Abstract:
The objectives of this research are to conduct a factor analysis of culture in Thai higher education institutions and scrutinize the faculty culture. The results lay bare twelve factors, namely, 1) Academics and Social Service; 2) Institutional Attachment; 3) Administrative-orientedness; 4) Democratics; 5) Faculty-Student Relatedness; 6) Faculty Relation-orientedness; 7) Political and Social Mindedness; 8) Religious Affinity; 9) Academic Potential Development; 10) Professional Attachment; 11) Thai Culture Preservation-mindedness; 12) Academic Accomplishment Orientedness. The strongest culture identified in order of strength are the factors numbered 4, 2, 10, 11, 12, 5 and 9; while the weakest culture are the factors numbered 7. The test of differences among the socio-economic status of the subject and the subjective cultures confirmed their effects on the differences in subjective culture. Males and females are significantly different in eight dimensions. Males possess stronger culture in factors numbered 1, 3, 7, 9 and 12. Females are stronger than males in 3 factors numbered 2, 10 and 11. As for the age, 10 factors are significantly different, that is all except 7 and 12. Five factors are different in disciplines, namely, 1, 5, 6, 7 and 10. In terms of educational background, 8 factors are found to be different, namely, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12. As for academic position, 5 factors are different, namely, 1, 2, 9, 10 and 12. Work experiences, 7 factors are significantly different. Institutions are found to be indicated only one significant difference, that is Political and Social Mindedness, Thammasart University is significantly stronger than Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University at 0.05. The highlight of the findings is the Faculty Culture Inventory for Thai Higher Education Institutions, with 0.94 overall reliability. Elaborate discussions of the results were given with recommendations for further research and practical applications.