Date Awarded

1991

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education

Advisor

James M. Yankovich

Abstract

This research was designed to determine any differences that have occurred in the last fifteen years regarding the demographics, roles, responsibilities, and job satisfaction of support services middle management in higher education.;A sample of mid-level administrators in the state of Virginia responded to a demographics questionnaire and to the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job in General Scale (JIG), two tests of job satisfaction.;The results showed that there has been no appreciable differences in the types of positions or the inherent responsibilities in the last 15 years. These positions were still dominated by white males by a two-to-one ratio, and the average age for those surveyed was 45 years. Minorities comprised only nine percent of the respondents.;Support services middle managers in Virginia are well-educated, over 75% holding a Master's degree and beyond, and they have been employed at their institution almost 10 years. Average staff size is 17 employees. There seems to be no preferred educational path in obtaining these positions.;Responses to the JDI and the JIG were delineated by sex, years of education, and years of job tenure, and this survey showed no significant difference in the responses given by any of these delineations. Compared to national norms, males scored roughly the same as and females scored slightly below national norms; educational level appears to influence work on present job, pay, and opportunities for promotion; respondents with 10-15 years of tenure scored below national norms on work on present job, pay, and opportunities for promotion, whereas those with more than 16 years of tenure scored above national norms on the same three scales. Educational level and years of tenure was not an indicator of levels of dissatisfaction for supervision or coworkers.;These extrinsic variables do not appear to influence job satisfaction. Further studies are needed to examine intrinsic values, such as autonomy and recognition, to discover where problems lie within the institution.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-zapz-wy88

Rights

© The Author

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