Date of Graduation
2001
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the job satisfaction level of Engineering faculty from India, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China at a Research I University. Analysis was based on how academic rank, country of origin, or gender affected their level of job satisfaction and their degree of adjustment to the department, the college or the university as a whole. The following factors were assessed: teaching, research, recognition, workload, physical surroundings, reward systems, administration, collegiality and service. Structured interviews were conducted and taped of twenty faculty members at the study institution, detailing the above factors. An overall level of satisfaction with each of the study factors was obtained using a 10-point Likert-type scale where 1 = very dissatisfied and 10 = very satisfied. A grounded theory approach was used to organize the interview data. Responses to the interview questions were clustered and sorted based on their relevance to the 10 factors being assessed. Means were calculated for the participant responses to the Likert-type questions. The participants report: frustration with undergraduate student motivation level, concern about the balance between teaching and research in their work life, frustration with the lack of recognition that they have received for their work, an administration that is not always supportive and a lack of collegiality, as their major concerns. Some also report that they feel that they do not always fit into the mainstream university community. They find that their cultural values and traditions do not always mesh with the American values and traditions that they deal with on a daily basis. The data also shows that, with about half of the faculty interviewed, there is a growing sense of disillusionment, the longer they remain in academia. This was especially evident with the women interviewed. Almost all of the participants interviewed stated that they would have benefited immeasurably if a structured mentoring program had been in place to help them through the early part of their careers.
Recommended Citation
Madhavan, Susan Mary, "The job satisfaction level of Chinese and Indian-born engineering faculty at a Research I University." (2001). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 9339.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/9339