Effects of generation on tenure-track faculty satisfaction
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Emily Elizabeth McCullough (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Bianca Montrosse
Abstract: The academy is generationally diversifying as Baby Boomer faculty members continue to
move into retirement and younger faculty enter the workforce. People are dispositionally
inclined to explain differences they perceive in others, but oftentimes these judgments are
based on assumptions and stereotypes. Consultants and practitioners predict that
generational diversification will lead to employee friction. The reality is that at this time
the proposed relationship is not well understood and substantial systematic evidence
supporting the hypothesis is limited. However, if administrators continue to consider the
generational recommendations published in the popular press, it may be an indication
there truly is some phenomenon occurring in higher education employees. Therefore,
understanding and addressing generational differences becomes increasingly more
important for the good of faculty and administrators alike, as employees across a broad
age range will be working together.
This quantitative study explored the effects of demographic variables, namely
generation, on tenure-track faculty job satisfaction. Aside from obtaining a much-needed
generational snapshot of tenure-track faculty, this study sought to determine if generation
could be utilized to predict a variety of job satisfaction indices. Multiple regression
analyses were conducted on variables obtained from a pre-existing aggregated COACHE Tenure-Track Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey dataset. Statistically significant
demographic effects emerged in seven job satisfaction indices, but multiple regression
results provided little evidence to suggest demographic variables, which have frequently
been used to explain differences between groups, are strong predictors of tenure-track
faculty satisfaction. Obviously, these findings raise questions about the credibility of
claims coming from generational practitioners and consultants and signify that more
research is urgently needed. Future researchers may consider capturing information on a
variety of work-related outcomes, not just job satisfaction, on a broad age-range of
faculty members over an extended period of time. However, before any meaningful
advances in answering questions about entire groups of employees based solely on their
generational membership can be made, researchers must come to an agreement on the
exact taxonomy, attributes, and boundaries of the generations.
Effects of generation on tenure-track faculty satisfaction
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Created on 6/1/2013
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2013
- Subjects
- Universities and colleges -- Faculty -- Job satisfaction -- Age factors
- College teachers -- Job satisfaction -- Age factors
- College teachers -- United States -- Attitudes