NACADA ConferenceSession 90

Looking for Job Satisfaction

in Distance Advising

• Brighton Brooks• Tyann Cherry• Lisa Haas• Heidi Marshall• Ann Sukalac

Session Overview Introduction Review of the Literature Methodology Results Discussion Questions

Introduction•Presenters•Background to the study

Presenters Brighton Brooks, Academic Advisor,

University of Alaska, Fairbanks Tyann Cherry, Senior Academic Advisor

Webster University Lisa Haas, Dean of Students, American

Intercontinental University Online Heidi Marshall, Dissertation Editor, Walden

University Ann Sukalac, Academic Advisor, Linfield

College

Job SatisfactionLiterature Review

Why It is Important Related to job turnover More absenteeism Lower performance Consistency Direct connection with students so their

satisfaction can be related to the service they provide (Beyth-Marom, Gorodeisky, Bar-Haim, Godder, 2006).

How a Person Feels about their job "an individual's reaction to the job experience” (Berry,

1997) Pay Promotion Co-workers Supervisor Work conditions Work/life balance Safety Productivity Work itself (Similar to Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene theory)(Yip, Goldman, Martin, n.d.; Barry, Bozeman & Gaughan, 2011)

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Two Factor Theory)

Factors for Satisfaction Factors for Dissatisfaction Company policies Supervision Relationship with

supervisor and peers

Work conditions Salary Status Security

Achievement Recognition The work itself Responsibility Advancement Growth

Theories Based on Want Discrepancy theory—(Locke)-difference

between what someone wants and needs

Hypothesis theory (Bandura)-perceive they want what others around them want

Maslow’s Hierarchy

Donnelly’s Research in Job Satisfaction in Academic Advisors (2004) Job satisfaction ratings differed different

aspects of job Connection between the use of standards

and job satisfaction Advisors identified other variables that

account for job satisfaction Aspects such as working with students and

colleagues more satisfying Pay, benefits, and other non-student related

areas decreased job satisfaction

Job Satisfaction in Distance Distance education

instructors are dissatisfied because of the lack of recognition (Lee, 2001)

Can result from role ambiguity, work overload, role conflict, burnout, career advancement (Tull, 2006)

Telecommuting or working from home may lead to increased job satisfaction (Fan Ng, 2006)

Methodology•Survey tool•Participants•Analytical methods

Results

Distance Advising by Years on the Job No startling revelations; 70-87% of

respondents from 0-15+ years on the job were Very or Mostly satisfied overall with their current job

No apparent trend regarding percentage of time spent advising by distance

General positive relationship between Age of advisor and Years on the Job… Except advisors of 3-5 years!

Distance Advising by Years on the Job Salary increase rated #1 for improving job

satisfaction across all categories 7% feel Very Well compensated 48% feel Fairly compensated 42% feel Inadequately compensated 2.5% feel Not At All compensated Small positive relationship between years on

the job and feeling Very Well compensated & corresponding negative relationship with feeling Inadequately compensated

Distance Advising by Years on the Job Advising Resources available at work

may help Small positive relationship (82-92%

range) between reported resources offered and years on the job

Similar positive relationship (74-90% range) between finding value in resources offered and years on the job

Distance Advising by Years on the Job

Regarding Modality of advising… 8% of respondents <3 years on the job used live

chat Very or Pretty Frequently (compared to 4.5% of all respondents) Frequency not necessarily related to Satisfaction of

using those same modalities Most do not use live chat (67%), informational

mediums (80%), and social networking (68%) or do not know what they are, regardless of years on the job

ResultsDissatisfaction v. satisfaction

Dissatisfied advisors spend more time advising at a distance

•Of the satisfied advisors, 78% of respondents spend less than 50% of their time advising at a distance.

•Of the dissatisfied advisors, 58.62% of respondents spend less than 50% of their time advising at a distance.

•Dissatisfied advisors spend slightly more time advising by email than in-person compared to satisfied advisors, but indicated greater satisfaction when advising in-person.

