Analysis of job satisfaction of university professors from nine Chinese universities

Research on work life and job satisfaction of university professors is becoming an important research issue in the field of higher education. This study used questionnaires administered to 1 770 teachers from different levels, types, and academic fields of Chinese universities to investigate job satisfaction among university professors and the relationship between job satisfaction of university professors and the organizational characteristics of the university. The job satisfaction of Chinese university professors includes six dimensions: career development and school management, teaching and research services, salary, benefits and logistical services, professional reputation, teaching and research facilities, and the work itself. The overall job satisfaction levels are close to average, with salary and benefits receiving the lowest level of satisfaction. The organizational characteristics of universities, such as school type, school level, academic field, organizational climate, evaluation orientation, and school management, all have significant effects on the overall job satisfaction of university professors. The organizational climate and school level affect all six dimensions of job satisfaction among university professors.     

Job demands and resources as antecedents of university teachers’ exhaustion,engagement and job satisfaction

Abstract

This study aims at testing the application of the job demands-resources model on university teachers in mainland China. It investigates the relationship between the job characteristics of university teaching and teachers’ well-being. Based on the analyses of a sample of 2,758 university teachers, the results of structural equation modelling support the health impairment and motivational processes suggested by the model. Specifically, job demands consisting of teaching demands, teaching-research conflict and new challenges reduced university teachers’ job satisfaction through the mediation of emotional exhaustion; job resources comprising teaching resources, social support and administrative support increased university teachers’ job satisfaction through the mediation of work engagement. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish special school headteachers and teachers,and the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction

This study explores issues of burnout and job satisfaction among special school headteachers and teachers in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a difference between headteachers' and teachers' burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and work experiences, and to analyse the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. In this paper, a quantitative approach has been used: 295 subjects (33 special school headteachers and 262 special school teachers) responded to the survey. As the research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure job satisfaction and burnout levels in terms of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The study results indicated that special school headteachers felt less personal accomplishment than special school teachers. However, there were no significant differences between headteachers and teachers on two burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and job satisfaction. In terms of gender, males have less emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment but higher depersonalization than their female counterparts. Females have higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. In relation to their work experiences, more experienced subjects have higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their less experienced colleagues, and also less job satisfaction than less experienced counterparts. However, more experienced subjects who participated in the study felt higher personal accomplishment than the others.     

Literature Review of Teacher Job Satisfaction

An understanding of teachers' job satisfaction is needed to understand teachers' work attitude and work behavior and to provide inputs for effective school administration. A summary of the existing works in China on teachers' overall and different dimensions of job satisfaction and the effects of individual factors as a reference for researchers is provided.     

Examining Herzberg’s Theory: Improving Job Satisfaction among Non-academic Employees at a University

This study reports the results of a survey of 2700 employees in business operations at a large public, research university. The analysis tests Herzberg et al.’s (1959) well-known, duality theory of motivators and hygiene factors and the impact of personal characteristics and job characteristics on perceptions of the work environment and job satisfaction. The results offer inconclusive support of Herzberg’s theory although the work itself is the strongest predictor of job satisfaction after controlling for both personal and job characteristics. The study concludes by discussing both practical implications, for those in leadership positions in a university, and theoretical implications for researchers interested in exploring job satisfaction in a higher education context. The authors wish to thank Eric Dey for his generous comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Secondary school vice‐principals: Commitment,challenge, efficacy and synchrony

The study sought to investigate Hong Kong secondary school vice‐principals’ job facets leading to overall job satisfaction, and to differentiate the satisfaction of vice‐principals of different career orientations and gender groups. The findings indicated that there are four main facets of satisfaction, in rank order of influence on overall satisfaction, ‘professional commitment’, ‘level of personal challenge’, ‘sense of efficacy’ and ‘sense of synchrony’. The study also found that vice‐principals who aspired to the principalship exhibited a higher degree of professional commitment, a stronger sense of efficacy, and experienced lower levels of stress associated with personal challenge than vice‐principals who did not aspire to a principalship.     

