Happiness, Work Engagement, and Perception of Organizational Support of Student Affairs Professionals A dissertation presented to the faculty of The Patton College of Education of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Michele Sheets Hempfling December 2015 © 2015 Michele Sheets Hempfling. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Happiness, Work Engagement and Perception of Organizational Support of Student Affairs Professionals by MICHELE SHEETS HEMPFLING has been approved for the Department of Counseling and Higher Education and The Patton College of Education by Peter C. Mather Associate Professor of Counseling and Higher Education Renée A. Middleton Dean, The Patton College of Education 3 Abstract SHEETS HEMPFLING, MICHELE, Ph.D., December 2015, Higher Education. Happiness, Work Engagement and Perception of Organizational Support of Student Affairs Professionals Director of Dissertation: Peter C. Mather Little research has been conducted on the work engagement, subjective happiness, or perceived organizational support of student affairs professionals. In this study, 299 professionals in the American College Personnel Association were surveyed utilizing the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Subjective Happiness Scale, and the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support. Student affairs professionals were found to be moderately engaged, have a moderate level of happiness, and have a neutral level of pereceived organizational support. Student affairs professionals with perceived level of organizational support and happiness are more engaged. In addition, participants with higher levels of engagement are more likely to intend to stay in the field of student affairs. There were no significant differences in engagement, subjective happiness, and perceived organizational support found in regard to gender, functional area, institution type, and number of years in current position. Significant differences were found in regards to years in student affairs. Those with more years in student affairs showed higher levels of engagement, happiness, and perceived organizational support. More research needs to be conducted in this area but these findings add to the literature on overall employee wellbeing and employee engagement. Furthermore, this study provides insight into the work experience of student affairs professionals in respect to years of experience, functional area, and institution type. 4 Dedication This is dedicated to a woman who demonstrated unconditional support, contagious happiness, and engaged with everyone she met, my grandmother Teruko “Thelma” Riggs. When I grow up, I want to be just like her. 5 Acknowledgements It is virtually impossible to thank every person who has been a part of this journey for me. I would like to thank every student that I worked with and staff member that I supervised since I began this journey. Each of you, at some point, reminded me to finish this journey and gave an encouraging smile. To my friends and family, it is impossible to acknowledge you all individually, but you know who you are and I am grateful. There are some people who need to be acknowledged individually. Dr. Mather, you have been patient and kind beyond words. I am thankful for your insight and intellect. Dr. Brooks, Dr. Horton, and Dr. Tucker who served on my committee, thank you for not giving up on me and helping me realize the potential of my work. My supervisors during this journey, Sue and Joe. Sue, I never would have started this journey without your confidence in me. You are a true super woman. Joe, your unwavering support and desire for me to finish was just what I needed. To my current staff, thank you for all the love and grace these last few months. Oscar, thank you for your patient and brilliant mind. Nicole, thank you for never giving up on me and supporting me in ways you will never know. I am forever grateful. Jacky, who is my role model for compassion and kindness, thank you for never losing faith in your big sister. I am thankful every day that I have you as a sister. To my parents, Jack and Sherri, who have supported their children to pursue their educational dreams. I am humbled by your love, support and unconditional confidence you have in me and my siblings. And last but never least, Chris. Thank you for being my cheerleader when I needed it most. I am thankful you are with me to see the end of this journey and are with me for this journey called life. You are my heart and I know all things are possible with you. 6 Table of Contents Page Abstract ................................................................................................................................3 Dedication…………...…………………………………………………………………….4 Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................5 List of Tables .......................................................................................................................8 List of Figures ....................................................................................................................10 Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................11 Work and Well-Being ................................................................................................. 11 The Work of Student Affairs ...................................................................................... 12 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................ 14 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................... 15 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 16 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 17 Delimitations ............................................................................................................... 17 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 18 Definition of Terms..................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature .................................................................................. 20 Positive Psychology .................................................................................................... 20 Happiness and Flow at Work ...................................................................................... 26 Broaden and Build Within Organizations....………………........................................32 Utrecht Work Engagement Scale ................................................................................ 35 Perceived Organizational Support .............................................................................. 