Are we in this together? Partnerships between academic advisors and advising administrators and their relation to advisor job satisfaction

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: This study examined the relationship between professional academic advisors' job satisfaction and perceptions of respect by administration, involvement in decision making, and autonomy. 290 professional academic advisors from 41 public FT4/MS/HTI Carnegie classified institutions participated in the quantitative study that used a researcher-created instrument. The statistical procedure used was the Pearson r correlation and t test to investigate moderately positive correlations.

Findings and Conclusions: The majority of advisors who participated in this study identified as Caucasian, female, and Master's degree educated. A wide variety of educational backgrounds and major areas advised were reported by the participants. Correlations in the areas of respect by administration, involvement in decision making, and autonomy showed a significant, positive relationship with satisfaction with the current advising position (job satisfaction). Weaker correlations were displayed between respect by administration, involvement in decision making, and autonomy when correlated with satisfaction with the advising profession (professional satisfaction) and intent to make a career out of academic advising. For those under 40 years old, input about how the office serves students (FRQIPUTSS) and considering the administrator to be a leader (LEADER) were more highly correlated with job satisfaction, although both age groups showed a positive correlation with each of the two variables. For those making less than $41,000 per year, considering the advising administrator to be a leader was more highly correlated with job satisfaction than for those making over $41,001 per year. No significant differences were found based on length of time advising overall or length of time advising at the current institution in relation to the variables examined.