Research engagement and attitudes to teaching research to healthcare students: a questionnaire study of healthcare educators

The evidence-based practice agenda in many healthcare professions has increased the importance of teaching research skills to students in these professions. However, concern exists that many healthcare educators may be reluctant to teach research. This study investigated potential barriers to their adoption of this role. A questionnaire was distributed to 111 healthcare educators within the Faculty of Health of a post-1992 university in the north-west of England. Items enquired about career activities, and included 20 attitude statements concerning research teaching, with a 5-point Likert scale for responses. The final sample comprised 72 respondents (55 female: 65% response rate). Males rated themselves more likely to volunteer to teach research than did females. A principal components analysis and varimax rotation on attitude responses yielded three factors explaining 54.792% of variability. It was concluded that the development of a positive commitment to research teaching by healthcare educators was an important priority in delivering evidence-based curricula, and consequently for patient care. However, vigilance was required to prevent gender disparities developing in research teaching.