The issue of job satisfaction in higher education institutions has been dire, judging from the negative results of studies that have been carried out globally. Lecturers, researchers and professors, the main pillars of universities, are not happy with the conditions of service they find themselves in. There is an assortment of reasons why academics’ job satisfaction is at its lowest ebb, according to research and literature.   

The three core university activities for lecturers and professors are teaching, research and community engagement or service. 

Each of these activities is so crucial that if one is not satisfied or its demands are not met for whatever reason, it has a ripple-effect on the other two. For instance, if academics happen to have huge teaching loads, it will definitely affect their research output, and the quality of their community engagement. 

It has been found that with the restructuring of higher education institutions which gripped the world in recent years, the traditional model of the university has been dismantled and replaced by what some scholars term a ‘weird beast’ of a university that is not only difficult to manage, but confusing to students, academics and non-academics. This colossal beast of an institution has merged many departments and faculties into single, large entities, thereby placing some fields of study into obscurity and oblivion. 

In worst cases, there is no longer respect for academics’ areas of specialization, as academics are forced to teach disciplines they never studied in their master’s or doctoral degrees.  This breeds frustration in academics, leading to low job satisfaction. The quality of education is definitely affected; and students suffer in the end. 

Apart from the above factors, literature shows that there is a relationship between leadership
styles and job satisfaction in higher education institutions. I also remember vividly professors in the Master of Tertiary Education Management programme at the University of Melbourne
emphasising that bad leadership styles contribute significantly to
low job satisfaction in higher education institutions. 

The professors teased my class of education managers at that time, saying that we should be wary about contributing to low job satisfaction because of our leadership styles. Since a university is a superstructure, leadership styles include those of vice-chancellors/rectors, deputy vice-chancellors/deputy rectors, deans, directors, heads of departments and other education leaders.

Studies have shown that servant, spiritual and transactional leadership styles produce the desired results as far as academic job satisfaction is concerned. A study conducted by Gamze Kasalak (2022) and others concluded that “academic staff should be satisfied with their jobs to fulfil their educational, research investigation-based and social responsibilities such as teaching, designing practice hours for the course material, conducting scientific studies, and carrying out projects. 

There is a direct relation between the academic staff’s job satisfaction and the programme/education outcomes.” 

The outcry in many cases has been autocratic leadership and authoritarian leadership styles that have contributed to low job satisfaction in higher education institutions in the world. 

The dictatorial styles have adversely affected academic freedom, which is the bedrock of the creation and dissemination of knowledge. 

The top-bottom approach in administering higher education institutions has frustrated many lecturers and professors, whose job satisfaction has been negatively affected. Some are forced to resign prematurely. 

Some studies have also shown that bad leadership styles affect both academic and non-academic/administrative staff in higher education institutions. This is backed by high staff turnover of both academic and non-academic staff members. In some cases, education leaders have created ‘kangaroo courts’ that victimise academics who are perceived to be troublemakers because they question the rationale of certain decision- making. In this case, academics’ rights to shared governance and academic freedom are trampled upon. Free enquiry and free thought are sacred pillars of academia, which should not be compromised.

While universities in the United States lead as centres of free enquiry and free thought in the creation and dissemination of knowledge, there have been cases in which whistle-blowers have been victimised. 

This is contrary to the protection of the right of academic whistle-blowing in universities.

In essence, the rising problem of low job satisfaction in higher education institutions is a cause for great concern. There is a need for concerted efforts of all players to arrest this problem for our institutions to function well.

* Professor Jairos Kangira is a professor of English at the University of Namibia. Email address: kjairos@gmail.com