Respect, Recognition, Remuneration and Support for Academic Staff: Implications for Professional Identity, Meaningful Work, Commitment, and Student Experiences

1. Objective: Employee job satisfaction has been linked to respectful treatment, positive relationships between colleagues, ownership of their work, independence, recognition, advancement opportunities and employment equity (Gappa, Austin & Trice, 2007). This qualitative study examined these job satisfaction-related issues while taking into account traditional professional identities and values within academia, commitment to the faculty, continuous professional development and the transmission of knowledge to students. 2. Method: Lecturers (N=5) from a university in Ireland participated in a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interview questions focussed on the lecturers’ roles, job contribution to career development, contribution to the faculty, work conditions, the experience of teaching, engagement in research, attitudes towards support staff, work pressures, aspects of the job itself, job satisfaction and role expectations for the future. 3. Results: Some of the themes that emerged from the interviews included the disconnect between faculty management and staff, the positive and negative aspects of the teaching experience, and the friction between the roles of teacher, researcher/ practitioner and administrator. 4. Conclusion: Thematic inter-relationships and background factor influences are discussed, alongside possible implications.