BURNOUT IN SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHERS AT KINDERGARTEN AND PRIMARY SCHOOL: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF PERSONAL RESOURCES AND WORK WELLBEING

The purpose of the current study was to examine, within an integrative predictive model, the relative contributions of sociodemographic variables, personal resources, and work wellbeing to teacher burnout. The research was conducted with special education teachers at Italian preschools—a context in which few previous studies have been carried out—and primary schools. A cross‐sectional survey‐based study with a sample of 194 kindergarten and primary school teachers was conducted. The results indicated that teachers’ happiness at school and job satisfaction incrementally predicted variance in personal, work‐related, and student‐related burnout, even after controlling for the effects of sociodemographic factors and personal resources. Furthermore, the final integrative predictive model was similar for both kindergarten and primary teachers.     

Teacher job satisfaction: A framework for analysis

The topic of job satisfaction is one that has always had personal and organizational relevance to educators. But recent reports of increased occupational stress and burnout in early childhood education indicate that the issue merits increased attention. This article first provides a brief overview of some of the diverse approaches that have evolved to define and measure work attitudes. It then presents a conceptual framework for understanding how the many facets of job satisfaction interrelate. The model builds on a social-ecological perspective of human behavior and stresses the dynamic, interactive nature of person-environment variables.     

本专科毕业生的专业兴趣吻合度对就业满意度的影响研究

基于2021年全国高校毕业生就业状况调查数据,分析本专科毕业生的专业兴趣吻合度的影响因素,研究专业兴趣吻合度对就业满意度的影响,并分性别和学科进行异质性分析。研究发现：第一,性别、家庭背景、人力资本、学校背景等是毕业生专业兴趣吻合度的重要影响因素,男性、优势家庭背景、本科、人文社科专业、学业表现与综合素质更好、东部（非“北上广”）地区高校的毕业生,专业兴趣吻合度更高;第二,专业兴趣吻合度对毕业生的就业总体满意度与工资福利、工作地点、工作稳定性、个人发展空间、社会地位、独立自主性等单项满意度均存在正向促进作用,其中,对个人发展空间满意度的影响最大,对工资福利和工作稳定性满意度的影响最小;第三,专业兴趣吻合度对不同性别和学科毕业生的就业满意度存在异质性影响,男生和理工农医专业毕业生的就业满意度受专业兴趣吻合度的正向影响更大。     

Occupational Well-being Among University Faculty: A Job Demands-Resources Model

The effects of changing academic environments on faculty well-being have attracted considerable research attention. However, few studies have examined the multifaceted relationships between the academic work environment and the multiple dimensions of faculty well-being using a comprehensive theoretical framework. To address this gap, this study implemented the Job Demands-Resources (JDR) model to investigate how job demands/resources in the academic environment interact with multiple dimensions of faculty well-being. The study participants were 1389 full-time faculty members employed in public universities in the Czech Republic. The participants completed a questionnaire assessing perceived job resources (influence over work, support from supervisor and colleagues), job demands (quantitative demands, work-family conflicts and job insecurity) and three dimensions of faculty well-being (job satisfaction, stress and work engagement). A structural equation model was used to test the effects of “dual processes” hypothesized by the JDR theory, i.e., the existence of two relatively independent paths between job demands/resources and positive/negative aspects of faculty well-being. The model showed a very good fit to our data and explained 60% of the variance in faculty job satisfaction, 46%, in stress and 20% in work engagement. The results provide evidence for the dual processes, including the “motivational process” (i.e., job resources were related predominantly to work engagement and job satisfaction) and the “health impairment process” (i.e., job demands were predominantly associated with stress, mostly through work-family conflict). The study expands current research on faculty well-being by demonstrating the complex, non-linear relationships between academic work environments and different dimensions of faculty well-being.     

