Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Satisfaction Among Early Career Academics in New Zealand Universities: A Conceptual Model Tested

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Early Career Academics in New Zealand: Challenges and Prospects in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Balancing many competing roles and expectations, in an environment where autonomy and independence are valued, may lead to serious dissatisfaction among some academics who feel overworked, under-rewarded, and poorly supported. Given that New Zealand’s academics are comparatively underpaid, we should pay attention to the satisfaction levels of our academic staff, and to the conditions that affect satisfaction. This chapter adapts a well-known conceptual model of academic satisfaction and tests it in the New Zealand context with early career academics. We find high levels of satisfaction compared with academics elsewhere in the world and note the strong influence of various motivators, hygiene factors, and environmental conditions that positively and negatively interact with satisfaction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, D. (2000). Views of academic work. Teacher Development, 4(1), 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adams, S. (2013). The least stressful jobs of 2013. Forbes Magazine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/01/03/the-least-stressful-jobs-of-2013/#3a87aa5c6e24. Accessed 6 Apr 2017.

  • Antony, J. S., & Hayden, R. A. (2011). Job satisfaction of American part-time college faculty: Results from a national study a decade later. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 35(9), 689–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • August, L., & Waltman, J. (2004). Culture, climate, and contribution: Career satisfaction among female faculty. Research in Higher Education, 45(2), 177–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, P. J., Coates, H., Dobson, I. R., Goedegebuure, L., & Meek, V. L. (Eds.). (2013a). Job satisfaction around the academic world. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, P. J., Coates, H., Dobson, I. R., Goedegebuure, L., & Meek, V. L. (2013b). Academic job satisfaction from an international comparative perspective: Factors associated with satisfaction across 12 countries. In Job satisfaction around the academic world (pp. 239–262). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, P. J., Coates, H., Dobson, I. R., Goedegebuure, L., & Meek, V. L. (2013c). Factors associated with job satisfaction amongst Australian university academics and future workforce implications. In Job satisfaction around the academic world (pp. 29–53). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, T., McLeod, L., & Teo, S. (2014). The state of the tertiary education sector in New Zealand – 2013: Final reports of findings from the survey of work and wellbeing in the tertiary education sector. Tertiary Education Union and the New Zealand Work Research Institute. http://teu.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/TEU-Final-Report.pdf. Accessed 6 Apr 2017.

  • Boyd, S., & Wylie, C. (1994). Workload and stress in New Zealand universities. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research and Association of University Staff of New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B., & Gaughan, M. (2011). Job satisfaction among university faculty: Individual, work, and institutional determinants. The Journal of Higher Education, 82(2), 154–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers, A. (1998). Workload and stress in New Zealand universities in 1998: A follow-up to the 1994 study. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research and Association of University Staff of New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, R. (2016). History of tertiary education reforms in New Zealand. Research Note. New Zealand Productivity Commission. http://www.productivity.govt.nz/sites/default/files/nzpc-rn-2016-1-history-of-tertiary-education-reforms.pdf. Accessed 6 Apr 2017.

  • Curtis, B., & Matthewman, S. (2005). The managed university: The PBRF, its impacts and staff attitudes. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations, 30(2), 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eagan, M. K., Jaeger, A. J., & Grantham, A. (2015). Supporting the academic majority: Policies and practices related to part-time faculty’s job satisfaction. The Journal of Higher Education, 86(3), 448–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ethington, C. A., Smart, J. C., & Zeltmann, M. L. (1989). Institutional and departmental satisfaction of women faculty. Research in Higher Education, 30(3), 261–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filiz, Z. (2014). An analysis of the levels of job satisfaction and life satisfaction of the academic staff. Social Indicators Research, 116(3), 793–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gappa, J. M., Austin, A. E., & Trice, A. G. (2007). Rethinking faculty work: Higher education’s strategic imperative. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagedorn, L. (2000). Conceptualizing faculty job satisfaction: Components, theories, and outcomes. New Directions for Institutional Research, 105, 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesli, V. L., & Lee, J. M. (2013). Job satisfaction in academia: Why are some faculty members happier than others? PS: Political Science & Politics, 46(2), 339–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Houston, D., Meyer, L. H., & Paewai, S. (2006). Academic staff workloads and job satisfaction: Expectations and values in academe. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 28(1), 17–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, G., Weinrib, J., Metcalfe, A. S., Fisher, D., Rubenson, K., & Snee, I. (2012). Academic work in Canada: The perceptions of early-career academics. Higher Education Quarterly, 66(2), 189–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, S. R., Spector, P. E., & Gavin, M. B. (2014). A critical look at ourselves: Do male and female professors respond the same to environment characteristics? Research in Higher Education, 55(4), 351–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacy, F. J., & Sheehan, B. A. (1997). Job satisfaction among academic staff: An international perspective. Higher Education, 34, 305–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Locke, W., & Bennion, A. (2013). Satisfaction in stages: The academic profession in the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth. In P. J. Bentley, H. Coates, I. R. Dobson, L. Goedegebuure, & V. L. Meek (Eds.), Job satisfaction around the academic world (pp. 223–238). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Machado-Taylor, M., Soares, V., Brites, R., Ferreira, J., Farhangmehr, M., Gouveia, O., & Peterson, M. (2016). Academic job satisfaction and motivation: Findings from a nationwide study in Portuguese higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 41(3), 541–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mamiseishvili, K., & Rosser, V. J. (2011). Examining the relationship between faculty productivity and job satisfaction. Journal of the Professoriate, 5(2), 100–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mark, G., & Smith, A. P. (2012). Effects of occupational stress, job characteristics, coping, and attributional style on the mental health and job satisfaction of university employees. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 25(1), 63–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McInnis, C., & Anderson, M. (2005). Academic work satisfaction in the wake of institutional reforms in Australia. The Professoriate, 133–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education (2015). Profile and Trends 2014: New Zealand’s Annual Tertiary Education Enrolments [Part 1 of 5]. Report. Ministry of Education, Education Counts. http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/164364/Profile-and-Trends-2014-NZs-Annual-Tertiary-Education-Enrolments-Part-1.pdf. Accessed 6 Apr 2017.

