A Midlife Crisis on Campuses

Professors, administrators, and staff members in the middle of their careers are more likely than other employees to be dissatisfied with their jobs, career advancement, and the fairness of the workplace, according to an extensive survey conducted by The Chronicle.

More than 15,000 employees were surveyed at 89 colleges and universities that participated in The Chronicle‘s first-ever Great Colleges to Work For project.

“When employees hit their late 40s or after eight years in a campus job — just after many faculty members have come up for tenure — workers reach their lowest levels of satisfaction on several measures. …”

“The excitement wears off when the honeymoon phase ends,” says Richard K. Boyer, principal and managing partner of ModernThink LLC, a Wilmington, Del., human-resources-consulting company, which managed the survey for The Chronicle. “Just like in corporate America, colleges need to focus on midcareer training so people don’t get lost in the shuffle.”

The survey also found that administrators tend to think their relationships with faculty members are better than they really are.

“Eighty percent of administrators agreed that faculty-administration relations on their campuses were healthy, compared with 61 percent of faculty members.”

You can find more details about this year’s survey here, and find information about how to participate in next year’s survey here.