Social Science Grant Examines Faculty Satisfaction at WSU
PI: K.D. Joshi, Professor of Information Systems, WSU
Funded: 2009
Project Overview
This work examines factors that shape faculty satisfaction of un-tenured faculty at WSU. The past literature suggests that employees who are satisfied with their jobs and organizations perform better and are less likely to leave the organization. Therefore, it is critical to uncover factors that shape faculty satisfaction at WSU. This work analyzes the COACHE data in an effort to uncover additional insights over and beyond what was included in the detailed report provided by COACHE. Overall, the work related attributes and institutional/unit climate collectively determine the level of satisfaction of un-tenured faculty at WSU.
Research Question 1
- What is the impact of Tenure Practices, Policy Effectiveness, Nature of Work, Work and Family, Policy effectiveness, and Climate/Collegiality on Faculty Satisfaction of un-tenured faculty at WSU?
Result: Nature of work and climate positively affect faculty satisfaction of un-tenured faculty at WSU. Interestingly, the nature of tenure practices, level of policy effectiveness, and work/family balance did not impact faculty satisfaction.
Research Question 2
- Are there any gender differences in how Tenure Practices, Policy Effectiveness, Nature of Work, Work and Family, Policy Effectiveness, and Climate/Collegiality impact Faculty Satisfaction of un-tenured faculty at WSU?
Result: Nature of work affect both men and women satisfaction, however, climate is
important for women’s but not for men’s satisfaction at WSU. Work family balance
issues seem to marginally affect male faculty satisfaction, but it not a significant factor for women faculty. The effect of Tenure practices and level of policy effectiveness on satisfaction are not significant for men or women faculty.
Research Question 3
- Are there any differences in how Tenure Practices, Policy Effectiveness, Nature of Work, Work and Family, Policy Effectiveness, and Climate/Collegiality impact Faculty Satisfaction of un-tenured faculty in WSU_STEM disciplines versus other disciplines at WSU?
Result: Overall, the results show that faculty satisfaction is shaped by similar factors for both WSU-STEM and non-STEM faculty. Although, the magnitude of the impact of climate is greater for WSU-STEM faculty than for non-STEM faculty.
Research Question 4
- Are there any differences in how Tenure Practices, Policy Effectiveness, Nature of Work, Work and Family, and Climate/Collegiality impact Faculty Satisfaction of untenured faculty who are in different cohort?
Result[1]:
- Cohort 2001 (n=24): Only Nature of Work significantly (b=0.74*) impacts Satisfaction.
- Cohort 2002 (n=): Work and Family (b=0.47*) and Climate significantly (b=0.60*) impact Satisfaction. Nature of Work is close to being significant at p<>
- Cohort 2003 (n=): Only Climate (b=0.49*) significantly impacts Job Satisfaction.
- Cohort 2004 (n=): Tenure practices negatively impact job satisfaction (b=0.42*) ; Policy Effectiveness (b= 0.59*) and Nature of Work (b=0.84*) significantly impact Job Satisfaction.
- Cohort 2005 (n=): Policy Effectiveness (b=0.37*) and Collegiality (b=0.37*) significantly impact Job Satisfaction. Work and Family (b=0.24) negatively impact Job Satisfaction.
[1] given the small sample in each cohort, the results should be carefully interpreted.
Summary
This study highlights the importance of climate and nature of work in shaping un-tenured faculty’s satisfaction at WSU. In particular, climate is important to un-tenured women faculty at WSU. This finding is similar to what Gallagher and Trower (2008) discussed in their article. Gallagher and Trower (2008) indicate that collegiality affects faculty satisfaction more than the institution’s work and family policies, clear tenure policies, and compensation. The nature of work is consistently associated with faculty satisfaction across all groups. This result indicates that the work level attributes, –, are very critical in satisfying the level of faculty satisfaction with a number of aspects of the work, the workplace, and support services including their satisfaction with how faculty spend their time, teaching and research.
References
Gallagher, A. & Trower, C. A. (2008). Why collegiality matters. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(11).
