MU-ADVANCE Faculty Survey II: Workload and Resources

 

 This second news item in a series of three highlights responses from faculty regarding workload and resources at Marshall. We will compare the results from the MU-ADVANCE-administered climate survey to the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) survey. The COACHE survey reports responses on job satisfaction from more than 6000 tenure-track university faculty. COACHE evaluates faculty workload issues based on teaching, research, and support services.

Teaching:
At Marshall, faculty ranked departmental information about teaching load as adequate, and felt that departmental politics do not interfere with getting their work done. Women were more satisfied with how their departments inform them about teaching loads than men were. Significant differences were found when comparing faculty responses by rank. Full professors reported that their work expectations have changed since the time of their original hire, and they also feel they are expected to do more work, such as serve on more committees and/or provide more assistance to students, than others in their department. See Tables 1a and 1b for MU-ADVANCE survey results.

Research:
All Marshall faculty gave low ratings for start-up packages and the amount of equipment and supplies available for them to do their jobs. Overall, women gave higher rankings than men to how their colleagues value their area of study, the allocation of resources, and support to garner external funds. Women reported more difficulty in balancing teaching, research, and outreach expectations. By rank, full professors felt more strongly that they were asked by their department administration to take on extra responsibilities (teaching, committees, etc.) that negatively affect their research productivity. See Tables 2a and 2b for MU-ADVANCE survey results.

Support Services:
Relative to whether Marshall faculty felt their departments are approachable and that they received respect from their departmental administration, female faculty responded with significantly higher ranks than male faculty. Full professors felt that they did not have the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback about the department, and that staff support is inadequate. See Tables 3a and 3b for MU-ADVANCE survey results.

The COACHE survey (2007) reports that female faculty felt less satisfied with the time commitment to research and with support services than male colleagues. COACHE also found that junior faculty are more satisfied with the teaching component and least satisfied with the research component. Both of these findings are reflected in the MU-ADVANCE faculty survey. In addition, female faculty at Marshall are less satisfied than their male colleagues with balancing teaching and service loads with research expectations. Further evaluation of the teaching and service workloads is necessary in order to determine whether there are differences based on gender and/or rank at Marshall, and if so, whether any differences are due to inequities in assignments or are a results of other factors such as family responsibilities.

References

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE). 2007. Tenure-track faculty job satisfaction survey highlights report. 27p

Table 1a. Teaching resource evaluation, by gender, for all STEM departments at Marshall (all departments within the College of Science and the College of Information Technology and Engineering; the Psychology, Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Geography Departments in the College of Liberal Arts; and the Departments of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics, Pharmacology, and Physiology in the School of Medicine). Scale (range: 1=strongly disagree to 4= strongly agree). N=93; ** = significance of P < 0.05; * = P<0.1.

Survey question

Mean (Female)

Mean (Male)

My department provides adequate information about how teaching loads are distributed.

3.21

2.84*

My department has policies in practice about course loads and course releases.

2.79

2.80

I feel that my work expectations have changed since the time of my original hire.

2.68

2.80

Within my department, I feel that my job requires that I make compromises that negatively affect my personal or family responsibilities.

2.11

1.95

Within my department, I feel that I am expected to do more work, such as serve on more committees and/or provide more assistance to students than others in my department.

2.10

2.34

My department has departmental politics that interfere with my ability to get my work done.

1.86

1.92


Table 1b. Teaching resource evaluation, by rank, for all STEM departments at Marshall. Scale (range: 1=strongly disagree to 4= strongly agree). N=95; ** = significance of P < 0.05; * = P<0.1.

Survey question

Mean (Assistant)

Mean (Associate)

Mean (Full)

My department provides adequate information about how teaching loads are distributed.

3.00

2.73

3.05

My department has policies in practice about course loads and course releases.

2.67

2.64

2.92

I feel that my work expectations have changed since the time of my original hire.

2.48

2.64

3.03**

Within my department, I feel that my job requires that I make compromises that negatively affect my personal or family responsibilities.

2.00

1.90

2.08

Within my department, I feel that I am expected to do more work, such as serve on more committees and/or provide more assistance to students than others in my department.

2.04

2.10

2.55**

My department has departmental politics that interfere with my ability to get my work done.

1.92

1.96

1.90

Table 2a. Research resource evaluation, by gender, for all STEM departments at Marshall. Scale (range: 1=strongly disagree to 4= strongly agree). N=93; ** = significance of P < 0.05; * = P<0.1.

Survey question

Mean (Female)

Mean (Male)

Within my department, my colleagues value my field or area of study.

3.13

3.06

Within my department space and resources are allocated fairly and justly.

3.07*

2.71

Marshall University provides sufficient lab and office space for me to do my job

2.69

2.62

Within my department, I feel that I am able to balance the teaching, research and outreach activities expected of me.

2.62

2.86

Marshall University provides support for me to garner funded research projects

2.61

2.44

Marshall University provides sufficient equipment and supplies for me to do my job

2.41

2.40

Within my department, I feel that I am asked by my department administration to take on extra responsibilities (teaching, committees, etc) that negatively affect my research productivity.

2.21

2.24

I feel that I received an adequate start-up package.

2.08

2.31

Table 2b. Research resource evaluation, by rank, for all STEM departments at Marshall. Scale (range: 1=strongly disagree to 4= strongly agree). N=95; ** = significance of P < 0.05; * = P<0.1.

Survey question

Mean (Assistant)

Mean (Associate)

Mean (Full)

Within my department, my colleagues value my field or area of study.

3.12

3.03

3.05

Within my department space and resources are allocated fairly and justly.

2.92

2.77

2.80

Marshall University provides sufficient lab and office space for me to do my job

2.32

2.80

2.69

Within my department, I feel that I am able to balance the teaching, research and outreach activities expected of me.

2.72

2.70

2.77

Marshall University provides support for me to garner funded research projects

2.48

2.33

2.51

Marshall University provides sufficient equipment and supplies for me to do my job

2.24

2.37

2.51

Within my department, I feel that I am asked by my department administration to take on extra responsibilities (teaching, committees, etc) that negatively affect my research productivity.

1.83

2.27*

2.50**

I feel that I received an adequate start-up package.

2.26

2.38

1.97

Table 3a. Support services evaluation, by gender, for all STEM departments at Marshall. Scale (range: 1=strongly disagree to 4= strongly agree). N=93; ** = significance of P < 0.05; * = P<0.1.

Survey question

Mean (Female)

Mean (Male)

Within my department, I feel that I am treated with respect by the classified staff.

3.72*

3.45

 

The administration within my department is approachable.

3.72**

3.36

 

The administration within my department keeps me informed about key issues.

3.31

3.05

 

Within my department staff support is adequate.

2.73

2.48

 

Within my department, I feel that I am able to provide regular anonymous feedback about my department administration.

2.09

2.41

 

Table 3b. Support services evaluation, by rank, for all STEM departments at Marshall. Scale (range: 1=strongly disagree to 4= strongly agree). N=95; ** = significance of P < 0.05; * = P<0.1.

Survey question

Mean (Assistant)

Mean (Associate)

Mean (Full)

Within my department, I feel that I am treated with respect by the classified staff.

3.64

3.53

3.45

The administration within my department is approachable.

3.32

3.48

3.59

The administration within my department keeps me informed about key issues.

2.88

3.03

3.31*

Within my department staff support is adequate.

2.76

2.77

2.23**

Within my department, I feel that I am able to provide regular anonymous feedback about my department administration.

2.05

2.29

2.43

  

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