Supporting Students by Supporting Faculty: Exploring the Relationship Between Faculty Job Satisfaction and Student Graduation Rates at Community Colleges.

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Date
2022-05
Keywords
faculty job satisfaction; community colleges; student graduation rates; leadership and administration; diversity, equity, and inclusion
Authors
Coladarci, Richard
Description
AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Richard A. Coladarci for the degree of Doctor of Education in Higher Education Presented on March 25, 2022 Title: Supporting Students by Supporting Faculty: Exploring the Relationship Between Faculty Job Satisfaction and Student Graduation Rates at Community Colleges Abstract approved: Marcel Lebrun ______________________________________________________ Marcel Lebrun, Ph.D., Dissertation Committee Chair Community college students graduate at low rates nationwide which prevents many non completers from benefiting from the economic and employment advantages of a degree or certificate. Despite myriad strategies to address this problem, little is known about the impact of faculty job satisfaction on student completion. The purpose of this study was to determine if the two concepts are related. Through an analysis of quantitative and qualitative secondary data from the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, this study examined the relationship between institutional faculty job satisfaction and first-time, full-time graduation rates at 130 public, two-year colleges. While no evidence of a relationship was found between the two variables across all institutions, there was a statistically significant positive correlation among non-city colleges with greater than 1,000 students. This suggests that faculty job satisfaction may be linked to student graduation rates in certain environments. Through a qualitative analysis, noticeable differences were found related to two faculty job satisfaction dimensions when comparing institutions with higher and lower student graduation rates: faculty perception of leadership and administration and faculty perception of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The findings of this study provide initial empirical evidence that aspects of faculty job satisfaction may be associated with student graduation rates at community colleges. The implication for educational leaders is that improving faculty job satisfaction may present as a strategy to improve student success.
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