An exploration process on job satisfaction in higher education

Abstract

The lower number of lecturers can severely affect the higher education system where society does not receive enough educational services to enlighten students’ future. Meanwhile, lecturer job satisfaction also alerts higher education institutions. Thus, examining factors influencing lecturer work satisfaction is crucial to all higher education institutions. The main objective of this research is to explore how root causes (work-family conflict and workload) affect consequences (stress and burnout) which are significantly associated with lecturer attitude (work satisfaction) along with work experience acting as a moderator. Data collected from 450 Thai lectures were analyzed using a Path Analysis Technique. Results indicated that lecturer stress was significantly influenced by work-family conflict and workloads. Next, lecturer burnout was significantly influenced by stress, workloads, and work-family conflict. After that, work satisfaction was significantly influenced by stress and burnout. Finally, lecturer work experience significantly moderated relationships (1) between stress and satisfaction and (2) between burnout and satisfaction.