Career advancement of academics in private higher education: A literature review

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the influence of individual and organizational variables on the career
advancement of academics in Malaysian private universities.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literatures on the factors that influence the academic’s
career advancement.
Findings - There is a considerable relationship between individual and organization factors and potential benefits
of career advancement of academics. It can be serve as the basis for formulating hypotheses to be further
investigation and discussion.
Practical Implications - This study contributes knowledge to career advancement among academics in private
universities. These institutions are rapidly expanding in Malaysia to cater to the needs of achieving the entrance
of 40 per cent of the population into tertiary education by the year 2020. At the tertiary education level, HRD is
important specifically to create better awareness among academics about their career planning and aspirations,
the role individual and organizational-related factors have in their careers and how they should respond to the
services given by the institutions.
Originality – The paper reviews factors (individual and organizational factors) that are of concern to HRD
managers in managing the career advancement of academics in rapidly developing private universities.