Date

9-2021

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Sarah Jeanne Pannone

Keywords

perception, adjunct faculty job satisfaction, multi-year teaching appointment, job security, anxiety, transcendental phenomenology

Disciplines

Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Leadership

Abstract

Grounded in the extant literature, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore adjunct faculty perceptions of job satisfaction with multi-year teaching appointments at two campuses of a public urban university system in the Northeastern United States. The study utilized Herzberg et al.'s motivation-hygiene theory, also known as two-factor theory, and Husserl's transcendental phenomenological research design. The central research question was "What are adjunct faculty perceptions of job satisfaction with multi-year teaching contracts?" The data collection consisted of a demographic questionnaire, open-ended semi-structured interviews with twelve adjunct faculty who taught under multi-year contracts from 2017 to 2020, a focus group discussion, and a multi-year contract dossier published by the faculty labor union. The Moustakas' modified van Kaam's seven-step method of analysis of phenomenological data served to conduct data analysis for theme development, and descriptions of meanings and essences of participants' lived experiences. Three themes emerged: Partial job satisfaction, institutional recognition, and bells and whistles [emphasis added]. The study's main finding was that multi-year contracts provided the twelve adjunct faculty partial job satisfaction due to temporary job security, which resulted in temporary job stability and lessened anxiety. Their partial job satisfaction stemmed from perceiving the multi-year contract as an institutional recognition of longevity and teaching performance devoid of additional benefits and improved working conditions.

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