Predictors of job satisfaction among academic family medicine faculty: Findings from a faculty work-life and leadership survey.

OBJECTIVE

To identify predictors of job satisfaction among academic family medicine faculty members.

DESIGN

A comprehensive Web-based survey of all faculty members in an academic department of family medicine. Bivariate and multivariable analyses (logistic regression) were used to identify variables associated with job satisfaction.

SETTING

The Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto in Ontario and its 15 affiliated community teaching hospitals and community-based teaching practices.

PARTICIPANTS

All 1029 faculty members in the Department of Family and Community Medicine were invited to complete the survey.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Faculty members' demographic and practice information; teaching, clinical, administration, and research activities; leadership roles; training needs and preferences; mentorship experiences; health status; stress levels; burnout levels; and job satisfaction. Faculty members' perceptions about supports provided, recognition, communication, retention, workload, teamwork, respect, resource distribution, remuneration, and infrastructure support. Faculty members' job satisfaction, which was the main outcome variable, was obtained from the question, "Overall, how satisfied are you with your job?"

RESULTS

Of the 1029 faculty members, 687 (66.8%) responded to the survey. Bivariate analyses revealed 26 predictors as being statistically significantly associated with job satisfaction, including faculty members' ratings of their local department and main practice setting, their ratings of leadership and mentorship experiences, health status variables, and demographic variables. The multivariable analyses identified the following 5 predictors of job satisfaction: the Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment; being born in Canada; the overall quality of mentorship that was received being rated as very good or excellent; and teamwork being rated as very good or excellent.

CONCLUSION

The findings from this study show that job satisfaction among academic family medicine faculty members is a multi-dimensional construct. Future improvement in overall level of job satisfaction will therefore require multiple strategies.