39 Student Affairs Work .................................................................................................. 41 Summary……………………………………………………………………………..45 Chapter 3: Methodology ....................................................................................................47 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 47 Research Design.......................................................................................................... 49 Population and Sample ............................................................................................... 49 7 Instrumentation ........................................................................................................... 50 Data Collection Procedures ......................................................................................... 53 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 53 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 4: Results ............................................................................................................. 56 Survey Population and Response Rate ....................................................................... 56 Summaries of Demographic Information of the Sample ............................................ 56 Results and Analysis ................................................................................................... 59 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 5: Summary ..........................................................................................................82 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 83 Practical Implications.................................................................................................. 91 Future Research .......................................................................................................... 93 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 95 References ..........................................................................................................................97 Appendix A: Participant Cover Letter .............................................................................113 Appendix B: Survey ........................................................................................................114 Appendix C: Scatterplot of Student Affairs Happiness, Work Engagement & Organizational Support…………………………………………………………………118 Appendix D: Histogram of Student Affairs Happiness, Work Engagement & Organizational Support………………………………………………………………....119 Appendix E: Boxplot of Student Affairs Happiness, Work Engagement & Organizational Support by Gender…………………………………………………………………..…120 Appendix F: Boxplot of Student Affairs Happiness, Work Engagement & Organizational Support by Age………………………………………………………………….…..…121 Appendix G: Boxplot of Student Affairs Happiness, Work Engagement & Organizational Support by Number of Years in Current Position……….…………………………..…122 Appendix H: Boxplot of Student Affairs Happiness, Work Engagement & Organizational Support by Number of Years in Student Affairs…..………………………………..…123 8 List of Tables Page 1. Summaries of Demographic Information (n = 299) ......................................................58 2. Descriptive Statistics of Study Variables (n = 299) ...................................................... 59 3. Descriptive Statistics by Variables by Gender………………………………………...61 4. Descriptive Statistics by Variables by Number of Years in Current Position…….…..61 5. Descriptive Statistics by Variables by Number of Years in Student Affairs…...……..62 6. Pearson’s Correlation Results of Correlation of Study Variables ................................ 64 7. ANOVA Results of Relationship of Work Engagement and Intent to Stay in the Student Affairs Profession ................................................................................................ 66 8. Descriptive Statistics of Work Engagement by Groupings of Intent to Stay in the Student Affairs Profession ................................................................................................ 67 9. Homogeneity of Variances of of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Gender ............................................................................................................ 68 10. ANOVA Results of Differences of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Gender ............................................................................................................ 69 11. Homogeneity of Variances of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Groupings of Number of Years in Current Position ...................................... 70 12. ANOVA Results of Differences of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Number of Years in Current Position ............................................................. 70 13. Tukey’s Post-Hoc Test of Differences of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Groupings of Number of Years in Current Position .............. 71 14. ANOVA Results of Differences of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Number of Years in Student Affairs .............................................................. 73 15. Homogeneity of Variances of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Number of Years in Student Affairs .............................................................. 74 16. Tukey’s Post-Hoc Test of Differences of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Groupings of Number of Years in Student Affairs ............... 75 17. ANOVA Results of Differences of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Functional Area……….……………………………………………………..77 18. Homogeneity of Variances of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Functional Areas ............................................................................................ 77 9 19. ANOVA Results of Differences of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Type of Institution…….……………………………………………………..78 20. Homogeneity of Variances of Work Engagement, Happiness, and Organizational Support by Type of Institution .......................................................................................... 78 21. Comparison of Work Engagement.............................................................................. 83 10 List of Figures Page 1. Utrecht Work Engagement Survey (UWES) construct……………………………….38
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