Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis
found that there are two distinct types of job
satisfaction:
Abstract
Institutions may be interested in using alumni career
success as evidence of institutional effectiveness, but the
current study suggests that using income as the sole
outcome may not be entirely capturing the occupational
experience of graduates. Utilizing data from the Strategic
National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), exploratory and
confirmatory factor analysis indicated that there are two
distinct components of job satisfaction among arts alumni:
intrinsic satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction. The results
of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analyses for
these two factors provide some relationships concerning
age, gender, reported income, and occupational field. In
considering overall job satisfaction, intrinsic satisfaction
may play a larger role in how alumni perceive their careers
outcomes and success.
Rotated Component Matrix
Eigenvalues for Items:
Assessing Alumni Success: Income is NOT the Only Outcome!
Factor 1:
Intrinsic
Factor 2:
Extrinsic
Work reflects personality, interests, values
.952
-.110
Opportunity to be creative
.758
-.024
Opportunity to contribute to greater good
.686
.060
Balance between work and non-work life
.272
.265
Income
-.097
.828
Job security
-.030
.661
Opportunity for career advancement
.368
.485
Good model fit: χ2 = 31.32; GFI = .995, CFI = .993, RMSEA = .050, PCLOSE = .447
Literature Review
•
There is an increasing trend for requiring colleges and
universities to show measures of their effectiveness
(Kuh & Ewell, 2010)
o Combination of the struggling economy, funding cuts
to higher education, and the evolution of the traditional
higher education model (i.e. distance education,
MOOCs, etc.)
OLS regression analyses indicate that
intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction can be
predicted by certain demographic and other
characteristics:
One important measure of effectiveness is alumni
success in the workplace (Cabrera, Weerts, & Zulick,
2005)
Intrinsic β
Extrinsic β
Female
.041***
.038***
Age
.167***
-.075***_
In addition to content knowledge from a student's major,
institutions can also provide other skills such as
communication, analytical thinking, and creative thinking
(Tait & Godfrey, 1999)
White
.018**_
-.003____
Income
.087***
.441***
Work in Arts Field
.271***
-.032***_
If institutions do not train students well, the employability
of their graduates will decrease (Evers, Rush, & Berdrow,
1998)
Artist Parent(s)
.023***
.012__
.121***
.180***
•
Many institutions employ some type of alumni survey,
requesting that alumni report back their current job(s) and
income
* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001
•
Certain fields in particular have recently been under
scrutiny for the career outcomes of their graduates
o Architecture, arts & humanities, law
•
•
•
•
Predictor Variables:
R2
References
Cabrera, A.F., Weerts, D.J., & Zulick, B.J. (2005). Making an
impact with alumni surveys. New Directions for Institutional
Research, 2005: 5-17. doi: 10.1002/ir.144
Data indicates that some majors have disappointingly low
income levels, especially among recent college
graduates (Carnevale, Cheah, & Strohl, 2012)
Carnevale, A.P., Cheah, B., & Strohl, J. (2012). College majors,
unemployment, and earnings: Not all college degrees are
created equal. Washington, DC: Center of Education and the
Workforce, Georgetown University.
The problem with income…
•
•
•
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Evers, F.T., Rush, J.C., & Berdrow, I. (1998). The bases of
competence: Skills for lifelong learning and employability. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
What is “enough” when it comes to income?
What if the alumni pursued further education?
Some fields of work (i.e. arts, education) are not
generally associated with large monetary incentives
Kuh, G. D. & Ewell, P. T. (2010). The state of learning
outcomes assessment in the United States. Higher Education
Management and Policy, 22(1), 1-20.
The current study uses an arts alumni survey to explore
how aspects of job satisfaction, and their relationships
to other demographic, occupational, and institutional
variables, can provide alternative performance
indicators
For further information please contact
adlamber@indiana.edu or anglmill@indiana.edu. More
information on this and related projects can be obtained at
snaap.indiana.edu
Lepper, M. R., & Henderlong, J. (2002). Turning “play” into
“work” and “work” into “play”: 25 years of research on intrinsic
versus extrinsic motivation. In C. Sansone & J.M. Harackiewicz
(Eds.), Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal
motivation and performance (pp. 257-307). San Diego, CA:
Academic Press.
Amber D. Lambert and Angie L. Miller
Tait, H., & Godfrey, H. (1999). Defining and assessing
competence in generic skills. Quality in Higher Education, 5(3),
245-253.