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December 5, 2007
Top Academic Workplaces
COACHE recognizes campuses with highest faculty job satisfaction
>| Download this report: Top Academic Workplaces (2005-07) [PDF, 101K]
While the majority of junior faculty at America's colleges and universities are satisfied at work, some institutions are doing particularly well in this regard. The Tenure-Track Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, administered by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) in 2005 and 2006, determined that some colleges and universities are "exemplary" on certain key dimensions of faculty work/life. The COACHE Survey considered the following categories in its assessment: tenure practices, clarity, and reasonableness; effectiveness of key policies (e.g., mentoring, childcare, and leaves); nature of work: teaching, research and support services; work and family balance; satisfaction with compensation; climate, culture, and collegiality; and global satisfaction.
"We are again recognizing those colleges and universities that are succeeding in their efforts to improve the quality of work/life for their junior faculty," said Dr. Cathy Trower, COACHE Director. "By earning and maintaining the distinction of being a great place for new scholars to work, these exemplary institutions will be most able to attract and retain top academic talent in an increasingly competitive faculty labor market."
In order to qualify as an "exemplar," a college or university needed scores that were notably higher than similar institutions. Two universities (Brown and Stanford) achieved exemplary status in eight out of 12 categories, while one university (Duke) was outstanding in seven categories, and another (Dartmouth) in six categories. Three colleges (Bowdoin, Davidson and Kenyon) achieved exemplary status in five categories, while three colleges (Carleton, Goucher and Trinity) and two universities (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Notre Dame) were named exemplars in four categories. A total of 38 institutions were named an exemplar in at least one category.
This table lists alphabetically the two liberal arts colleges, among 22, and the four universities, among 56, with the highest mean ratings for each of the dimensions of faculty work/life we measure. Institutions with ratings within .05 of the second college (or fourth university) are also included in the lists.
| Theme |
Liberal Arts Colleges |
Universities |
Tenure Practices Overall
|
Tenure Clarity
19-23; 26
Tenure Reasonableness
25a-f
Policy Effectiveness
Overall
34b 1-16
Nature of Work: Overall
28; 29a-f; 30b-d; 31; 32; 33a-d
Davidson College
Kenyon College
|
Auburn University
Brown University
East Carolina University
North Carolina State University
Ohio State University
University of Kansas
|
| Nature of work |
Davidson College
Denison University
Goucher College
Hamilton College
| Brown University
Dartmouth College
Harvard University
Stanford University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
|
| Policy effectiveness |
Denison University
Goucher College
Macalester College
|
Auburn University
Ohio State University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Kansas
|
| Compensation* |
Hamilton College
Macalester College
|
Dartmouth College
Harvard University
Ohio State University
Stanford University
|
| Work & family |
Davidson College
Goucher College
Wabash College
Wheaton College
|
Auburn University
Dartmouth College
Ohio State University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Virginia
|
| Collegiality |
Kenyon College
Wabash College
|
Auburn University
Brown University
Stanford University
Tufts University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Virginia
|
| Global satisfaction |
Davidson College
Kenyon College
|
Brown University
Stanford University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Virginia
|
* Two universities qualifying as exemplars asked not to be named in this category.
Note:
Only institutions that consented to be identified are included. Where an institution demurred, no additional institutions were included to take their places on this list.
Beyond the institutions named exemplar, the survey gave insight into overall job satisfaction at America's colleges and universities. The average score of nearly 5,000 faculty at 42 schools was 3.92 on a 5.00 point scale. The survey also indicated some differences in satisfaction based on gender, race, and institution. For instance, women were less satisfied than men (3.89 v. 3.94), faculty of color were less satisfied than white faculty (3.84 v. 3.94), and university faculty were less satisfied than college faculty (3.90 v. 4.15).
Composition of theme scores
All themes are composed of survey responses along a 5-point scale, as follows:
Tenure clarity
The tenure clarity score was calculated by averaging two composite variables: 1) the average of questions 19 through 23 (clarity of the tenure process, criteria, standards, body of evidence, and one's prospects for earning tenure), and 2) the average of questions 24a through 24g (clarity of the tenure expectations for scholarship, teaching, advising, colleagueship, campus citizenship, and community service).
Nature of work
The nature of work score is an overall average of questions 28 (satisfaction with the way faculty spend their time), 29a through 29g (satisfaction with various aspects of teaching and quality of students), 30a through 30d (satisfaction with various aspects of research), and 33a through 33d (satisfaction with various support services).
Policy effectiveness
The policy effectiveness score is an overall average of the effectiveness ratings for 16 policies (questions 34b1 through 34b16).
Compensation
The compensation variable consists of a single question (36) on satisfaction with compensation (salary and benefits).
Work & family
The work and family score was calculated by averaging: 1) the average of questions 35a through 35d (agreement with various statements about whether colleagues and the institution do/does all they/it can to make having and raising children compatible with the tenure-track), and 2) question 37 (satisfaction with being able to balance work and home).
Collegiality
The collegiality score is the average of questions 38a through 43 (a variety of satisfaction and agreement dimensions about climate and collegiality).
Global satisfaction
The global satisfaction score is the average of question 48 (would the faculty member accept this position if they had it to do over) and question 50 (a rating of the institution as a place to work on a "great" to "awful" scale).
About COACHE
Based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and supported by the Ford Foundation, COACHE is committed to gathering the peer diagnostic and comparative data academic administrators need to recruit, retain, and develop the cohort most critical to the long-term future of their institutions. Contact coache@gse.harvard.edu for more information.
>| Download this report: Top Academic Workplaces (2005-06) [PDF, 101K]
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