The Collective Good: Unionization, Perceived Control, and Overall Job Satisfaction Among Community College Faculty

Abstract

The research reported in this paper follow up a recent study by the authors on perceived control by examining what role working in a union or nonunion college has in influencing faculty job satisfaction. Using data from the 1993, 1999, and 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, this study explored the relative importance of variables, including perceived control, influencing overall job satisfaction among full-time teaching faculty in unionized and nonunionized community colleges. A conceptual framework was adapted for this study from the situational model of job satisfaction (Locke, 1976) to select and organize variables according to background characteristics, characteristics of the job task, and financial reward variables. Results of correlational analyses confirm a positive relationship between perceived control and overall job satisfaction for community college teaching faculty in both union and nonunion colleges. Union status was not found to be predictive of job satisfaction.