Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction of Sport Management Faculty Members

Informed by self-determination theory, this study builds on previous research to examine the work motivation and job satisfaction levels of sport management faculty members, as well as any relationship between their job satisfaction levels and work motivations. A total of 193 sport management faculty responded to a survey consisting of the Job Satisfaction Survey and the Motivation at Work Scale. Results revealed that regarding job satisfaction, faculty members were more satisfied with work itself, supervision, and coworkers and were less satisfied with pay, operating procedures, and reward. While participating sport management faculty had the highest mean in intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction also was significantly positively correlated with identified regulation. Male faculty showed significantly greater overall job satisfaction than female faculty, but gender did not affect work motivation factors. Finally, results revealed no significant differences among tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty in motivation levels, but after controlling for motivation, job satisfaction levels of non-tenure-track faculty were significantly less than those of tenured and tenure-track faculty. Results of this study can assist higher education administrators (i.e., department chairs, deans, provosts) to better understand that this population is highly intrinsically motivated and identifies deeply with their work. Administrators should work diligently to preserve autonomy, a factor that appears to lead to greater levels of motivation and job satisfaction.