Social representations in higher education: Identifying subgroup relationships between perceptions of organizational climate and faculty performance.
White, Theodore Hugh
1993
Abstract
This study was designed to investigate differences in subgroup perceptions of the higher education workplace. To do so, it asks: (1) How do group memberships affect perceptions of organizational climate and faculty performance? and (2) Do different groups have different, identifiable social representations of the relationship between organizational climate and faculty performance? The three outcome variables--faculty satisfaction, faculty motivation and commitment, and faculty involvement in educational policy--based on peer ratings, and make up the construct of faculty performance. Organizational climate consists of two categories: Thirteen indices related to academic management practices and seven indices of the academic environment. Groups studied include those based on gender, years of service to the institution, faculty or administrative status, and dominant organizational culture, which represented individuals' beliefs expressed about their institutions. The data are from a 1989 survey of 1521 faculty and administrators from ten institutions, conducted by the National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning. The effects of group membership on organizational climate and faculty performance were tested using analyses of variance. The results indicate significant differences between female and male respondents, between faculty and administrators, and among four culture-based groups. Women, faculty, and respondents who perceived a teamwork or innovation culture were all consistently more positive in their perceptions of the organizational climate than their comparison groups. Regression analysis was used to identify groups' representations about relationships of organizational climate to faculty satisfaction, commitment and motivation, and involvement in educational policy. While controlling for institutional membership, regressions were run of the relationship between organizational climate and each of the three measures of faculty performance by subgroup. Each outcome was strongly predicted by organizational climate; however, there was little differentiation in the predictors in the male and female groups or in the faculty and administrator groups. The most clearly defined set of representations belonged to those respondents who perceive a market, or competition-based, culture in their institutions. Faculty-oriented practices, autonomy and innovation strongly influence the way these individuals view their institutions. Overall, faculty satisfaction was predicted by professionalism in the workplace and a mission and set of goals related to undergraduate education. Faculty motivation and commitment, and faculty involvement in educational policy were most strongly predicted by academic administrative support for and a system of faculty selection, evaluation, and rewards related to undergraduate education.Other Identifiers
(UMI)AAI9409836
Subjects
Education, Higher
Types
Thesis
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