Mindfulness as a predictor of professional development amongst faculty members in Saudi universities

This descriptive study investigates whether mindfulness level can predict professional development in university faculty members in Saudi Arabia. It also explores other variables that, while unrelated to mindfulness, can directly influence professional development. Through simple random sampling, 310 faculty members at the King Khalid University, Jeddah University, Hail University, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, and Hafr Al-Batin University were included. A questionnaire survey was used as the main study instrument. Mindfulness had a statistically significant effect on professional development (R=.930a, significance level=.000b), and mindfulness explained 86.5% of the variance in professional development according to the R2 value. This may be due to the importance of mindfulness in enhancing professional skills, as it helps with focusing, reducing distraction, and improving academic and administrative decision-making. The study recommends building educational and professional environments fostering intellectual openness and avoiding prejudiced attitudes. It also recommends providing online training courses on integrating mindfulness into teaching and scientific research. To align educational frameworks with Vision 2030 objectives focused on quality and innovation, the Ministry of Education should formulate unified policies on integrating mindfulness into professional development programmes for all faculty at Saudi universities.