Empowerment and organizational commitment of chiropractic faculty

Abstract

Background Professionals in chiropractic education retain much of the authority over their work. Their work is impacted, negatively or positively, by their perceptions of their organization’s value for their skills and knowledge. Specifically, empowerment and organizational commitment are 2 psychological constructs that may mediate work circumstances and therefore are the focus of this study. Objective The purpose of this study is to explore associations between empowerment and organizational commitment among chiropractic faculty. Study design Full faculty survey utilizing descriptive statistics and multivariable analysis. Methods Surveys were distributed to full- and part-time faculty working in the United States and Canada. The survey included Spreitzer’s multidimensional measure of psychological empowerment, Meyer and Allen’s multidimensional measure of organizational commitment, and additional survey items focusing on faculty demographics and workplace variables including sex, age, academic rank, employment status, and primary area of work assignment. Results More than 54% of the study population (N = 609) completed and returned the instrument. A general profile of a chiropractic faculty member emerges as a middle-aged male employed full-time as a teacher in the academic program. Regression analyses suggest that the observed faculty characteristics and the workplace variables are not associated with fit between the faculty member’s work role and his/her own beliefs, norms, and behaviors regarding the value of the work-related tasks. Conclusions The level of institutional commitment experienced by the faculty member was associated with the fit between the task, goal or purpose of the job, and the internal standards held by the individual.