1

2006 Faculty Well-Being Survey:A Quick Look at

A Few Things that Matterto Faculty

Presentation for NC State University Board of TrusteesAcademic Affairs and Personnel CommitteeNovember 15, 2007

Nancy Whelchel, PhDAssistant Director for Survey ResearchUniversity Planning and Analysishttp://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/survey/faculty/

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Overview

Sources of Stress Workload Research & Publication Demands Work/Life Balance Reappointment, Promotion & Tenure Salary & Benefits

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Sources of Stress More than two-thirds of faculty say they experience ‘a great deal’ or ‘some’ stress from workload, research/publication demands, and work/life balance

16

16

24

24

34

34

37

34

39

32

35

37

38

36

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Committee Work

Underprepared Students

RPT

Institutional Procedures

Work/Personal Life Balance

Research/Pub demands

Workload

Percent of Faculty Saying Experience Stress

A Great Deal Some

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Sources of Stress (continued)

One-third or fewer faculty say they experience ‘a great deal’ or ‘some’ stress from relationships with college administration, faculty in their department, or with students

4

10

10

13

8

14

13

19

24

24

23

30

29

36

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Relationships w/ Students

Relationships w/ Faculty in Dept

Relationships w/ Col Admin

Relationships w/ Dept Admin

Self-Assessment Activities

Program Assessment Reqs

Prof Dev Expectations

A Great Deal Some

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Workload: # Hours Work Per Week

NC State faculty report working an average of 55 hours per week 17% report working more than 60 hours per week

41 - 5034%

51 - 6038%

GT 6017%

LE 4011%

Mean = 55 hrs

Mode = 50 hrs

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Workload: # Hours Work Per Week(by rank)

The number of hours work per week slightly increases after tenure

4

17

19

21

16

37

43

41

32

38

30

34

48

8

8

4

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Lecturer

Asst Prof

Assoc Prof

Full Prof

Percent of Faculty Working N Hours Per Week

GT 60 hrs 51 - 60 hrs 41 - 50 hrs LE 40 hrs

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Workload: # Hours Work Per Week(by rank/gender & race)

No significant gender differences in number of hours work, BUT– Female Assistant Professors are slightly more likely than

others to be working more than 60 hours per week– Female Associate Professors are slightly less likely than

others to be working more than 60 hours per week

African Americans are more likely than others to be working more than 60 hours per week

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Workload: # Hours Work Per Week(by rank/gender)

18

24

21

16

21

23

42

34

41

43

41

38

36

38

30

33

34

38

4

4

8

8

4

2

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Ass

tP

rof

Ass

oc

Pro

fF

ull

Pro

f

Percent of Faculty Working N Hours Per Week

GT 60 hrs 51 - 60 hrs 41 - 50 hrs LE 40 hrs

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Workload: Activities

Faculty workload includes a wide range of activities

10%

12%

34%

39%

80%

87%

88%

97%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Creative Art/Lit

Tech/Managerial Innovation

Admin Duties

Ext/Eng/Econ Dev

Advising Studs

Service Work

Resrch/Scholarly Actv

Teaching/Mentoring

% of Faculty Engaging in Activity

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Workload: Activities

95% of faculty report that their work includes at least three of the following activities, with 40% participating in all four– Teaching/mentoring of students– Research/scholarly activities– Service work– Extension, engagement & economic development

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Workload: Time on Activities

This 95% of faculty* spend, on average, one-third of their time research/scholarly activities, and one-third on teaching/mentoring

1%

1%

6%

7%

7%

11%

34%

34%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Creative Art/Lit

Tech/Mng Innovation

Admin Duties

Ext/Eng/Econ Dev

Advising Studs

Service Work

Teaching/Mentoring

Resrch/Scholarly Actv

Average % of Work Time Spent on Activity

*Based on faculty who engage in at least 3 of the following: teaching, research, service, extension/engagement/economic development.

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Workload: Time on Activities(by gender/rank)

Compared to their male counterparts…

Female Assistant Professors spend

more time on– Teaching/mentoring

students

less time on– Research & scholarly

activities– Extension & engagement

activities

Female Associate Professors spend

more time on– Teaching/mentoring

student– Service work

less time on– Research & scholarly

activities

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Workload:A Note about Administrative Duties

About two-thirds of faculty (not including lecturers) do not spend any time on college/department administration

Overall, the one-third of faculty who spend time on college/department administration spend an average of only 2% of their time on such duties

About one-fourth of Full Professors spend 25% or more of their time on college/department administrative duties

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Workloadand Stress

Stress related to workload is higher among :– Assistant professors– Women at every rank (especially female Full and Associate

Professors)• Over half of female full and associate professors say their

workload causes them “a great deal” of stress

15

Workload and Stress(by rank/gender)

34

25

45

43

37

54

32

51

26

43

34

48

37

32

36

31

0 20 40 60 80 100

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Le

ctu

rerA

sst

Pro

fA

sso

cP

rof

Fu

llP

rof

Percent Experiencing Stress from Workload

Great deal Some

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Research/Publication:Resources & Support

