Work Environment and Well-being of Academic Faculty in Czech Universities: A Pilot Study

Vol.19,No.4(2014)
Studia paedagogica

Kateřina Zábrodská Jiří Mudrák Petr Květoň Marek Blatný Kateřina Machovcová Iva Šolcová

https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2014-4-6

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Abstract
This article addresses the relationship between the work environment and the well-being of academic faculties in public Czech universities. It presents findings from a pilot study conducted at a Faculty of Arts at a major Czech university. The aims of the study were to describe the Faculty's work environment and to examine the impact of specific work environment variables on the well-being of academic employees. In total, 236 academics participated in the study. The results showed relatively high job satisfaction and high work engagement at all academic levels. The Faculty's organizational climate (measured using the Organizational Climate Measure; Patterson, Patterson, West, Shackleton, Dawson, Lawthom, Maitlis & Wallace, 2005) was defined by high autonomy and involvement in decision making, as well as relatively low pressure to produce. The Faculty's psychosocial work environment (measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II; Kristensen, Hannerz, Høgh & Borg, 2005) was defined by a strong social community and social support. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that the Faculty's work environment corresponds to the Humboldtian type of governance, defined by academic self-rule and a culture of collegiality, and they compare this type of governance with the market governance prevalent in Anglo-American contexts. The study contributes to the recent debates about national differences in academic governance by discussing how specific aspects of Humboldtian and market governance may contribute to well-being in academia.

Keywords:
work environment; universities; organizational climate; job satisfaction; academic governance
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