•Responses from both groups indicated that fewer than 20% use chat, podcast/blog, or social networking to advise, and fewer than 10% indicated satisfaction with these same tools.

Although both groups indicated their preferred method of advising as in-person, dissatisfied advisors indicated a higher preference for all other types of advising compared to satisfied advisors in this order: email, phone, live chat, podcast/blog, social networking.

Area for further study: Would increasing access to and support for these technologies increase the satisfaction of those advisors who are currently dissatisfied?

Compared to satisfied advisors, dissatisfied advisors indicated: Higher level of concern about confidentiality advising at a distance Higher level of concern about the effectiveness of advising at a distance

Responses from both groups indicated acknowledgement that distance advising is a necessary component of the advising profession, but all respondents indicated some level of agreement that distance lacks adequate communication components to fully advise students

Other Significant Observations Between Dissatisfied and Satisfied Advisors Both groups selected autonomy and the quality of

interaction with students as higher indicators of satisfaction than communication with a supervisor or peers.

Both groups indicated the majority of distance advising is conducted via e-mail with phone a close second. Dissatisfied advisors indicated slightly higher use of alternative

technologies (41.38% compared to 34.09%) and slightly higher desire for more support for distance advising (58.62% compared to 42.94% when excluding desire for increased salary).

Both groups indicated a more favorable view of social networking compared to other technologies (media sharing, cloud computing, podcasting, blogs, microblogs, and wikis).

ResultsTechnology Adopters

Satisfaction in Advising Students - Chat

Technology Adopters, regardless of the technology adopted, tend to be more satisfied using Chat technology than their non-adoptive counterparts

Satisfaction in Advising Students -Twitter

The same holds true for microblogging and SNS

Satisfaction in Advising Students -Informational

While the margins slim somewhat for technology adopters against their non-adoptive counterparts in the informational section they still hold close to a 20% greater satisfaction rate.

Favorable Attitudes Toward Technology

Overall technology adopters have significantly stronger favorable attitudes toward technologies we surveyed than their non-adoptive counterparts.

Observations This entire sample is very small

compared to the entire survey Use of one technology appears to

greatly impact weather or not a group has used another technology

Satisfaction with use of technology appears to increase if the group is also using another technology

Strongly Agree – Somewhat Agree

While Technology Adopters are almost equal in confidence in their abilities to advise at a distance as their non-adoptive counterparts they are more likely to be confident that their distance advising rivals f2f and that they are not failing to address key components

Implications? If it does hold true that adoption of one

technology into advising leads to greater satisfaction and easier adoption, how does NACADA help?

How do we measure student satisfaction with technology based advising?

References Barry Bozeman and Monica Gaughan. "Job Satisfaction among University Faculty:

Individual, Work, and Institutional Determinants." The Journal of Higher Education 82.2 (2011): 154-186. Project MUSE. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.

Beyth-Marom, R., Harpaz-Gorodeisky, G., Bar-Haim, A., & Goder, E. (2006). Identification, Motivation and Job Satisfaction among Tutors at the Open University of Israel. The International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 7(2), Article 7.2.2. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/302/617

Donnelly, N. (2006). The effect of standards use on academic advisor job satisfaction. NACADA Journal (24). Retrieved from http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/journal/index.htm

Fan Ng, C. (2006). Academic telecommuting in open and distance education universities: issues, challenges, and opportunities. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/300/632

Herzberg, F. 1968, "One more time: how do you motivate employees?", Harvard Business Review, vol. 46, iss. 1, pp. 53–62.

Lee, J. (2001). Instructional support for distance education and faculty motivation, commitment, satisfaction. British Journal of Educational Technology, 32(2), 153. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Tull, A. (2006). Synergistic supervision, job satisfaction, and in intention to turnout of new professional in student affairs. Journal of College Student Development, vol. 9.4, pp. 465-480

Berry, Lilly M. (1997). Psychology at Work. San Francisco: McGraw Hill Companies Inc. Yip, P.M., Goldman, A., Martin, A. L. (n.d.) Job satisfaction. University of Arizona.

Retrieved from http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ctaylor/chapter9/jobsat.html