Disentangling Individual, Organization, and Learning Process Factors that Drive Employee Participation

The current paper aims to understand the antecedents that predict employee participation in professional development activities. The primary objective of this study is to provide additional empirical support to the Wang and Wang (2004) theoretical model of factors that influence employee participation in learning and development activities and provide an integration of other factors from the literature. Data were collected from non-faculty staff of a large statewide college system that took part in an employee development survey assessing factors related to development, including age, level in organization, supervisor support, organizational support, policy support, and learning process factors. Results indicate that employees participate when they receive supervisor, organizational, and policy support. The results of the present study indicate several important theoretical and practical implications for organizations interested in learning more about the factors that predict employee participation.