University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2014 Career anchors and job satisfaction: the role of psychological empowerment in the Indonesian public university context M Meiliani University of Wollongong Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] School of Management, Operations and Marketing CAREER ANCHORS AND JOB SATISFACTION: THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT IN THE INDONESIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY CONTEXT A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from University of Wollongong by M E I L I A N I 2014 i CERTIFICATION I, Meiliani, certify that this thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of the School of Management, Operations and Marketing, the University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. M e i l i a n i 30 March 2014 ii ABSTRACT The current study aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of psychological empowerment in the relationship between career anchors and job satisfaction within the context of public universities in Indonesia. Schein’s (1978) single career anchors theory, Feldman and Bolino’s (1996) multiple career anchors model, Spreitzer’s (1975) psychological empowerment concept and Locke’s (1976) job satisfaction model were used to form the framework for the study. Concurrent embedded mixed-methods (Creswell & Plano Clark 2011) were employed, in which both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and analysed. Full-time academics from Indonesian public universities formed the sample for this study. Using web-based and paper-based surveys, data were gathered from 585 academics of 11 universities across three geographical regions (western, central and eastern) of Indonesia. Twenty academics participated in structured face-to-face interviews. Quantitative data were gathered using a survey questionnaire that comprised items from Igbaria and Baroudi’s (1993) career anchor inventory, Sprietzer’s (1995) psychological empowerment scale and Hackman and Oldham’s (1975) general job satisfaction scale. Finally, Schein’s (1990) protocol interview and two open-ended questions were used to collect qualitative data. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to examine the factor structure underlying the three constructs. Twelve factors emerged from the quantitative data, with the analyses finding two new anchors, which were labelled work dedication and balanced-lifestyle. Overall, the other factors were the same as originally constructed from past research. The final factor clusters were used to determine the dominant career anchors using frequency count, and were also used in subsequent hierarchical multiple regression analysis when testing the proposed hypotheses. Thematic analysis was employed to identify themes from the qualitative data. The data analyses revealed several significant results. First, the economic security and service anchors emerged as the most dominant career anchors. Second, the needs-based anchors category was the most preferred groups-based anchor among the respondents. Third, the study found that multiple career anchors existed amongst the participants. Finally, the study also found that all career anchor relationship pairs were grouped in complementary relationship pairing anchors. Statistically, the results indicate that work dedication, managerial competence and pure challenge predicted job satisfaction. Furthermore, meaning and impact predicted job satisfaction. Meaning mediated partially and significantly the effects of work dedication, balanced-lifestyle, managerial competence and pure challenge on job satisfaction; impact mediated partially and significantly the effects of both work dedication and managerial competence on job satisfaction. Meaning and competence moderated balanced-lifestyle and job satisfaction relationship; impact moderated service and job satisfaction relationship; self- determination moderated the service, balanced-lifestyle and pure challenge effect on job satisfaction. Meaning mediated and moderated the balanced-lifestyle effect on job satisfaction. Thematic analysis identified academic atmosphere, academic freedom and creativity, work-family lifestyle, flexible working schedule, skill orientation, running a business, spiritual value and intangible recognition as new anchors. Personal integrity, and motivation and goal orientation were found to reflect the psychological empowerment facets while happiness reflected the job satisfaction dimension. Organisational factors were identified as most influential themes in career development. Based on the findings, a modified framework was proposed. iii The findings support and extend the existing knowledge in several ways. First, the new anchor categories, the dominant career anchors, the existence of multiple anchors and complementary anchors contribute to the value of the career anchors concept, and the