Motivation of teachers in higher education

PurposeMotivation is the process that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal (Robbins and Judge, 2008). Teacher motivation is vital to the growing and evolving field of higher education, yet it is not investigated enough. Need for rapid growth of higher education, issues in compensation, developments in information technology and dearth for teaching and technical skills brought teacher motivation to the center stage. The purpose of this paper is to apply McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y to study teacher motivation in higher education.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted through survey method. A questionnaire was designed to elicit responses from randomly selected respondents.FindingsTeachers in higher education were classified under Theory X and Theory Y styles. The relationship between teaching style and specific motivators in the class and on the job, preferred teaching methods and classroom management techniques were investigated.Research limitations/implicationsApplication of McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y to understand teacher motivation in higher education provided interesting and new insights.Social implicationsThis study would have implications for teacher-student fit and institution-teacher fit in learning environments.Originality/valueThe nature of a teacher’s way-of-being matters to his/her motivation and performance in classroom. Implications exist for teacher recruitment and teacher training programs in relation to the profile of students and identifying and implementing right methodologies for classroom performance. This study has andragogical implications for classroom teaching, relationship with students and parents and interpersonal relationships among peers and education administrators.