Experiences of Academic Members About their Professional Challenges: a Content Analysis Qualitative study

BACKGROUND: University faculty members of different disciplines in any country, by giving better quality services, will further accelerate the development of their respective countries. This study aims to explore the experiences of faculty members about their professional challenges. AIM: In this qualitative study, which was conducted in 2013, fifteen faculty members in the departments of clinical and basic sciences of Mazandaran university of Medical Sciences in northern Iran were chosen for semi-structured in-depth interviews by purposive sampling method. All tape-recorded data were fully transcribed and content analysis was performed. RESULTS: After immersion and data analysis, three main themes were emerged including: “Imbalances in academic members’ tasks in different areas”, “Weakness of evaluation and promotion system” and “Failure to provide the infrastructure educational facilities”. The main themes and sub-themes are explained by the help of participants’ direct quotations. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that it is better to take effective measures to improve the faculty members’ situation and therefore increase their efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.