Figure 6.1 Three elements of career satisfaction.

      Career success is almost always divided into different domains: extrinsic success versus intrinsic success, objective success versus subjective success, or material elements of success versus psychological elements of success. Markers of extrinsic success can be a financial reward, a job promotion, a position of leadership, grants, and publications. Intrinsic success is measured by a more general satisfaction with career and life (Rubio et al. 2011). This chapter explores the factors influencing career satisfaction, especially among academics and physicians.

6.2 Determinants of Career Satisfaction

      There are several determinants for career satisfaction. In general, determinants found to affect satisfaction include age, one's profession, job proficiency, education level, working hours, workplace size, income, gender, marital status, and cultural intelligence, among others (D'Addio et al. 2007; Bender and Sloane 1998). For example, it is reported that more educated people have a lower job satisfaction. Perhaps because people who are more educated have higher expectations, and therefore are more susceptible to disappointment and dissatisfaction. Married people report greater job satisfaction and those with health problems report lower job satisfaction. The relationship between age and career satisfaction follows a U‐shaped pattern in which the youngest and oldest individuals report the greatest job satisfaction. People with higher earnings are generally more satisfied; however, those reporting more hours of work demonstrate the same level of satisfaction as those reporting fewer hours of work (Clark et al. 1996; Clark and Oswald 1996). Academics are happier than nonacademics (Bender and Heywood 2006).

      The size of the establishment is also correlated with employee satisfaction. For example, large establishments organize work and production in a less flexible fashion than smaller establishments, and lower levels of job satisfaction have been reported in larger establishments (Idson 1990).

Among the academic disciplines, those in mathematics and engineering are least satisfied with their job, while those in management and the health sciences report relatively high job satisfaction ratings (Table Table 6.1). It is also worth mentioning that government employees report less job satisfaction than people in the private sector (Bender and Heywood 2006). A study has shown that while earnings contribute to job satisfaction, nonpecuniary benefits – such as relationships with colleagues, the nature of teaching, and publication success – are actually more important determinants of job satisfaction among Scottish academics (Ward and Sloane 2000).

Table 6.1 Job satisfaction by discipline and sector.

      Source: Adapted with modifications and from Bender and Heywood 2006. Reproduced with permission from Wiley.