faculty members' actual and preferred work-sphere time allocations (time disconnection). The analysis is based on a sample of 3,812 full-time faculty members at research and doctoral institutions, using data from the 1999 U.S. National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:99) survey. The analyses demonstrate that time allocation is positively related to faculty drive, and show no statistically significant relationship between faculty drive and time disconnection. These findings suggest that how faculty members allocate time, not whether they prefer the work or not (time disconnection), is associated with the number of hours faculty members work per week.