Part-time faculty job satisfaction: A study of the influence of instructional technology on part-time faculty in post-secondary institutions

• Main Author: Kurnik, John P
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholar Commons 2006
• Subjects: Distance learning; Electronic course delivery; Gender; Liberal arts; Teaching experience; American Studies; Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2594; http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3593&context=etd

In 1990, two-year colleges nationwide reported that approximately 38% of their faculty were part-time. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics' (NCES) 1999 National Study of Post-Secondary Faculty (NSOPF), this percentage continues to rise, and currently exists at 40% or more in some two-year and four-year institutions. To retain competent, qualified, and successful teachers, it is critical for higher education administrators to determine factors that may contribute to part-time faculty's job satisfaction. This study investigated whether the use of instructional technology for curriculum delivery affected part-time faculty job satisfaction by investigating four specific areas that may be affected. The first component explored whether the use of a technology-based educational delivery system in higher education contributed to overall part-time faculty job satisfaction in and four- year institutions. The second examined whether the use of a technology-based educational delivery system in higher education contributed to the overall job satisfaction of part-time faculty in their first year of teaching. Third, it was the intent of the researcher to determine whether the use of a technology-based educational delivery system in higher education contributed to the overall job satisfaction of part-time male and female faculty. In the fourth component, by applying an adaptation of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) curriculum classification scheme to group teaching fields, the researcher observed whether the use of a technology-based educational delivery system in higher education influenced the overall job satisfaction of part-time faculty in each teaching discipline. The results of this study confirmed in eight of the research questions the notion that the use of instructional technology when teaching had no effect on the overall job satisfaction of part-time faculty. Two areas of statistical significance evolve around the Computer Science and Social Sciences disciplines. Although both null hypotheses were statistically rejected, a closer look at both of these areas demonstrates the need for further understanding of their statistical significance. The results of this study demonstrate that during the moment in time when the 1999 NSOPF survey was conducted, instructional technology may not have been a large enough component in the total package of teaching deliverables to make a measurable difference in job satisfaction (NCES, 2005). This observation applies to most liberal arts teaching disciplines and affects the variables of gender, years of teaching experience, and type of institution equally with little exception.