Beyond Stipends and Release Time: Providing Incentives to STEM Faculty
Involving STEM faculty in educational reform efforts is challenging work. The most prominent reason for this difficulty is the lack of incentives. For example, IHE tenure and promotion policies and practices do not weight the tripartite factors of research, teaching and service equally (Kuh, 1998). Colbeck (1994) found that the reward system is a powerful motivator of faculty behavior. Classical behavioral theories argue that there are two fundamental human needs-biological and psychological (Herzberg 1966, Maslow 1954). Intrinsic motivation is related to psychological needs and extrinsic motivation is related to the environment and fulfils the biological needs. Successful incentives have to appeal to both intrinsic and extrinsic human needs.
