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Contexts for the professional development of part‐timers

Hala Khayr Yaacoub (Faculty of Business and Management, University of Balamand, Tripoli, Lebanon)

Competitiveness Review

ISSN: 1059-5422

Article publication date: 28 September 2012

650

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contexts in which part‐time academics pursue their professional development practices at one Lebanese higher education institution.

Design/methodology/approach

A case‐study was carried out at the Western Oriental University (WOU) (a pseudonym) where 23 part‐timers and three full‐timers (ex‐part‐timers) were interviewed. To triangulate the data, four of the participants were asked to participate in diary writing. In addition, document checking was carried out. The part‐timers were chosen to represent the wider population of part‐timers at the University. Thus, they were chosen to illustrate particular factors characterizing part‐timers, such as gender, seniority, educational standing, number of work sites and type of part‐time choice. Thematic and discourse analysis were used to analyze the data and investigate the contexts and their impacts on the professional development practices carried out by the participants under study.

Findings

Analysis revealed that professional development efforts are greatly curtailed for the part‐timers under study by the unfortunate circumstances of part‐time work in general, coupled with the more specific country situation and particular university practices. Professional development practices which are essential for securing “lifetime employability” of the participants seem, as a result, to be seriously abridged, making them insecure – both in the short and long run.

Originality/value

Reflecting upon the practices taking place at the WOU could be used to give an idea about the difficulties encountered by other part‐timers at other universities in the region.

Keywords

Citation

Khayr Yaacoub, H. (2012), "Contexts for the professional development of part‐timers", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 22 No. 5, pp. 434-451. https://doi.org/10.1108/10595421211266311

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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