Supporting Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Well-Being

Abstract

Self-determination theory (SDT) was used to model the relations between environmental supports (i.e., administrative, departmental, personal and family) and well-being (i.e., teaching/service and global satisfaction) in 96 full-time non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty members, a growing population that has been underrepresented in the psychological and educational literature. Perceived relatedness and volitional autonomy were hypothesized to mediate the relations between the environmental supports and NTT faculty well-being. Results of path analysis indicated no significant direct effects for the environmental supports or volitional autonomy on well-being; perceived relatedness displayed significant direct effects on both indices of well-being. A bootstrap procedure yielded significant indirect effects for all environmental supports on well-being via perceived relatedness; administrative support displayed a marginally significant indirect effect via volitional autonomy. Results are discussed in terms of SDT and faculty well-being, and future directions for research are provided.

Non-Tenure Track Faculty Satisfaction: A Self-Determination Model

“…Among tenure track faculty, relatedness partially mediated the relationship between four environmental supports (administrative, research, department feedback/support, promotion and tenure) and global satisfaction, one index of faculty satisfaction (Larson et al, 2017). In contrast with the findings of the NTT investigation (Seipel & Larson, 2018), these same four environmental supports also had direct effects on global satisfaction. However, relatedness did not significantly relate to the other index of satisfaction, namely teaching/service satisfaction (Larson et al, 2017).…”

“…The findings of both studies (e.g, Larson et al, 2017;Seipel & Larson, 2018) provided preliminary evidence for the efficacy of SDT in mediating the relationships between environmental supports and faculty satisfaction. The current study seeks to further their work by expanding the model forwarded by Larson and colleagues (2017) within a larger, national sample of full-time NTT faculty.…”

“…Recent meta-analyses have demonstrated that the SDT needs are robust predictors of outcomes across diverse domains including physical and mental health (Ng et al, 2012), school performance (e.g., Hummel & Randler, 2012), and burnout (Li, Wang, & Kee, 2013). Seipel and Larson (2018) provided empirical evidence that the SDT relatedness need fully mediated the relation between their three environmental supports and two indices of satisfaction in a sample of full-time NTT faculty. However, this investigation offered a limited portrayal of environmental supports, had a relatively small sample size, and sampled only one institution.…”

“…However, this investigation offered a limited portrayal of environmental supports, had a relatively small sample size, and sampled only one institution. The current analysis sought to build on previous work (e.g., Seipel & Larson, 2018) by expanding an SDTbased model to include more environmental supports while examining the model in a larger, more diverse national sample of full-time NTT faculty. The authors utilized an archival dataset of full-time NTT faculty who completed the Harvard Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) faculty job satisfaction survey (Benson, Mathews, & Trower, 2014), a widely-used measure for assessing and improving institutional deficiencies that impact faculty (e.g., Larson et al, 2017;Ott & Cisneros, 2015;Seipel & Larson, 2018).…”

“…The current analysis sought to build on previous work (e.g., Seipel & Larson, 2018) by expanding an SDTbased model to include more environmental supports while examining the model in a larger, more diverse national sample of full-time NTT faculty. The authors utilized an archival dataset of full-time NTT faculty who completed the Harvard Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) faculty job satisfaction survey (Benson, Mathews, & Trower, 2014), a widely-used measure for assessing and improving institutional deficiencies that impact faculty (e.g., Larson et al, 2017;Ott & Cisneros, 2015;Seipel & Larson, 2018). As shown in the hypothesized model in Figure 1, the authors predicted that volitional autonomy and relatedness would fully mediate the relationships between six environmental support variables (outlined below) and two indices of faculty satisfaction, namely teaching and service satisfaction and global satisfaction.…”