Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

Date of Award

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Kelly Yordy

Second Advisor

Drew Moser

Third Advisor

Scott Gaier

Distinguished Theses

1

Abstract

College faculty have a range of demands on their time in both their personal and professional lives. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effects of career related stress on faculty members’ satisfaction with the balance between their personal and professional lives. This study focused on faculty at a small, faith-based, liberal arts institution in the Midwest. Data from the 2013–2014, 2016–2017, and 2019–2020 HERI Faculty Surveys were analyzed to determine if any of four independent variables—colleagues, students, research or publishing demands, or teaching load—significantly predicted the dependent variable, work–life balance. Gender was the only control variable used in this study in order to determine if the experience of male and female faculty differ in relation to career related stress and work–life balance. Results indicated that there is a significant difference in the experience of male and female faculty. For two of the three survey years, female faculty experienced higher career related stress related to working with students than male faculty. Additionally, teaching load was found to be a more significant predictor of lower work–life balance satisfaction for male faculty in two of the survey years. While no independent variable was a consistent predictor across all three survey years, the differences in experience between male and female faculty is significant and worth further exploration.

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