Administrator Job Satisfaction in Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the job satisfaction of men and women administrators in higher education in four-year public institutions in Alabama. In addition, the study examined whether there was a relationship between gender and overall job satisfaction, work climate, and job structure. In conducting the study, the researcher selected four public four-year higher education institutions from a list of 14 four-year public institutions governed by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. The researcher compiled the e-mail addresses of all administrators fitting the profile from the websites of each selected institution into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Each potential participant fitting the profile was contacted electronically requesting their participation in this study. The total number of administrators in the data set was 56. The administrator demographic variables were as follows: (a) gender, (b) ethnicity, (c) age group, (d) marital status, (e) education level, (f) years of administrator experience, (g) salary, and (h) job title. Results from the statistical analysis showed that in terms of present job duties, pay, opportunities for promotion, and supervision, the administrators who participated in this study were satisfied. The administrators expressed a level of dissatisfaction with the people with whom they work and their job in general. There was no statistically significant difference in overall job satisfaction of the male and female administrators surveyed. There was no statistically significant difference in overall job satisfaction, work climate, and job structure between the male and female administrators who participated in this study. The findings indicated that male administrators were more satisfied with their work climate than the female administrators; however, the findings were still not statistically significant at the .05 level.