Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

International Faculty Perceptions of Departmental Climate and Workplace Satisfaction

  • Published:
Innovative Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

For this study we used the 2011–2014 survey data collected by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to examine the degree of international faculty members’ satisfaction with autonomy, interactions with colleagues, departmental climate, and recognition and the effect of these elements upon the overall workplace satisfaction of international faculty members relative to their U.S. citizen peers. This study helps identify factors that can enhance international faculty members’ satisfaction in order to aid institutions in their efforts not only to recruit the best talent but also to support and retain such talent.

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

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acker, S., & Feuerverger, G. (1996). Doing good and feeling bad: The work of women university teachers. Cambridge Journal of Education, 26, 401–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andreassi, J. K., Lawter, L., Brockerhoff, M., & Rutigliano, P. (2012). Job satisfaction determinants: A study across 48 nations. Proceedings of 2012 annual meeting of the academic of international business – US northeast chapter: Business without borders. Fairfield, CT: Sacred Heart University. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/cdeb/3db7256ba5bbbf710c3aa82ee3edc8a8cdce.pdf.

  • Benson, R. T., Mathews, K. R., & Trower, C. A. (2014). The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education: Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, 2014 (research version) [data file and codebook]. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

  • Bentler, P. M., & Hu, E. J. C. (2005). EQS 6.1 for windows user’s guide. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, B. M. (2001). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Nahwah, NJ: LEA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callister, R. R. (2006). The impact of gender and department climate on job satisfaction and intentions to quit for faculty in science and engineering fields. Journal of Technology Transfer, 31, 367–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, C. M., & O’Meara, K. (2014). Faculty agency: Departmental contexts that matter in faculty careers. Research in Higher Education, 55, 49–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantwell, B. (2012). Internationalization of academic labor: Considering postdocs. International Higher Education, 69, 17–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • COACHE: The Collaborative of Academic Careers in Higher Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education (n.d.). Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey. Retrieved from https://coache.gse.harvard.edu/faculty-job-satisfaction-survey.

  • Corley, E. A., & Sabharwal, M. (2007). Foreign-born academic scientists and engineers: Producing more and getting less than their U.S.-born peers? Research in Higher Education, 48, 909–940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1993). The motivation to work. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1980). Motivation, leadership, and organization: Do American theories apply abroad? Organizational Dynamics, 5, 42–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hox, J. J., & Bechger, T. M. (1998). An introduction to structural equation modeling. Family Science Review, 11, 354–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institute of International Education (2016a). Major field of specialization of international scholars, 1999/00–2015/16, Selected Years. Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/Data/International-Scholars

  • Institute of International Education (2016b). Top 25 places of origin of international Scholars, 2013/14–2014/15. Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/Data/International-Scholars/Leading-Places-of-Origin

  • Johnsrud, L. K., & Rosser, V. J. (2002). Faculty members’ morale and their intention to leave: A multilevel explanation. The Journal of Higher Education, 73, 518–542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D., Twombly, S., & Wolf-Wendel, L. (2012). International faculty in American universities: Experiences of academic life, productivity, and career mobility. Special Issue: Refining the focus on faculty diversity in postsecondary institutions. New Directions for Institutional Research, 155, 27–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D., Wolf-Wendel, L., & Twombly, S. (2011). International faculty: Experiences of academic life and productivity in U.S. universities. The Journal of Higher Education, 82, 720–747.

    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 

  • Lan, F., Hale, K., & Rivers, E. (2015). Immigrants’ growing presence in the U.S. science and engineering workforce: Education and employment characteristics in 2013 . National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA. Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15328/nsf15328.pdf

  • Lawrence, J. H., Celis, S., Kim, H. S., Lipson, S. K., & Tong, X. (2014). To stay or not to stay: Retention of Asian international faculty in STEM fields. Higher Education, 67, 511–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindholm, J. A. (2003). Perceived organizational fit: Nurturing the minds, hearts, and personal ambitions of university faculty. The Review of Higher Education, 27, 125–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mamiseishvili, K. (2010). Foreign-born women faculty roles and productivity at research universities in the United States. Higher Education, 60, 139–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mamiseishvili, K. (2011). Teaching workload and satisfaction of foreign-born and U.S.-born faculty at four-year postsecondary institutions in the United States. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 4, 163–174. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mamiseishvili, K. (2013). Contributions of foreign-born faculty to doctoral education and research. Increasing diversity in doctoral education: Implications for theory and practice. New Directions for Higher Education, 163, 89–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mamiseishvili, K., & Rosser, V. J. (2010). International and citizen faculty in the United States: An examination of their productivity at research universities. Research in Higher Education, 51, 88–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manrique, C. G., & Manrique, G. G. (1999). The multicultural or immigrant faculty in American society. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marvasti, A. (2005). U.S. academic institutions and perceived effectiveness of foreign-born faculty. Journal of Economic Issues, 39, 151–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munene, I. I. (2014). Outsiders within: Isolation of international faculty in an American university. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 19, 450–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Education Statistics (2014). Digest of education statistics. Washington, DC: Institute of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_315.20.asp

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Poggi, A. (2008). Job satisfaction, working conditions and job expectations. Working Paper No. 73. Torino, Italy: LABORatorio Revelli, Center for Employment Studies. Retrieved from http://www.laboratoriorevelli.it/_pdf/wp73.pdf

  • Rosser, V. J. (2005). Measuring the change in faculty perceptions over time: An examination of their worklife and satisfaction. Research in Higher Education, 46, 81–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabharwal, M. (2011a). High-skilled immigrants: How satisfied are foreign-born scientists and engineers employed at American universities? Review of Public Personnel Administration, 31, 143–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabharwal, M. (2011b). Job satisfaction patterns of scientists and engineers by status of birth. Research Policy, 40, 853–863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (2010). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seagren, A. T., & Wang, H. (1994, November). Marginal men on an American campus: A case of Chinese faculty. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of higher education, Tucson, Arizona.

  • Skachkova, P. (2007). Academic careers of immigrant women professors in the U.S. Higher Education, 53, 697–738.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, J. M., & Johnson, B. J. (2004). Perspectives of international faculty members: Their experiences and stories. Education and Society, 22(3), 47–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webber, K. L. (2012). Research productivity of foreign- and US-born faculty: Differences by time and task. High Education, 63, 709–729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9523-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webber, K. L., & Yang, L. (2014). The increased role of foreign-born academic staff in US higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 36, 43–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, R., Seifert, T., Park, S., Reed, E., & Umbach, P. D. (2007). Job satisfaction of international faculty in U.S. higher education. Journal of the Professoriate, 2(1), 5–32.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge that the reported results are based in whole on analyses of the COACHE Data Set. These data were collected as part of a multi-site survey administration and supported by funds from participating colleges and universities and made available to the authors by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education. This article has not been reviewed or endorsed by COACHE and does not necessarily represent the opinions of COACHE staff or members, who are not responsible for the contents.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ketevan Mamiseishvili.

Ethics declarations

Disclaimer

Research conducted for this paper was partially supported by the 2017–2019 US National Science Foundation project “Connecting Nuances of Foreign Status, Professional Networks, and Higher Education” (DGE #1661206) (Co-PIs Eric Welch, Julia Melkers and Ketevan Mamiseishvili).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mamiseishvili, K., Lee, D. International Faculty Perceptions of Departmental Climate and Workplace Satisfaction. Innov High Educ 43, 323–338 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-018-9432-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-018-9432-4

Keywords

Navigation