Journal Press India^®

Author Details ( * ) denotes Corresponding author

Higher Education (H.E.) today is one of the pillars of success for any Nation. So it becomes necessary to know the specific challenges and opportunities in the H.E. system of the country. This research paper, therefore, purports to finding out the specific sets of challenges and opportunities which are evident in the Indian H.E. system. This paper also seeks to know how the level of engagement in the faculty members of H.E. Institutions should be improved.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Secondary data was used to infer the current scenario of H.E. in India. Based on the data certain recommendations were based. Also a survey questionnaire was designed comprising of standardised scales of employee engagement, job performance, job involvement, job satisfaction, and intention to stay. Through an online and personal survey, data were collected from the faculty members of the University of Delhi (DU). The questionnaires were sent to 180 faculty members out of who 145 responded.
Findings: The main findings of the study were review based on the data available. It was found that the blueprints developed by the National Knowledge Commission (NKC), University Grant Commission (UGC) and others are very detailed and cover almost every aspect of Higher Education (H.E.) in India. However, it has been reviewed here that the plans so developed are not executed properly. Establishment of an audit body should be initiated to look after the implementation of strategies so planned. There has to be a need based assessment system which shall look into the actions undertaken by the authorities in order to revamp the H.E. system. The most important finding of the paper was the level of engagement reported by the faculty members of DU. The researcher employed Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to develop a model of EE for the teaching fraternity in H.E...
Research Limitations/Implications: The researcher took into consideration the faculty members of DU. The level of engagement can be measured and assessed for the faculty members of other universities also to get a complete picture of the H.E. system prevailing in India.
Practical Implications: The results of this study would help the H.E. institutions in India to assess the engagement levels among their faculty members. This paper would also help the policy makers to develop requisite policies and most importantly implement those policies to uplift the state of H.E. in India.
Originality/Value: This study is a novel initiation to look into the human resource needs of the faculty members of H.E. Institutions. This paper is probably among the very few papers which look into the transition required for a faculty member viz. from a teacher to facilitator, from facilitator to coach, and mentor.

Keywords

Higher Education (H.E.), Employee Engagement (EE), Spiritually Aligned Employee Engagement (SAEE) Scale.

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