One-third or more faculty give low ratings to numerous types of resources & support that could impact success with research/publications– Pre- and post-award support from the college and from the

university for grant/contract-related activities – University provision of resources to support faculty success with

discovery of knowledge– Availability of up-to-date equipment – Access to graduate research assistants – Clerical/administrative support in department– Technical assistance – Department head and college providing resources needed to do

your job

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Research/Publication Demandsand Stress

Stress related to research/publication demands is higher among:– Those less satisfied with various resources and support

measures to assist with scholarly activities– Assistant professors– Women at every rank (especially female Associate

Professors)– African Americans at every rank

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Support for Work/Life Balance

Three-fourths of faculty agree that their department and NC State provide an environment that enables them to successfully balance their work and personal life– Less likely to agree:

• Associate Professors

• Women at every rank (especially female Associate & Assistant Professors)

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Department Support for Work/Life Balance(by rank/gender)

9

7

2

7

7

20

4

5

12

15

18

26

16

22

14

18

0 10 20 30 40 50

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Le

ctu

rerA

sst

Pro

fA

sso

cP

rof

Fu

llP

rof

Percent Disagreeing

Strongly Disagree Disagree

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University Support for Work/Life Balance(by rank/gender)

6

3

3

9

7

17

4

5

12

16

17

26

20

37

17

23

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Le

ctu

rerA

sst

Pro

fA

sso

cP

rof

Fu

llP

rof

Percent Disagreeing

Strongly Disagree Disagree

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Support for Work/Life Balance:Does it Help with Stress?

The majority of faculty who say that the environment enables them to balance work and personal life say they have experienced ‘some’ or ‘a great deal’ of stress from work/life balance in the past couple of years.

36%

5%

37%

6%

64%

95%

63%

94%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Agree(N=772)

Disagree(N=226)

Agree(N=743)

Disagree(N=250)

Dep

t Env

irE

nabl

esW

ork/

Life

Bal

ance

Uni

v E

nvir

Ena

bles

Wor

k/Li

feB

alan

ce

% Experiencing Stress from Work/Life Balance

None/Little Some/A Great Deal

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Work/Life Balanceand Stress

Stress from work/life balance significantly decreases with rank for men, but not for women

At every rank women are more likely than men to experience ‘a great deal’ of stress from work/life balance

Male and female Assistant Professors are equally likely to report at least “some” stress from work/life balance

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Work/Life Balance and Stress(by rank/gender)

28

26

43

50

36

52

28

41

31

46

41

34

38

30

35

36

0 20 40 60 80 100

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Le

ctu

rerA

ssis

tAss

oc

Fu

ll

Percent Experiencing Stress from Work/Life Balance

Great deal Some

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Reappointment, Promotion, & Tenure

Three-fourths or more faculty give positive ratings to:– Clarity of performance review standards and procedures – Clarity of department RPT standards and procedures – Equity of department RPT standards and procedures

– Lower ratings given by- Assistant Professors- Women (especially Associate Professors)

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Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenureand Stress

Stress from RPT decreases with rank for both men and women

At every rank, women are more likely than men to experience at least “some” stress from RPT

Female Full and Associate Professors are much more likely than their male counterparts to experience “a great deal of stress” from RPT

RPT stress is higher among those who give lower ratings to the clarity and equity of RPT standards and procedures

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RPT and Stress(by rank/ gender)

21

24

46

45

29

43

9

26

37

39

36

42

40

34

24

22

0 20 40 60 80 100

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Le

ctu

rerA

sst

Pro

fA

sso

cP

rof

Fu

llP

rof

Percent Saying Experience Stress from RPT

Great deal Some

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Compensation: Overall Satisfaction

Slightly less than half of faculty agree that they are satisfied with their compensation (salary & benefits) at NC State.

Strongly Agree4%

Agree43%

Disagree38%

Strongly Disagree

15%

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Compensation: Overall Satisfaction

Dissatisfaction with compensation is generally consistent across all groups Least likely to be satisfied with overall compensation

– Associate Professors, followed by Full Professors– Female Associate Professors

• 76% of female Associate Professors are dissatisfied with their compensation (compared to next most dissatisfied group, male associate professors, with 57% dissatisfied)

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Salary: Competitiveness

Satisfaction with salary is lowest when compared to that of faculty in disciplines at comparable institutions outside the UNC system

15

9

8

6

5

49

42

32

29

20

23

32

33

38

39

21

16

26

28

36

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Other faculty in department

Other faculty in college

Other faculty at NC State

Other faculty in discipline in UNC

Other faculty in discipline atcomparable institution

Agreement that Salary is Competitive

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

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Benefits: Competitiveness

A majority of faculty believe the NC State voluntary benefits program is competitive, but that the state healthcare benefits are not

5

7

7

25

48

62

32

24

20

38

12

21

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Healthcare benefits

Retirementcontributions

Voluntary benefitsprogram

Satisfied with Benefits

Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

31

Compensation& Satisfaction at NC State

Faculty who are satisfied with their compensation are more likely to be satisfied/engaged at NC State.

Among Agreers (N=551)

I am satisfied with my compensation (salary & benefits) at NC State

Among Disagreers (N = 488)

92% Would recommend department as good place to work 75%

90% Is satisfied with NC State overall 67%

79% Have NOT seriously considered leaving academe 67%

53% Have NOT seriously considered leaving NC State 28%