The SAS Project: Motivation and Well-Being in Adjunct Versus Tenure-Track Faculty

• In Event: 34.074 - Faculty Development: Well-Being, Workplace Bullying, and Faculty Networks

Abstract

Recent surveys of well-being in post-secondary faculty show stress levels have increased significantly over the past two decades (Catano et al., 2010) and to exceed those of other professions (Else, 2017). Existing research on social-environmental antecedents of faculty well-being consistently demonstrates harmful effects of excessive job demands (Gomes et al., 2013; Navarro et al., 2010; Taris et al., 2001) such as high teaching loads (Gonzalez & Bernard, 2006; Watts & Robertson, 2011) as well as research and administrative pressure (Vera et al., 2010). Similarly, faculty who experience unsupportive relationships with administrators or colleagues, (Barkhuizen et al., 2014; Rothmann et al., 2008), report inequities in pay and benefits (Smith et al., 2008), or perceive limited academic autonomy (Fernet et al., 2004) also report greater burnout.
Despite academic rank being associated with substantial disparities in academic demands, influence, salary, and job security, most studies show no differences in well-being as a function of rank/tenure (Blix et al., 1994; Fernet et al., 2004; Li et al., 2013; McClenahan et al., 2007) or mixed effects (e.g., higher burnout for assistant vs. tenured, Singh et al., 1998; lower burnout for adjuncts vs. tenure-track; Lackritz, 2004). Following from emerging research on the unique experiences of adjunct (non-tenure-track) faculty regarding teaching (Baldwin & Wawrzynski, 2011), governance (Degeneffe & Offutt, 2008), mistreatment (Cronin & Smith, 2011), autonomy (Levin & Shaker, 2011), and stress (Reevy & Deason, 2014), the present international study further examined potential differences in adjunct vs. tenure-track faculty across varied established measures of motivation and well-being.
The sample included 2,204 post-secondary faculty (adjunct = 25.0%, assistant = 34.2%, associate = 23.6%, full = 11.2%) in the U.S. (88.4%) and Canada (11.6%) across 44 disciplines (female = 73.7%; ethnic minority = 7.7%; Mage = 39.7 years; Memployment = 7.6 years). Five measures adapted from Litalien et al. (2015) assessed intrinsic (e.g., meeting personal goals), integrated (e.g., goals, values, identity), identified (e.g., expertise, knowledge gains), introjected (e.g., obligations, avoiding disapproval), and external motivation (e.g., salary, prestige) for academic career persistence. Well-being measures were occupation-specific (job satisfaction, quitting intentions; Moe et al., 2010) and global in nature (work-life balance, Gutek et al., 1991; impostor syndrome, Clance, 1985; depression, CESD10; exhaustion, Maslach et al., 1996; illness symptoms; Cohen & Hoberman, 1983).
MANCOVA results (covariates: country, gender, ethnicity) showed a significant omnibus rank effect, F(36,4057.41) = 7.79, p < .001, Wilk's Λ = 0.821, partial η2 = .065, across all outcomes except integrated motivation and work-life balance; Frange(3,13.02-846.19) = 2.54-35.86, .055 ≤ p < .001, .005 ≤ partial η2 ≤ .072. As outlined in Figure 1, assistant professors reported the highest intrinsic motivation, associate professors the highest emotional exhaustion, and full professors the lowest introjected motivation and impostor syndrome. However, these results most consistently showed adjunct faculty to report the lowest motivation (identified, external) and poor well-being levels (job satisfaction, quitting intentions, depression, exhaustion, illness) underscoring the importance of continued research and policies addressing the unique psychological and physical health challenges facing non-tenure-track faculty at North American post-secondary institutions.

Author

• Nathan C. Hall, McGill University