  • Ministry of Education & Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (2014). Tertiary Education Strategy, 2014–2019. Ministry of Education. http://www.education.govt.nz/further-education/policies-and-strategies/tertiary-education-strategy/. Accessed 6 Apr 2017.

  • Myers, C. B. (2011). Union status and faculty job satisfaction: Contemporary evidence from the 2004 National Study of postsecondary faculty. The Review of Higher Education, 34(4), 657–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, D., Maple, S. A., & Stage, F. K. (1995). Women and minority faculty job satisfaction: Professional role interests, professional satisfactions, and institutional fit. The Journal of Higher Education, 66(3), 267–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nana, G., Stokes, F., & Lynn, A. (2010). Academic workforce planning: Towards 2020, Report to Universities NZ Human Resources Committee Steering Group. Wellington: BERL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, D. (2006). The status of higher education teaching personnel in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Report prepared for Educational International. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. http://firgoa.usc.es/drupal/files/ei_study_final.pdf. Accessed 6 Apr 2017.

  • Sabharwal, M., & Corley, E. A. (2009). Faculty job satisfaction across gender and discipline. The Social Science Journal, 46, 539–556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuster, J. H., & Finkelstein, M. J. (2006). The American faculty: The restructuring of academic work and careers. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seifert, T. A., & Umbach, P. D. (2008). The effects of faculty demographic characteristics and disciplinary context on dimensions of job satisfaction. Research in Higher Education, 49(4), 357–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sommer, J. (2010). 2008 survey of New Zealand scientists and technologists. New Zealand Science Review, 67(1), 1–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sommer, J., & Sommer, D. (1997). Profiles: A survey of New Zealand scientists and technologists. Wellington: Royal Society of New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stupnisky, R. H., Weaver-Hightower, M. B., & Kartoshkina, Y. (2015). Exploring and testing the predictors of new faculty success: A mixed methods study. Studies in Higher Education, 40(2), 368–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U., Arimoto, A., & Cummings, W. K. (2013). The changing academic profession. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tipples, R., & Krivokapic-Skoko, B. (1997). New Zealand academics and performance management. International Journal of Employment Studies, 5(2), 103–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wall, M., Witten, K., & Sweetsur, P. (2009). Building research capability in the social sciences: (BRCSS) National survey of university-based social scientists. Auckland: Centre for Social and Health Outcomes Research and evaluation (SHORE), Massey University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winefield, A. H., Boyd, C., Saebel, J., & Pignata, S. (2008). Job stress in university staff: An Australian research study. Bowen Hills: Australian Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witten, K., Rose, E., Sweetsur, P., Huckle, T., & Huakau, J. (2006). BRCSS: National Survey of Social Scientists 2006. Auckland: Centre for Social and Health Outcomes Research and evaluation (SHORE), Massey University.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Kathryn A. Sutherland & Marc Wilson

Authors
  1. Kathryn A. Sutherland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marc Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathryn A. Sutherland .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sutherland, K.A., Wilson, M. (2018). Satisfaction Among Early Career Academics in New Zealand Universities: A Conceptual Model Tested. In: Early Career Academics in New Zealand: Challenges and Prospects in Comparative Perspective. The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61830-2_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61830-2_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61830-2

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation