A study of the perceptions of administrators and faculty members toward merit pay for faculty at junior colleges in Korea

The purpose of this study was to provide an analytical understanding of merit pay for faculty in the context of Korean junior colleges. This study was designed as a quantitative study to provide insights into introduction and development of merit pay for faculty. The perceptions of administrators and faculty on merit pay for faculty were investigated through a survey of 552 administrators and 2,530 faculty members at junior colleges in Korea. The final usable response rate was 73.0% (n=403) of administrators and 52.7% (n=1,333) of faculty members. This study was guided by two primary research questions: (1) What are the perceptions of administrators and faculty toward merit pay for faculty? (2) Do personal and institutional characteristics affect the perceptions of administrators and faculty toward merit pay for faculty? Major findings from research question one were: (1) Administrators agreed with the introduction and development of merit pay for faculty whereas faculty members disagreed; (2) Administrators showed more positive perceptions than faculty regarding motivational effects of merit pay for faculty; (3) Faculty were more concerned about negative effects of merit pay on faculty behaviors; (4) Administrators and faculty identified teaching, scholarship, and service in order of priority as the criteria for merit decisions; (5) Administrators and faculty reported that peer faculty evaluation should most heavily weigh on merit decisions; (6) A majority of administrators and faculty preferred one-time cash bonuses over basesalary increases as the type of merit pay allocation; (7) Nearly half of administrators and faculty suggested that merit pay increases should be between 10% and 24% of total salary increases; (8) Administrators and faculty showed a similar level of positive attitudes toward merit recognition and group-based pay. Major findings from research question two were: (1) “Gender” and “educational level” did not significantly affect perceptions of merit pay for faculty, whereas “faculty professional rank” and “age” significantly affected; (2) Two institutional characteristics—“type of institutional pay plan” and “method of president selection” significantly affected perceptions of merit pay for faculty.