Planning for Faculty Recruitment and Assessment in Higher Education - Considering Student Preferences for Faculty Characteristics in Poland and Switzerland

Oct 15, 2026

The study investigates how universities should characterize professional academic teachers when planning recruitment and assessment in higher education. It examines students’ expectations regarding teaching qualities and teacher–student relations, emphasizing the role of didactic work and positive student attitudes. Research at the University of Rzeszow and the University of Geneva compared 413 full-time students. Results show different priority patterns between the two countries, and univariate ANOVA indicates study level as the differentiating variable.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Teacher evaluation objectives

Summative vs formative evaluation

Planning for Faculty Recruitment and Assessment in Higher Education: Considering Student Preferences for Faculty Characteristics in Poland and Switzerland Slawomir Rebisz Edyta Tominska Ilona Sikora ABSTRACT When characterizing a professional academic teacher, we should consider all the expectations that university teachers face. These can relate both to their academic work, various forms of didactic work and the building of relations with students. Exploring and defining the factors relevant to the ways in which lecturers effectively influence the educational process seems to be indispensable, especially in the context of planning for the employment of professional academic staff with the appropriate competences and approach to work, and, above all, their positive attitudes toward students. It is therefore as important to plan the employment of academic staff, based on the information acquired in the evaluation process, as it is to plan well for courses adjusted to a given educational level. In this sense, it is very helpful to examine students’ expectations of their teachers relating to teaching qualities and teacher-student relations. This knowledge can help teachers plan for specific forms of didactic work as needed, and adopt an approach that fosters the building of good relations with students, based on the well experienced master-pupil formula, involving mutual respect, understating and partnership. The purpose of the current study is to present the results of research regarding students’ preferred characteristics of academic teachers. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Education, University of Rzeszow (PL) and the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Geneva (CH). The comparative research involved a sample of 413 full-time students, 268 from a Polish university, and 145 from a Swiss university. The result of data analysis indicated that as far as the characterization of an academic teacher is concerned, students from the two universities expressed different priorities. The differences are not even subtle as the two groups chose to give precedence to different qualities. A univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the variable that differentiated the significance of individual factors was the level of study. INTRODUCTION There is a great deal of discussion in today’s world about the future of higher education, new curricula, educating students and the quality of education (Altbach, Androushchak, Kuzminov, Yudkevich, & Reisberg, 2013; Lambert & Butler, 2006; Rege Colet, 2010; Romainville, 2013; Sursock & Smidt, 2010; Thieme, 2009; Vijaykumar & Lavanya, 2014; Wit, 2011; Woźnicki, 2012; Zgaga, Teichler, & Brennan, 2013) . It is postulated that a university should be a place in which people are able to achieve the goals of developing comprehensively to become ready and well-equipped for adult life, responsible and engaged in their surroundings with the knowledge, competences and attitudes appropriate to their social environment and the requirements of the job market. Academic teachers are to a large extent responsible for realizing these goals effectively (Calderhead, 1997; Just-in-time teaching, 2010; Lavoie & Roth, 2001; Saroyan & Frenay, 2010; Woźnicki, 2013) . After all, the motivation to learn, their comprehensive development, future maturity and ability to adapt to the needs of an increasingly demanding world ultimately depends largely on the students themselves (Brown & Atkins, 1988; Kane, Sandretto, & Heath, 2004; Rhoades, 2012; Umbach & Wawrzynski, 2005) . Lecturers play a significant role in preparing graduates for entry to the job market. Educational programs have the important tasks of teaching both theory as well as professional practice and, perhaps more than anything, competences in building interpersonal relationships and mutual understanding, which lead to an ability to cooperate in different aspects of life (Grygiel, Humenny, Rębisz, & Klimcza

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study on academic teachers?

To present research results on students’ preferred characteristics of academic teachers and how these preferences relate to recruitment and assessment planning.

Where was the study conducted and how many students participated?

At the Faculty of Education, University of Rzeszow (Poland) and the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva (Switzerland), with 413 full-time students total (268 in Poland, 145 in Switzerland).

What did the analysis show about differences in student priorities?

Students from the two universities expressed different priorities, with no minor differences; they chose precedence for different qualities, and ANOVA found study level as a differentiating variable.

Oct 15, 2026

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