prediction of a shift in anchor structures. Therefore, more studies are needed to help explicate the value of the career anchors concept as well as help in understanding the shift in career anchors structures. Second, findings from this study help extend the understanding of the concepts of career anchors, psychological empowerment and job satisfaction within a non-Western context, that is, public universities of Indonesia. Third, using data gathered from academics working in public universities adds to the understanding of the three concepts and the existing theories related to self-concept at the workplace. Fourth, the identification of new themes and the emergence of psychological empowerment and job satisfaction dimensions show that the qualitative study supports the quantitative analysis findings. Fifth, cultural values are evident throughout the results showing the need to take into consideration the role and effects of culture during future research on career anchors. Sixth, the identification of the spiritual values theme needs an in-depth exploration to see whether it adds to career anchors concept or is just a reflection of the influence of the participants’ religious inclinations. Finally, the current study extends the career anchor, psychological empowerment and job satisfaction theories used by recommending a need to investigate more job outcomes, such as job stress and strain, disciplines, organisational commitment and job performance. The current study also suggests several future research directions. Future researchers are encouraged to test the proposed modified framework. The emergence of a new career anchor and the identified themes need to be analysed in greater detail. To enable generalisability of this study across a variety of organisational contexts, it is recommended that future studies on career anchors are carried out across many public and private universities and across many geographical locations. Finally, the current study encourages researchers to test a comparative model by treating career anchors as mediators or moderators to find out what roles career anchors might play. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of writing this thesis, I got a lot of support from various parties. I would like to thank people who have supported me throughout my thesis journey. I would like to thank the Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) - AusAID that provided me with a scholarship to study towards the PhD degree, and especially to Nhan Nguyen, the Australia Awards Scholarships Contact Officer at the University of Wollongong, who has always assisted me with all administrative matters related to my study. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Associate Professor Sam Garrett-Jones and Associate Professor Mario Fernando. Your feedback, thoughtful discussions and suggestions for improving the quality of my thesis are invaluable. Thank you for providing a professional supervision climate. I will take your feedback as a lesson learned and try to apply in my workplace. I would like to thank several Indonesian universities who granted me access to their academic staff and facilitated the process of survey questionnaires and interview administration. I am also grateful to the administrators of the Indonesian academics email list and the Indonesian Students Association based in Australia (PPIA) that allowed me to conduct the online survey. Your assistance is very much appreciated. I would like also to thank my volunteer research assistants who distributed the hard copy of the questionnaires to academics where they worked and ensured a high response rate. Special thanks to academics who were the subjects of this study both at the pilot study stage and during the actual study. Thank you so much for your time and willingness to fill out the questionnaire and to be interviewed. Without your participation, this study could not have been possible. Your contribution is greatly appreciated. I would like also acknowledging Professor HL Mikarsa (UI), Steve A. Nicks (English teacher in Indonesia), Dr. J. Sitompoel (ITB) and Bu Y. Chanafiah (Bahasa Indonesia - Unib), for their discussions of the translated questionnaires and the interview protocol. Their suggestions helped to enhance the quality of the translation. I thank Associate Professor Marijka Batterham, the Director of the Statistical Consulting Centre of the University of Wollongong, who provided statistical support for my data analysis. I would like to thank Dr. Shahriar Akter (University of Wollongong) for reviewing my Quantitative Analysis Results Chapter. Your suggestions give extra weight to the analysis. I greatly appreciate it. I acknowledge the professional editorial assistance of Laura E. Goodin. I am also grateful to Dr. Gandhi (Unpar) who kindly provided his time and expertise during the preliminary data analysis, and to Bu Ira (UI), pak Lie (Unud), and