Research under Constraints: Exploring Confidence, Workload, and Collaboration in Higher Education
Abstract
As Southeast Asian higher education institutions are increasingly prioritizing research productivity, lecturers at regional private universities are facing unique systemic pressures. Using a convergent mixed-methods design grounded in Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT), data were collected from a purposive sample of 29 full-time lecturers at a medium-sized university in Thailand exploring their beliefs about research, publishing, and collaboration. Quantitative data from a theoretically mapped Likert-scale survey were analysed descriptively, while qualitative data from open-ended responses underwent deductive coding to provide interpretive insights into the tensions between professional motivation and structural constraints. Findings reveal a significant "conviction-capability" gap: while lecturers hold highly positive attitudes toward research (M=4.47) and recognize its necessity for academic identity, their engagement is severely hindered by low research self-efficacy (M=3.46) and a perceived inability to balance teaching and research duties (M=3.41). Collaboration was widely valued for enhancing research quality and innovation, but hindered by methodological differences, unequal task allocation, and inadequate institutional support. Although the small, single-institution sample limits the generalizability of the results, the study provides a critical lens into the emotional and psychological toll of academic productivity demands in under-resourced contexts. Key recommendations include implementing protected research time policies, establishing structured mentorship programs pairing senior and novice scholars, and institutionalizing interdisciplinary research hubs to democratize collaborative opportunities.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/ebangi.2026.2301.16
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