Determinants of the job satisfaction of PhD holders: an analysis by gender, employment sector, and type of satisfaction in Spain

Abstract

We analyze the determinants of job satisfaction of PhD holders in Spain. Specifically, we consider overall job satisfaction as well as basic and motivational satisfaction, following Herzberg's typology (based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs). Using representative data for Spain's PhD population, drawn from the Spanish Survey on Human Resources in Science and Technology (2009), we report an analysis by gender and the institutional sector (university and non-university) in which employees work. We employ OLS regressions to identify the determinants of basic and motivational satisfaction in the workplace and an ordered logit model for overall job satisfaction. Results do not allow us to confirm Herzberg's factor differentiation for Spanish PhD holders, since the factors of basic motivation (including salary or working conditions-needs of 'safety') have a bearing on all types of job satisfaction (and not solely on the basic satisfaction of PhD holders). Our results do not show any significant differences by gender. However, it seems that meeting these 'basic' needs is less important for the job satisfaction of PhD holders working in universities. The results seem reasonable in a Southern European country where the monetary conditions of the labor market are worse than those in other developed countries.

Permanent contracts and job satisfaction in academia: evidence from European countries

“…We find that academics with a permanent contract are on average more satisfied with their job than their colleagues that are employed on a temporary basis. A few recent country-specific studies point out a similar finding for the case of Spain, Netherlands and the UK (Escardíbul and Afcha 2017;Fontinha, van Laar, and Easton 2018;van der Weijden et al 2016). By considering a large cross-section of several thousand researchers in all European countries, the present study corroborates and extends recent research on this topic.…”

“…However, only a limited number of studies have examined the consequences of this important trend for researchers' job satisfaction. Escardíbul and Afcha (2017) analyse data for a large representative sample of PhD holders in Spain and find, among other results, a positive and significant correlation between academic tenure and job satisfaction. Waaijer et al (2017) present a study on the effects of temporary employment on job satisfaction in a large sample of recent PhD graduates (over 1,000 respondents) in the Netherlands.…”

“…de Lourdes Machado-Taylor et al (2016) consider a sample of more than 4,500 academics in Portugal, highlighting a broad variety of factors that affect job satisfaction in academia. Escardíbul and Afcha (2017) present an analysis of data from the Spanish Survey on Human Resources in Science and Technology (2009), focusing on differences between male and female PhD holders. Albert, Davia, and Legazpe (2018), also analysing data for Spanish academics, point out that research productivity is an important factor that motivates researchers, and that is therefore associated with job satisfaction.…”

“…Empirical research in several other sectors of the economy suggests that weak job security is an important factor hampering work life satisfaction (Wilkin 2013). A few recent papers have started to explore this question for the academic sector, focusing for instance on the cases of the Netherlands, Spain and the UK (Escardíbul and Afcha 2017;Fontinha, van Laar, and Easton 2018;van der Weijden et al 2016). However, research in this field does still lack comprehensive cross-country evidence on the effects of academic tenure on job satisfaction.…”

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“…El presente trabajo toma como base de referencia la «Teoría de la Motivación» de Herzberg et al (1959). Son varias las investigaciones que han utilizado esta teoría como marco hasta nuestros días, en múltiples sectores o ámbitos profesionales (p.e., en Salud: Albohoseini et al, 2018, Petersen et al, 2017, Torkaman et al, 2017en Educación: Verma & Sharma, 2018, Emiroglu et al, 2017, Escardibul & Afcha, 2017, Rizkallah & Seitz, 2017; en el Sector Público: Khoshnevis & Tahmasebi;en Hostelería: Cech et al, 2015), y en culturas diversas (Warrier & Prasad, 2018;Rahman et al, 2017). No obstante, son escasas aún las dedicadas al entorno laboral en la era de la digitalización.…”