Abstract
This chapter examines academic job satisfaction and factors associated with higher levels of satisfaction in the 19 CAP countries. Job satisfaction varies considerably across countries, both in term of overall satisfaction and its components. Academics tend to be most positive regarding their career choice, whilst holding negative views on the current prospects for newer entrants. Utilising Hagedorn’s (Conceptualizing faculty job satisfaction: components, theories, and outcomes. In: Hagedorn LS (ed) New directions for institutional research, vol 2000. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp 5–20, 2000) Conceptual Framework for Academic Job Satisfaction, we find job satisfaction is related most strongly to perceptions of adequate institutional resources, supportive administrative processes and perceived departmental influence. However, the relative strength of the independent variables varies considerably across countries. The proportion of variance in job satisfaction explained by the model also varies, with greater explanatory value in the English-speaking countries. Although the diversity in job satisfaction and its correlates may be an accurate reflection of cross-national and intercultural differences, one must be cautious about measurement error associated with the translation and interpretation of terms in different contexts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Altbach, P. G. (1980). The crisis of the professoriate. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 448(1), 1–14.
August, L., & Waltman, J. (2004). Culture, climate, and contribution: Career satisfaction among female faculty. Research in Higher Education, 45(2), 177–192.
Barry, J., Chandler, J., & Clark, H. (2001). Between the ivory tower and the academic assembly line. Journal of Management Studies, 38(1), 88–101.
Barry, J., Berg, E., & Chandler, J. (2003). Managing intellectual labour in Sweden and England. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 10(3), 3–22.
Bentley, P. J., Coates, H., Dobson, I. R., Goedegebuure, L., & Meek, V. L. (2013). Factors associated with job satisfaction amongst Australian university academics and future workforce implications. In P. J. Bentley, H. Coates, I. R. Dobson, L. Goedegebuure, & V. L. Meek (Eds.), Job satisfaction around the academic world (pp. 29–53). Dordrecht: Springer.
Bozeman, B., & Gaughan, M. (2011). Job satisfaction among university faculty: Individual, work, and institutional determinants. The Journal of Higher Education, 82(2), 154–186.
Burns, R. B., & Burns, R. A. (2008). Business research methods and statistics using SPSS. London: Sage.
Economist. (2011, May 28). Academic publishing: Of goats and headaches; One of the best media businesses is also one of the most resented. Economist, 399(8735), 69. http://www.economist.com/node/18744177
Enders, J. (1999). Crisis? What crisis? The academic professions in the “knowledge” society. Higher Education, 38(1), 71–81.
Enders, J., & de Weert, E. (2009). Towards a T-shaped profession: Academic work and career in the knowledge society. In J. Enders & E. de Weert (Eds.), The changing face of academic life (pp. 251–271). Houndsmill/Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Enders, J., & Teichler, U. (1997). A victim of their own success? Employment and working conditions of academic staff in comparative perspective. Higher Education, 34(3), 347–372.
Etzkowitz, H., Dzisah, J., Ranga, M., & Zhou, C. (2007). The Triple Helix model for innovation: The University-industry-government interaction. Asia Pacific Tech Monitor, 24(1), 14–23.
Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331–362.
Grunwald, H., & Peterson, M. W. (2003). Factors that promote faculty involvement in and satisfaction with institutional and classroom student assessment. Research in Higher Education, 44(2), 173–204.
Hagedorn, L. S. (1994). Retirement proximity’s role in the prediction of satisfaction in academe. Research in Higher Education, 35(6), 711–728.
Hagedorn, L. S. (2000). Conceptualizing faculty job satisfaction: Components, theories, and outcomes. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2000, 5–20. doi:10.1002/ir.10501. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ir.10501/abstract
Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1993). The motivation to work. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Höhle, E. A., & Teichler, U. (2013). Determinants of academic job satisfaction in Germany. In P. J. Bentley, H. Coates, I. R. Dobson, L. Goedegebuure, & V. L. Meek (Eds.), Job satisfaction around the academic world (pp. 125–143). Dordrecht: Springer.
Hood, C. (1995). The “new public management” in the 1980s: Variations on a theme. Accounting Organisations and Society, 20, 93–109.
Iiacqua, J. A., Schumacher, P., & Li, H. C. (1995). Factors contributing to job satisfaction in higher education. Education, 116(1), 51–61.
Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). The job satisfaction – Job performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 376–407.
Lacy, F. J., & Sheehan, B. A. (1997). Job satisfaction among academic staff: An international perspective. Higher Education, 34(3), 305–322.
Lafferty, G., & Fleming, J. (2000). The restructuring of academic work in Australia: Power, management and gender. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 21(2), 257–267.
Locke, E. A. (1969). What is job satisfaction? Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 4(4), 309–336.
Mamiseishvili, K., & Rosser, V. J. (2010). Examining the relationship between faculty productivity and job satisfaction. Journal of the Professorate, 5(2), 100–132.
Meek, V. L., & Davies, D. (2009). Policy dynamics in higher education and research: Concepts and observations. In V. L. Meek, U. Teichler, & M. L. Kearney (Eds.), Higher education, research and innovation: Changing dynamics. Report on the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge 2001-2009 (pp. 41–84). Kassel: INCHER Kassel.
Petersen, E. B. (2011). Staying or going? Australian early career researchers’ narratives of academic work, exit options and coping strategies. Australian Universities Review, 53(2), 34–42.
Ramsden, P. (1998). Managing the effective university. Higher Education Research & Development, 17(3), 347–370.
Slaughter, S., & Leslie, L. L. (1997). Academic capitalism: Politics, policies, and the entrepreneurial university. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
UNESCO. (1978). Recommendation concerning the international standardization of statistics on science and technology. Paris: UNESCO.
Welch, A. R. (1997). All change?: The professoriate in uncertain times. Higher Education, 34(3), 299–303.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix
Appendix
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bentley, P.J., Coates, H., Dobson, I.R., Goedegebuure, L., Meek, V.L. (2015). Academic Job Satisfaction from an International Comparative Perspective. In: Teichler, U., Cummings, W. (eds) Forming, Recruiting and Managing the Academic Profession. The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16080-1_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16080-1_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16079-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16080-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)