Excellence Through Diversity

Report of the Council on Faculty Diversity and Inclusion 2008

Faculty Satisfaction

Junior Faculty Satisfaction

The experiences of pre-tenure, tenure-track faculty in the areas of the promotion and tenure process, work-family balance, and the climate and culture of the University were assessed through the COACHE survey carried out by The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE). There were very few differences by gender or race on any of the questions in the survey.

The results of the survey showed that overall, Boston University junior faculty are less satisfied than junior faculty in peer institutions (Brown University, Duke University, Northeastern University, Syracuse University, Tufts University)¹ and less satisfied when compared to all faculty participating in The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) survey. Faculty indicated that the best aspects of working at Boston University are the geographic location, quality and support of colleagues, and their sense of “fit.” The worst aspects of working at Boston University are the cost of living, compensation, and lack of support for research/creative work.

Of the areas covered in the survey, satisfaction was highest in areas related to Climate, Culture and Collegiality, and Nature of the Work/Workload and lowest in areas related to Tenure, Policies and Procedures, and Global Satisfaction. There were significant differences in Global Satisfaction according to academic discipline. Faculty in the Humanities, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and Biological Sciences were considerably more satisfied than those in some of the professions (e.g., Business, Law, Social Work).

Junior faculty perceive that tenure decisions are based on performance. However, they are unclear about the tenure process, about the criteria for tenure, and about their own prospects for tenure. In addition, they reported very little understanding of the expectations for performance as a department colleague, a student advisor, a campus citizen and a community member.

The policies that junior faculty perceive to be most effective in increasing satisfaction are:

• limits on teaching and committee work for junior faculty
• informal mentoring
• travel funds to present papers and funds for research
• periodic formal performance reviews

The policies that junior faculty indicate would be most helpful if implemented include:

• financial assistance with housing
• childcare
• paid or unpaid research leave prior to tenure
• professional assistance with obtaining externally funded grants
• written summaries of periodic performance reviews

Faculty Satisfaction: Charles River Campus
The Boston University Climate Survey examined the quality of faculty life at Boston University with questions that focused on satisfaction with the intrinsic (e.g., intellectual stimulation) and extrinsic (e.g., salary, start-up funds) rewards of faculty life, workload, perception of climate and opportunities, mentoring, promotion and tenure, hiring and retention, and life outside the institution. All full-time tenured, tenure track, and non-tenure track faculty were invited to participate. The overall response rate was 71%. Some of the major results were as follows:²

Overall Satisfaction: Sixty-eight percent of faculty reported that they were very or somewhat satisfied, 25% that they were very or somewhat dissatisfied, and 7% reported that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with being a faculty member at Boston University. Males and females did not differ in overall satisfaction. The only significant difference in overall satisfaction across ranks was that non-tenure track faculty were more satisfied overall than Assistant Professors.

Predictors of Overall Satisfaction: The relationship between overall satisfaction and all of the other questions on the survey was investigated using correlational analyses. The results showed that of the 20 questions that were significantly related to overall satisfaction, 15 were ones having to do with perception of the climate and opportunities at Boston University. Although males and females did not differ on the question concerning overall satisfaction, females were significantly less satisfied than males on the majority of questions that were related to overall satisfaction.

In order to determine the best predictors of overall satisfaction for males and females and for faculty at different ranks, regression analyses were carried out. Results of the analyses by gender showed that the best predictor of overall satisfaction for males was the supportiveness of the work environment and for females was the amount of stress they reported related to childcare. Consistent with this, females were more likely than males to indicate that they would leave Boston University to reduce stress or to address child-related issues. They also reported more stress outside of Boston University from managing household duties.

Results of the analyses by rank showed that the best predictor of overall satisfaction for Professors was their sense of inclusion in Boston University, for Associate Professors was whether they felt the work environment was supportive, and for Assistant Professors was whether they felt service was adequately valued in the promotion process.

For non-tenure track faculty there was no statistically significant best predictor of overall satisfaction.

Salary: Over half of the faculty reported being somewhat or very dissatisfied with their salary. Satisfaction ratings concerning salary were lower for females than for males, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Resources: Males were significantly more satisfied than females with start-up funds, with the reasonableness of their workload, with many aspects of the physical resources (e.g., lab and classroom space), and with the support for their work (e.g., computer resources, support for securing grants).

