Hong Kong academics’ perceived work environment and job dissatisfaction: The mediating role of academic self-efficacy.

Abstract

Much research has been conducted to investigate the impact of work environment on academics' job satisfaction. However, little is known about what contributes to academics' job dissatisfaction. Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are two distinct entities because a lack of job satisfaction cannot be simply equated with job dissatisfaction. This research investigated the mediating role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship between perceived work environment and job dissatisfaction. Participants were 547 academics from the 8 University Grants Committee-funded higher educational institutions in Hong Kong. Results show that academics' perceptions of their work environment (including their perceptions of institutional expectations regarding research, university governance and management, and working conditions) statistically predicted job dissatisfaction both directly and indirectly through academic self-efficacy in research and teaching, irrespective of age, gender, academic rank, institutional ranking, and primary academic discipline. The findings enrich the literature concerning perceived work environment, academic self-efficacy, and job dissatisfaction. At the same time, they establish a meaningful link among the fields of psychology, higher education, and career development and have practical implications for academics and university senior managers and, most likely, for senior leaders in other occupations. Educational Impact and Implications StatementMuch research has been conducted to investigate the impact of work environment on academics' job satisfaction. However, little is known about what contributes to academics' job dissatisfaction. Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are two distinct entities because a lack of job satisfaction cannot be simply equated with job dissatisfaction. Furthermore, no research has explored the mediating role that psychological characteristics play in the relationship between academics' perceived work environment and their job (dis)satisfaction. We constructed and validated 3 scales, one each assessing perceived work environment, academic self-efficacy, and job dissatisfaction. More important, our study showed that academics' perceived work environment significantly contributed to their job dissatisfaction, both directly and indirectly-through academic self-efficacy in research and teaching. Such contributions held true regardless of age, gender, academic rank, institutional ranking, and primary academic discipline. As such, this study has offered a new perspective from which academics' job dissatisfaction, and potentially that of employees in other occupations, can be understood via the concepts of self-efficacy and perceived work environment. At the same time, this study initiates a dialogue among three academic fields: psychology, higher education, and career development.

Determinants of Job Dissatisfaction and Its Impact on the Counterproductive Work Behavior of University Staff

“…That is, heavy job stressors yield frustration and dissatisfaction that indirectly lead to CWB. Consistent with prior studies (Bennett & Robinson, 2003; Pindek & Spector, 2016; Striler et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2020), job stressors are adverse work conditions that prevent university staff from performing their job successfully. These constraints create stress that triggers job dissatisfaction, which ultimately results in CWB among university staff.…”

“…Consequently, university staff face growing workloads that become too difficult or too stressful to manage. Chou and Robert (2008) found that employees with heavy workloads experience low levels of job satisfaction, especially when they do not have enough resources to perform their jobs (Billah et al, 2021; Ferguson & Cheek, 2011; Liu et al, 2010; Okeke & Mtyuda, 2017; Zhang et al, 2020). The lack of resources in the university context refers to inadequate information, outdated tools, poor equipment, and unavailable support from colleagues that create challenges in completing one’s job successfully.…”

“…This was supported by Conley and Woosley (2000) and Saijo et al (2008), who found that role conflict and role ambiguity trigger job dissatisfaction while diminishing job satisfaction. Chiu et al (2015), Zhang et al (2020), and Wood et al (2021) further established that role conflict and role ambiguity could deter employees from performing their jobs effectively, and thereby lead to employees' frustration and dissatisfaction.…”

Women's career in Vietnamese academia: An analysis from multiple lenses

“…They might become less motivated when there was a lack of fairness and transparency in work allocation among staff (Houston et al, 2006), when they feel their universities place higher emphasis on making profits than generating and disseminating knowledge (Fredman & Doughney, 2012) or when their institutions have unrealistically high levels of expectations for their research outcomes (Zhang, Fu, & Li, 2020).…”

Corporate social responsibility and frontline employees’ service improvisation: The mediating role of self-efficacy

“…The importance of SE has been recognized. Numerous scholars have pointed out that SE can significantly affect employee performance (Cherian and Jacob, 2013;Zhang et al, 2020). Some scholars have also argued that SE has a positive impact on employees' organisational citizenship behavior (Ullah I. et al, 2021).…”