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A cross-cultural study of job satisfaction for faculty in one university in the People's Republic of China and in one university in the United States of America
Abstract
This cross-cultural study examined the characteristics of the Chinese culture and the American culture, the job satisfaction of university faculties from the two cultures, and the impacts of culture on faculty job satisfaction. Locke's job satisfaction theory that emphasizes the influence of people's value system on job satisfaction was used as the theoretical framework. The results of data analysis through non-parametric tests, a discriminant analysis, and simultaneous analyses showed that the Chinese culture as reflected by the Chinese faculty was characterized by its emphasis on the familial bond between parents and children, and the American culture as reflected by the American faculty manifested the tendency of keeping distance from family and ingroups. Descriptive analysis indicated that a high portion of the Chinese faculty (82%) and the American faculty (85%) were satisfied with their jobs overall. The Chinese faculty were most satisfied with the challenging nature of work, expectation, recognition, work load and research requirement, but least satisfied with the relationships with chairs and the promotion process. The American faculty were most satisfied with the academic autonomy, promotion process, relationships with chairs and colleagues, but least satisfied with working conditions, salaries, and administration. Comparatively, the American faculty were more satisfied with their job overall and with the promotion process while the Chinese faculty were more satisfied with the administration. The "culture" variable was not found to be a significant predictor of job satisfaction for either the Chinese faculty or the American faculty. The academic rank and discipline affiliation were found to have a substantial impact on faculty job satisfaction for the two faculties. Two hypotheses of Locke's job satisfaction theory were upheld. When structural equation modeling technique was applied, this theory provided good overall fit to the two faculties.
Subject Area
School administration|Higher education|History
Recommended Citation
Wang, Hanhua, "A cross-cultural study of job satisfaction for faculty in one university in the People's Republic of China and in one university in the United States of America" (1994). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9510985.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9510985