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

Abstract

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.