Professor Max Pattinama (Unpatti) who assisted me during the data collection stage. I am greatly appreciative of your help. v My sincere thanks also go to Phyllis Tibbs who assisted me to proofread my thesis chapters without charge. Thank you for your time and support as it has greatly aided my study. I am also grateful to Bernard Tibbs for his social and spiritual encouragement during my study. I will miss you both. To Associate Professor Rodney Clarke, thank you for your professional advice, and help me when I was struggling with my study. A special thanks to the family of Dr. Buyung Kosasih, Ana Suwarto and Peter Kosasih, for their encouragement and support throughout my study. Their moral and social support helped me to focus on my study. Thank you for your care and patience, and for finding time to talk to me. I will miss your yummy food, ci Ana. To my family, Yenny, Okta, Judist, Yana, and Vio for their moral support, thank you for being there when I need you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE i CERTIFICATION ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v TABLE OF CONTENTS vii LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF FIGURES xii Chapter 1  Introduction 1 1.1 Purpose of the study 1 1.2 Background of the study 2 1.3 Career development of academics in Indonesian public university context 4 1.3.1Overview of Indonesia 4 1.3.2 Public higher education systems in Indonesia 5 1.3.3 Academic career promotion system 9 1.4 Problem statement 13 1.5 Significance of the study 15 1.6 Outline of the study 16 Chapter 2  Literature Review and Conceptual Framework 18 2.1 Introduction 18 2.2 Understanding of career: Internal and external career perspectives 18 2.3 Introducing the career anchors theory 21 2.3.1 Dimensions of career anchors 22 2.3.2 Explaining multiple career anchors 25 2.3.3 Factor structures underlying the career anchors 26 2.3.4 Review of studies on career anchors 28 2.4 Redefining the career anchor concept 30 2.4.1 Feldman and Bolino’s concept of career anchors 30 2.4.2 Regrouping career anchor dimensions 32 2.4.3 Career anchor relationship pairs 34 2.5 Job satisfaction and career anchors 36 2.6 Psychological empowerment and job satisfaction 39 2.7 Linking career anchors, psychological empowerment and job satisfaction 43 2.8 The role of demographic data 44 2.9 Conceptual framework and research model 47 2.10 Hypotheses testing 51 Chapter 3  Research Methodology 55 3.1 Introduction 55 3.2 Methodological approach 56 3.3 Research design 58 3.3.1 Survey research 62 3.3.1.1 Survey questionnaire 62 3.3.1.2 Interview 65 3.3.2 Sampling selection and sample size 67 3.3.2.1 Quantitative sampling design 70 3.3.2.2 Qualitative sampling design 72 3.4 Research instruments 73 3.4.1 Instrument development 73 vii 3.4.2 Demographic profiles 76 3.4.3 Schein’s interview protocol 77 3.4.4 Issues on culture related to translated instruments 78 3.5 Data collection method 80 3.5.1 Pre-testing the survey instrument 80 3.5.2 Data Collection procedures 81 3.5.3 Testing validity and reliability in measurement 83 3.6 Data analysis design 87 3.6.1 Statistical analysis design 87 3.6.2 Thematic analysis 91 Chapter 4 Results of Quantitative Analysis 94 4.1 Introduction 94 4.2 Data screening and response rate 94 4.2.1 Paper-based survey 95 4.2.2 Web-based survey 96 4.3 Demographic findings 98 4.4 Construct validity of survey questionnaires 102 4.5 Internal consistency of instruments 107 4.6 Dimensionality of career anchors, psychological empowerment and job 109 satisfaction 4.7 Dominant career anchors 113 4.7.1 Single dominant career anchor 113 4.7.2 Multiple groups-based dominant career anchors 115 4.8 Testing of the research model 118 4.8.1 Testing of assumptions of hierarchical multiple regression analysis 120 4.8.2 Testing the main effects of career anchors and psychological 121 empowerment on job satisfaction 4.8.2.1 The relationship between career anchors and job 121 satisfaction 4.8.2.2 The relationship between career anchors and psychological 123 empowerment 4.8.2.3 The relationship between psychological empowerment 129 and job satisfaction 4.8.2.4 Joint relationship career anchors, psychological 131 empowerment and job satisfaction 4.8.3 Testing of the mediation of psychological empowerment in the 132 career anchors and job satisfaction relationship 4.8.4 The moderation effects of psychological empowerment 138 Chapter 5 Academics’ Perceptions of the Career Anchors 154 5.1 Introduction 154 5.2 Framework for the qualitative analysis 155 5.3 Interview and open-ended questions responses 157 5.4 Thematic analysis of the understanding of academics’ career anchors in 158 achieving career goals 5.5 Thematic analysis of the career history: findings from interviews 160 5.5.1 Demographic profiles 160 5.5.2 Thematic categories 161 5.5.3 Identified macro themes 162 5.5.4 Identified micro themes: personal bias and dominant 162 career anchor viii