How does obtaining a permanent employment contract affect the job satisfaction of doctoral graduates inside and outside academia?

Abstract

Previous research has shown that temporary employment is negatively associated with many psychological and job-related outcomes, such as well-being, health, wages, organisational commitment, and job satisfaction. Among recent doctoral graduates, the proportion of temporary contracts is particularly high. However, research on the association between contract type and job satisfaction specifically among doctoral graduates is scarce. Therefore, whether and how obtaining permanent employment affects doctoral graduates’ job satisfaction remains a notable research gap that we intend to narrow by using panel data from a recent doctoral graduation cohort and by adopting a panel research design. We examine what effect obtaining permanent employment has on doctoral graduates’ job satisfaction and whether this effect differs by labour market sector. We use panel data that are representative of the 2014 doctoral graduation cohort in Germany and their career trajectories up to five years after graduation. We apply fixed-effects regression to approximate the within-effect of obtaining a permanent employment contract on job satisfaction. The analyses indicate that obtaining permanent employment increases doctoral graduates’ job satisfaction and that this increase is not driven by time-varying confounders. We also find that doctoral graduates’ labour market sector moderates the effect: the increase in job satisfaction is highest in the academic sector and statistically significantly different from that in the private sector. Overall, this paper offers new insights into the effect of obtaining a permanent contract on the job satisfaction of recent doctoral graduates throughout their first years after graduation, when they are often employed on temporary contracts.

Occupational choice, satisfaction and success of PhD graduates in East Asia and the West: A systematic review

“…Empirical evidence from a longitudinal study in Germany further bolstered these theoretical inferences, confirming that obtaining a permanent employment contract enhanced the occupational satisfaction of doctoral professionals by 7.6% and this positive effect remained robust even after five years (Goldan et al., 2022). Additionally, the transitioning from academia to industry led to a 4% increase in occupational satisfaction for doctorates (Goldan et al., 2022). Notably, occupational satisfaction levels eventually converged among permanent employees across all sectors, underscoring the crucial role of the contract type in determining the occupational satisfaction among doctoral professionals (Goldan et al., 2022).…”

“…The other factor wielding substantial influence on the occupational satisfaction of doctoral professionals was the type of employment contract. A survey with doctorates working under temporary contracts in Germany reported lower levels of occupational satisfaction across all sectors (Goldan et al., 2022). Similar results were found in Netherlands, regardless of prospects for securing permanent positions (Waaijer et al., 2017).…”

“…Similar results were found in Netherlands, regardless of prospects for securing permanent positions (Waaijer et al., 2017). In academia, the difference in mean occupational satisfaction between temporary and permanent employees was notable (10% disparity), while in the industry, the gap was slightly smaller (6% disparity) (Goldan et al., 2022). These disparities within academia were explainable either from the social comparison perspective where a permanent contract was perceived as a desirable social reward or from the rational choice perspective where a permanent contract offered greater certainty, leading to improved work‐life balance and reduced stress, ultimately contributing to higher job satisfaction (Goldan et al., 2022; Hnatkova et al., 2022; Waaijer et al., 2017).…”

“…In academia, the difference in mean occupational satisfaction between temporary and permanent employees was notable (10% disparity), while in the industry, the gap was slightly smaller (6% disparity) (Goldan et al., 2022). These disparities within academia were explainable either from the social comparison perspective where a permanent contract was perceived as a desirable social reward or from the rational choice perspective where a permanent contract offered greater certainty, leading to improved work‐life balance and reduced stress, ultimately contributing to higher job satisfaction (Goldan et al., 2022; Hnatkova et al., 2022; Waaijer et al., 2017). Empirical evidence from a longitudinal study in Germany further bolstered these theoretical inferences, confirming that obtaining a permanent employment contract enhanced the occupational satisfaction of doctoral professionals by 7.6% and this positive effect remained robust even after five years (Goldan et al., 2022).…”

“…These disparities within academia were explainable either from the social comparison perspective where a permanent contract was perceived as a desirable social reward or from the rational choice perspective where a permanent contract offered greater certainty, leading to improved work‐life balance and reduced stress, ultimately contributing to higher job satisfaction (Goldan et al., 2022; Hnatkova et al., 2022; Waaijer et al., 2017). Empirical evidence from a longitudinal study in Germany further bolstered these theoretical inferences, confirming that obtaining a permanent employment contract enhanced the occupational satisfaction of doctoral professionals by 7.6% and this positive effect remained robust even after five years (Goldan et al., 2022). Additionally, the transitioning from academia to industry led to a 4% increase in occupational satisfaction for doctorates (Goldan et al., 2022).…”