Online Adjunct Faculty: A Quantitative Examination of the Predictive Relationship between Leadership and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Advances in technology and the rapid expansion and affordability of the internet have helped facilitate the use of online education, or e-learning. To accommodate increased online enrollments, universities are hiring adjunct faculty to teach online courses. Despite the importance of adjunct faculty, there is a lack of research on the experiences of adjuncts, and particularly on the experiences of adjunct faculty who teach online classes. Likewise, there is a lack of research in the for-profit sector of post-secondary education in the United States. This quantitative correlational study addressed this gap in knowledge by investigating the predictive relationship between dimensions of the Full Range Leadership Theory, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership behaviors, and the overall job satisfaction of adjunct faculty who teach online classes at a for-profit university in the United States. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and Spector’s Job Satisfaction Survey were used to collect data to measure the faculty’s perceptions of leadership and job satisfaction. The results of multiple linear regression indicated transformational leadership was a significant predictor of job satisfaction, and increased overall satisfaction when present. Transactional leadership was also a significant predictor of overall job satisfaction, but demonstrated a negative relationship. Laissez-faire leadership was not a significant predictor of overall job satisfaction.