Enhancing work-life balance and research engagement among students in higher education institutions.

Abstract

Engagement in higher degree pursuit is a function of psychological constructs including core self-evaluations, academic motivation, work-life balance, and research skills proficiency. Core self-evaluations and academic motivation are precursors for student engagement in terms of effort expenditure, collaboration, institutional support-seeking, and relating with faculty. However, given that higher degree students are mainly working class, their work-life balance as well as research skills proficiency act as intervening variables to influence the relationship between the dispositional states and actual engagement of the students. Basing on empirical findings from various studies, the authors explicate in this critical review the (combined) mediation and moderation effects of the intervening variables on the links between academic motivation and core-self evaluations as predictors and the students’ research engagement as a criterion variable. A conceptual model is theorized for the links between these concepts as a framework for research engagement and hence research completion among students.