Friend or Foe? New Managerialism and Technical,Administrative and Clerical Support Staff in Australian Universities

The aim of this paper is to assess and conceptualise the effects of new managerialism‐related organisational reforms in three Australian public universities on technical, administrative and clerical support staff job stressors and job satisfaction. Using a mixed method approach consisting of a quantitative core component and qualitative supplementary component it was found that six different types of stressors were evident: time, information; supervisory; work environment; staffing and pay; and career. Path analysis showed that these stressors were closely connected to reduced job satisfaction, which could be ameliorated by employee participation, improved communication and work‐related social support. However, the qualitative analysis suggested that the prevailing climate of managerialism was not conducive to such improvements. It is concluded that while appropriate human‐resource management strategies have the potential to prevent the worst consequences of change, there is some doubt about the ability of university managers, captured by new managerialism, to create and implement such an approach.     

Determinants of the job satisfaction of PhD holders: an analysis by gender,employment sector,and type of satisfaction in Spain

We analyze the determinants of job satisfaction of PhD holders in Spain. Specifically, we consider overall job satisfaction as well as basic and motivational satisfaction, following Herzberg’s typology (based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). Using representative data for Spain’s PhD population—collected from the Spanish Survey on Human Resources in Science and Technology (2009)—we report an analysis by gender and the institutional sector (university and non-university) in which employees work. We employ Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions to identify the determinants of basic and motivational satisfaction in the workplace and an ordered logit model for overall job satisfaction. Results do not allow us to confirm Herzberg’s factor differentiation for Spanish PhD holders since the factors of basic motivation (including salary or working conditions—needs of “safety”) have a bearing on all types of job satisfaction (and not solely on the basic satisfaction of PhD holders). Our results do not show any significant differences by gender. However, it seems that meeting these “basic” needs is less important for the job satisfaction of PhD holders working in universities. The results seem reasonable in a Southern European country where the monetary conditions of the labor market are worse than those in other developed countries.     

Administrative support and its mediating effect on US public school teachers

This study examined the effect of administrative support on teachers’ job satisfaction and intent to stay in teaching. The study employed a path analysis to the data of regular, full-time, public school teachers from the Schools and Staffing Survey teacher questionnaire. Administrative support was the most significant predictor of teachers’ job satisfaction, while teachers’ job satisfaction was the most significant predictor of teachers’ intent to stay in teaching. It was also confirmed that administrative support mediates the effect of teaching experience, student behavior, and teachers’ satisfaction with their salary on teachers’ job satisfaction and intent to stay in teaching.     

Day care and family dynamics

Twenty-one dual-earner families whose preschool-aged children entered day care before 6 months of age and 19 dual-earner families whose preschool-aged children entered day care during the second year of life filled out questionnaires on the nature of their children's caregiving environment; their perceptions of the effects of day care on parent-child interaction and children's development; their overall job satisfaction; social support networks; and personal well-being, marital stress, and companionship. Mothers and fathers reported high levels of satisfaction with the caregiving environment and the effects of day care. Parental perceptions of the effects of day care on parent-child interaction and children's development did not differ as a function of time of entry into day care. Parental perceptions of selected parent-child variables were associated with job satisfaction, social support, and the marital measures. Parental perceptions of parent-child interaction were related to their perceptions of the effects of day care on children's social and cognitive skills. Mothers and fathers differed in these perceptions. There was some support for a conceptual link between marital variables and children's functioning in day care.     

ADMINISTRATIVE SATISFACTION AND THE REGULATORY CLIMATE AT PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

To what extent do differences in regulatory climate among states influence the satisfaction levels of campus managers? This study first measures the financial, personnel, and academic dimensions of state regulation, and examines the extent to which university and state characteristics have an effect on the regulatory climate and administrative flexibility granted to campuses. Second, the research analyzes the dimensions of managerial satisfaction and tests the hypothesis that the state's regulatory climate exercises an influence on the satisfaction levels of managers who are in functional areas impacted by state control. An array of organizational, individual, and work climate variables is used as controls. Atmospheres of administrative teamwork and interpersonal stress appear to exert the strongest positive and negative influences on administrative satisfaction.

