A multicomponent model of faculty innovative activity in the context of career stages

Abstract

The development of university teachers' innovative activity is one of the key prerequisites for the digital transformation, quality enhancement, and sustainable development of contemporary higher education. Despite the substantial body of research on innovative behavior, innovation competencies, and innovative teaching practices, the mechanisms underlying the interaction of motivational-value, cognitive, behavioral, institutional-resource, and inclusive components of innovative activity remain insufficiently understood. Little attention has also been paid to how the roles of these components evolve across different stages of teachers' professional careers. The aim of this study is to develop and empirically validate a multi-component model of university teachers' innovative activity and to identify changes in the structure of relationships among its components depending on teaching experience. The study was based on a questionnaire survey of 55 university teachers in science and engineering disciplines from Kazakhstan. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis with verification of the underlying statistical assumptions. The reliability of the developed questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, demonstrating a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.85). The regression analysis revealed that the inclusive component ( β = 0.440, p < 0.001) and the institutional-resource component ( β = 0.404, p = 0.013) were the most robust predictors of innovative activity. The results also demonstrated that the structure of significant predictors changes across different stages of teachers' professional development. The proposed model conceptualizes innovative activity not as a set of isolated competencies or manifestations of innovative behavior, but as an integrative and dynamic system of interrelated components whose structure evolves throughout teachers' professional development. The findings suggest that professional experience is associated not with a linear increase in innovative activity, but with qualitative changes in the relationships among its components. The findings may be applied to the design of professional development programmes and institutional strategies aimed at fostering innovative activity among university teachers.