Current
Satisfaction with Purdue (Q 7)
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Once faculty settle into life at Purdue, with which of these same eight factors are they currently most satisfied? The top four factors remain the same – benefits, prestige, balance between teaching and research, and access to research facilities, but prestige has fallen from first to second place behind benefits. |
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Among the other four factors included in the survey question, geographic location was an attraction for 43% as they decided whether to accept a position at Purdue. However, having settled into the community, 52% report current satisfaction with Purdue’s location. Likewise, only 43% reported that opportunities available for their spouse or partner were a positive draw to Purdue, but 55% are currently satisfied with the availability of these opportunities.
Differences by School
Faculty in CFS, Health Sciences, and Technology are particularly satisfied with their unit, school, and/or the university’s prestige (96%, 94%, and 93% respectively), while only 64% of faculty from Science are satisfied with this. It is also interesting to note that Agriculture, Education, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Science satisfaction levels with Purdue’s prestige have dropped noticeably since faculty initially chose Purdue (comparing responses to the previous question). In the two schools with the most significant drop, 93% of Engineering and 87% of Science faculty were initially drawn to Purdue because of its prestige, compared to 71% and 64% respectively who are currently satisfied with this.
Faculty from three of the schools who were most likely to say geographic location initially drew them to Purdue are still the most likely to be satisfied with Purdue’s location (CFS, Technology, and Health Sciences). Likewise, Science faculty were the least likely to say they were drawn by Purdue’s location and they are also the least likely to say that they are currently satisfied with it.
Faculty from Technology and Veterinary Medicine are particularly satisfied with the employment opportunities that are available for their spouse/partner (73% and 67% respectively), while Management faculty are the least satisfied with this (42%). Overall, satisfaction with spouse/partner opportunities rose in almost every school between the time when faculty initially chose Purdue and the present, particularly in Agriculture, Education, Engineering, and Technology where levels rose by at least 15 percentage points.
CFS and Library faculty (67% and 68% respectively) are most likely to say they are satisfied with their current salary. These were also the two schools (along with Agriculture) that were most likely to report that their salary offer was a positive influence on their decision to come to Purdue. Likewise, Education, Management, and Technology faculty are the least satisfied with their current salaries (28%, 35%, and 36% respectively) and were the three groups least likely to say the salary offer initially drew them to Purdue. Although not among the schools least likely to say the salary offer initially drew them, only 35% of Liberal Arts faculty are currently satisfied with their salary as well.
A clear majority of faculty from every school are currently satisfied with their benefits package. Satisfaction levels range from 79% in Engineering and Science to 92% in Veterinary Medicine. While only 73% of Library faculty and 66% of Management faculty initially reported benefits as a positive influence on their decision to come to Purdue, those percentages rose to 86% and 83% respectively in terms of current satisfaction levels, the two most substantial changes in responses between the two questions.
Faculty from the Libraries (94%), Management (86%) and Agriculture (83%) are the most satisfied with their current access to research facilities, while Liberal Arts faculty are the least satisfied (51%). In terms of changes in these satisfaction levels between the time faculty decided to come to Purdue and now, two schools stand out. Seventy-eight percent of Engineering faculty reported that research facilities drew them to Purdue, but only 65% are satisfied with this facet of Purdue now. On the other hand, only 58% of Technology faculty were positively influenced initially by their access to research facilities, but that number has grown to 72% who are currently satisfied.
Faculty in CFS (74%) and Technology (68%) are more satisfied than average with the leadership from their unit head and/or dean, while those in Education (44%) and Veterinary Medicine (45%) are the least satisfied.
Agriculture faculty are currently the most satisfied with their balance between teaching and research (82%), but only 59% of Library faculty are satisfied with the balance they maintain between these two activities. In almost every school, people were more likely to say that the teaching and research balance initially attracted them to Purdue than to say that they are currently satisfied with the balance. A typical example is Management, where 78% said that the balance between teaching and research positively influenced their decision to come to Purdue, compared to 66% of respondents from this school who are currently satisfied with this balance. Only in Technology is the percentage who are currently satisfied actually higher than the percentage who said that this positively influenced their initial decision to join Purdue.
Differences by Rank
Examining responses by rank, individuals responded to these questions as they did to the question about overall satisfaction (Q 1) – associate professors are generally the least satisfied, professors the most satisfied, and assistant professors tend to fall in the mid-range in terms of satisfaction with these eight factors. Specifically, associate professors tend to be the least satisfied and professors the most satisfied with the following factors: salary (38% of associate professors are satisfied compared with 52% of professors and 45% of assistant professors), benefits (79% vs. 87% and 84% respectively), access to research facilities (61% vs. 73% and 67% respectively), and balance between teaching and research responsibilities (62% vs. 76% and 67% respectively).
Assistant professors are the least satisfied with Purdue’s geographic location (43% vs. 53% of associate professors and 56% of professors who are satisfied) and the opportunities that are available for one’s spouse or partner (48% vs. 58% of the other two ranks), but are the most satisfied with the prestige of their unit, school, or the institution (86% vs. 72% of associate professors and 73% of professors) and with the leadership from their unit head and/or dean (67% vs. 49% and 57% respectively).
Differences by Gender
Females are considerably less satisfied than males with five of the eight satisfaction variables included in this question: geographic location (45% vs. 54% are satisfied), salary (40% vs. 49%), access to research facilities (57% vs. 73%), leadership from their unit head or dean (50% vs. 60%), and balance between teaching and research responsibilities (57% vs. 74%). On the other three variables, males and females expressed virtually the same levels of satisfaction.
Differences by Race
Faculty responses to five of the eight factors varied by race, sometimes quite substantially. Asian Americans are less satisfied than the other two groups with the opportunities available for one’s spouse or partner (19% vs. 60% of underrepresented minorities and 58% of Caucasians who are satisfied) and with their salary (28% vs. 39% of underrepresented minorities and 48% of Caucasians).
Underrepresented minorities are the least satisfied with Purdue’s geographic location (35% vs. 44% of Asian Americans and 54% of Caucasians) and with the benefits that are available to them (65% vs. 81% of Asian Americans and 84% of Caucasians). However, they are more satisfied than the others with the prestige of their unit, school, or the university as a whole (87% vs. 72% of Asian Americans and 76% of Caucasians).
The following tables provide a graphic comparison, by school, of the percentage who reported that a factor initially drew them to Purdue, compared to the percentage who are currently satisfied with the factor.