     

An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction between Turkish headteachers and teachers

This study attempted to explore Turkish headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction relating to work status, gender and years work-experiences. The purpose of this study is to find out whether there is difference between headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and years work-experiences. In this study, quantitative approach was used. A total of 290 subjects (80 headteachers and 210 teachers) responded to the survey. As research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), were used to measure dimensions of headteachers’ and teachers’ burnout. The study results indicated that headteachers have more job dissatisfaction and depersonalisation than teachers. Males have less emotional exhaustion but higher depersonalisation than their female counterparts. Subjects participated in this study seemed to be different on depersonalisation and personal accomplishment dimensions on the scale in relation to their work years. More experienced subjects have higher depersonalisation and less job satisfaction than their less experienced counterparts. In contrast, more experienced subjects have higher personal accomplishment than the others.     

Principals’ self-efficacy: relations with job autonomy, job satisfaction, and contextual constraints

The purpose of the present study was to explore relations between principals’ self-efficacy, perceived job autonomy, job satisfaction, and perceived contextual constraints to autonomy. Principal self-efficacy was measured by a multidimensional scale called the Norwegian Principal Self-Efficacy Scale. Job autonomy, job satisfaction, and contextual constraints to autonomy were measured by three scales developed for the purpose of this study. Perceived contextual constraints to autonomy were comprised of financial and administrative constraints, employee participation, municipal authority, and national evaluation programs. Participants in the study were 1,818 principals from the population of Norwegian principals. Data were collected by means of an electronic questionnaire. A theoretical model was tested by means of SEM analysis for latent variables using the AMOS 18 program. The model had acceptable fit to data. The results revealed a positive relation between principal self-efficacy and perceived job autonomy. Principal self-efficacy and perceived job autonomy were positively related to job satisfaction and negatively related to contextual constraints. Contextual constraints to autonomy were negatively related to job satisfaction. The present study highlights important relations between principals’ self-efficacy, perceived job autonomy, job satisfaction, and contextual constraints to autonomy. The results of the study are discussed together with limitations and suggestions for further research.     

The relationships of communication with supervisor and decision‐participation to employee job satisfaction

This study examined the relationship of communication‐related variables to employee job satisfaction. Specifically, employee communication satisfaction with supervisor, perceived supervisor receptivity to information and ideas, employee participation in decision‐making, participation versus desired participation level, and job satisfaction with supervisor, co‐workers, promotions, pay, and work were studied. The subjects for the study were classified employees (secretaries, clerks, lowest level supervisors, etc) in three administrative units (Controller, Personnel, and Admissions & Records) of a comprehensive Eastern university. The communication‐related variables accounted collectively for a substantial amount of variance (76%) in employees job satisfaction. Moreover, communication satisfaction with supervisor and supervisor receptivity in information were found to be more powerful “predictors”; of job satisfaction than the decision participation variables. The study cast some doubt upon the comparative value of participation as a communication strategy with low‐level employees. Specific guidelines for direct application of results and implications for future research were derived from the study.     

Temporary contracts: effect on job satisfaction and personal lives of recent PhD graduates

In this study, we assess the effects of temporary employment on job satisfaction and the personal lives of recent PhD graduates. Temporary employment is becoming increasingly prevalent in many sectors, but has been relatively common in academia, especially for early career scientists. Labor market theory shows temporary employment to have a conspicuous negative influence on the job satisfaction and well-being of employees, but also identifies groups that may be exempt from these negative influences, such as the highly educated. Here, we study the effect of temporary employment on the highest educated group in the labor force, PhD graduates. We present findings of a survey of 1133 respondents who obtained their PhD from one of five Dutch universities between 2008 and 2012. Compared to PhDs employed on a permanent contract, PhDs on a temporary contract are less satisfied with their terms of employment, especially if they have no prospect of permanence. Temporary contracts with no prospect of permanence also decrease satisfaction with job content. Conversely, self-employment increases satisfaction with job content. Educational level required for the job also influences job satisfaction to a large degree: working below PhD level negatively affects job satisfaction. Finally, the type of contract affects different aspects of the personal lives of PhDs, such as the ability to obtain a mortgage, the stability of family life, and the possibility to start a family. In conclusion, we show that the highest educated, i.e., PhD graduates are not exempt from the negative influences of temporary employment.