Predictors of pharmacy faculty work satisfaction

Abstract

Evidence suggests that faculty member work satisfaction may be an important mediator of organizational commitment, job turnover, and certain aspects of productivity. The study objective was to determine the contribution of various organizational, situational, and demographic variables toward overall pharmacy academician work satisfaction and its various domains. A web-based survey targeted 4228 faculty whose e-mail addresses were acquired from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Faculty work satisfaction was measured on a previously validated, multifactorial scale. Independent variables measuring personal and institutional characteristics of the respondents were regressed over general (overall) satisfaction scores and over scores for each of six domains (i.e., factors) of the satisfaction construct in seven unique, forward-conditional regression procedures. From the 885 responses (21.7% response), faculty reported slight satisfaction with their jobs, overall. They reported being most satisfied with teaching issues and least satisfied with the availability of a graduate program and resources for scholarship. Significant in the regression model of overall satisfaction were the variables institutional support, department chair support, three domains of intradisciplinary consensus, type of employing institution (i.e., public vs. private), stress due to lack of time, male gender, and dean support. Many of the same variables were significant in additional regression procedures; however, the degrees of explanatory power differed in each. Research productivity, teaching effectiveness, and workload were not significant in any model. Understanding the underlying factors that contribute to an academician's satisfaction might lead administrators to develop more successful initiatives to improve faculty morale and, ultimately, engender faculty commitment and retention.