Nature of Work: Males were more satisfied than females with many aspects of their work including their teaching duties, the availability of teaching assistants, advising, access to students for research, and time for scholarly work.

Mentoring: Formal mentoring is not a common activity on the Charles River Campus. However, the majority of faculty indicated that they had had informal mentors and that the informal mentoring they had received had been helpful. There were no significant differences by gender in this area.

Promotion and Tenure: Males were more likely than females to feel that the criteria for promotion and tenure are clearly communicated and to feel that service is appropriately valued in promotion and tenure. Females reported more stress associated with the review and promotion process, from advising, and from departmental or campus politics.

Faculty Satisfaction: Medical Campus
The same Boston University Climate Survey used on the Charles River Campus for non-tenure track faculty was administered to full-time faculty in the School of Medicine (MED), School of Dental Medicine (SDM) and School of Public Health (SPH) on the Medical Campus, all of whom are non-tenure track. The response rate on the Medical Campus was 50%. The responses to the Medical Campus survey were analyzed by gender and degree type (PhD, MD/Dental doctorate, Other), rather than by gender and rank, as done with the CRC survey. The Council believed that this analysis was likely to capture significant differences in perception of climate on the Medical Campus that might be related to differences in job duties, salary expectations and sources, and characteristics of teaching for these different types of faculty.

Overall Satisfaction: Seventy-three percent of the faculty reported that they were very or somewhat satisfied, 20% reported that they were very or somewhat dissatisfied and 7% reported that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with being a faculty member at Boston University. MDs were significantly more satisfied overall than PhDs and there was no statistically significant difference between males and females on this question.

Predictors of Overall Satisfaction: Thirteen questions on the survey were significantly related to the question concerning overall satisfaction. Ten of the 13 questions came from the section of the survey dealing with climate and opportunities at Boston University—a result very similar to that seen for CRC faculty. Males were significantly more satisfied with the climate and opportunities on the Medical Campus than were females. In addition, males found the leadership to be more supportive than did females. Analysis of the results by degree showed that MDs were more satisfied than PhDs with the “fit” of their department and with support in obtaining resources, although they felt they had to work harder than others to be seen as legitimate scholars. PhDs were significantly less likely than those with MDs or other degrees to indicate that they would choose to be employed at Boston University again if they had the chance to start over.

In order to determine the best predictors of overall satisfaction for males and females and for faculty at different ranks, regression analyses were carried out. Results of the analyses by gender showed that the best predictor of overall satisfaction for females was whether they perceived the Dean to create a collegial environment. The best predictor for males was their sense of inclusion in their school, followed by their perception of the supportiveness of the environment, their perception of whether research/scholarly work is valued in the promotion process, and the number of Medical Campus committees on which they served in the past year (greater satisfaction associated with more committees).

Results of the analyses by degree showed that the best predictor for PhDs was whether their spouse was employed outside of Boston University (greater satisfaction for those with spouses employed outside the University), followed by their sense of inclusion in their school, and their satisfaction with resources for research. For MDs, the best predictor was whether they had an annual performance review with their chair, followed by their opportunity to serve on important committees, and their satisfaction with support for research.

Salary: Fewer faculty on the Medical Campus were dissatisfied with their salary than on the CRC. PhDs were significantly less satisfied with their salary than were MDs. MDs were more satisfied with the length of their contract than were PhDs.

Resources: Males and those with MDs were more satisfied with start-up funds than were females and PhDs. MDs were more satisfied than PhDs with resources and support tied to research activities, including computer resources and staff, and with support for securing grants and conducting research.

Nature of Work: PhDs reported significantly more stress as a result of research activities, including managing a research group and securing funding for research. MDs reported more stress from clinical activities and from supporting salary from clinical revenues. Females reported more stress related to review and promotion, and department and campus politics than did males.

Mentoring: As on the CRC, formal mentoring is not reported to be a common activity on the Medical Campus. However, the majority of faculty indicated that they had had informal mentors and that the informal mentoring they had received had been helpful.

Promotion: MDs and PhDs were more likely to feel that the criteria for promotion were clearly communicated than those with other degrees. MDs were more likely to feel that teaching and clinical work was undervalued and research/scholarly activity was overvalued in the promotion process.

Females were less likely than males to feel that teaching was overvalued and that clinical work and service were adequately valued, and more likely to feel that research/scholarship was overvalued in the promotions process than were males.