Should I stay or should I leave: The question of tenure track faculty job satisfaction at institutions of higher education

The purpose of this study was to explore how tenure procedures at institutions of higher education, workload, confidence in support of teaching and research objectives, climate, culture, collegiality and salary affect job satisfaction of tenure track faculty. The study compares three cohort groups of tenure-track faculty from over eighty institutions of higher education in the United States.

This study has observed differences in the constructs that make up tenure track faculty job satisfaction across different types of institutions. This study enhances the institutional component of Johnsrud and Rosser’s research because it used data that was collected more recently and focuses only on tenure track faculty. Additionally, it adds to the literature currently published by COACHE, which has been primarily descriptive in nature, by predicting what sets of variables contribute more predominantly to tenure track job satisfaction. The study observed differences in both the way that Johnsrud, Johnsrud, and Heck, Rosser and COACHE portray tenure track faculty job satisfaction.