Assessing Performance Determinants of Higher Education Academics in Developed and Emerging Economies: UK vs Vietnam

Two major universities were used in this study (one from the UK and one from Vietnam) to examine the role of various employee and job characteristics that determine academics’ performance. The backgrounds of the higher education systems of the UK and Vietnam are presented. The research demonstrates the importance of individual characteristics in determining both academic teaching and research performance, regardless of developed or emerging economy context. Of particular interest, tenure is also found to be a significant determinant of research performance. However, organizational characteristics are found to have no statistically significant impact on academics’ performance.