Date of Award

Summer 8-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Occupational Psychology

Committee Director

Miguel Padilla

Committee Member

Sarah Ehlke

Committee Member

Andrew Bennett

Abstract

University faculty operate as the lifeblood of any institution given that their job requires a “double duty” to develop both scholarly research and student minds. Due in large part to these expectations, research shows a long history of poor mental health for faculty, which ultimately results in faculty turnover. One model of faculty work motivation (Padilla et al., 2023) details the way in which the faculty work environment influences their mental health, and subsequently informs their job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave academia, which serves as a proxy for turnover. Retention related issues have not been a pressing concern for higher education institutions, but the current social environment may bring these issues to the forefront. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and leading into the demographic cliff (Grawe, 2018), higher education institutions will need to retain both students and faculty alike. To equip institutions to retain their faculty members, this manuscript seeks to confirm and build upon the aforementioned model. Since the data for the original model were collected prior to COVID-19, it is important to collect data from a more current sample to determine if the model holds true. Additionally, the inclusion of new variables will only help to strengthen the predictive validity of the model. The findings from this manuscript will advance our understanding of faculty mental health and potentially prepare institutions to better provide for their faculty in attempts to prevent turnover during the demographic cliff.

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In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/1awj-j769

ISBN

9798193217169

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