Survey of Academic Department Chairs, How Satisfied Are You with Your Job?

Survey of Academic Department Chairs, How Satisfied Are You with Your Job?

Far more chairs view their workloads as above average than below average. Approximately 45.1% considered their work load about equal to that of their peers at like institutions but only 0.82% thought it was less and none, much less. However, 33.61% felt that they were required to work more than their peers, and 16.39% felt they were obliged s to work much more than their peers. This is a striking result, and one likely to reflect a great deal of work unhappiness and restlessness among department chairs. A full half feel that they are required to work more than their peers at other institutions while less than 1% feel that they are required to work less -- a recipe for instability.

The study presents data from 122 department chair from more than 100 colleges and universities in the USA and Canada. Department chairs provide answers to questions about how they feel about their compensation and work load, and how they stack up against their peers. The study helps its readers to answer questions such as: which department chair are likely to leave for other institutions? How many are actually planning to leave and when? How much time do chair spend on their chair-related responsibilities and how do they view their workload? How many feel that conditions for chair are better elsewhere? How do male and female chair compare in their level of work satisfaction? In which academic fields are chair more likely to leave for other positions? How do departmental size and length of tenure served as chair impact chair satisfaction in their positions?