Does Size Really Matter? An Investigation of Academic Advisor Job Satisfaction at Small, Medium, and Large Institutions of Higher Education

Academic advisors serve a vital function in institutions of higher education. They guide students through their journey from orientation to graduation. Academic advisor job satisfaction plays an essential part of this role in higher education. This dissertation study investigated the differences between ratings of job satisfaction among academic advisors employed at small, medium, and large institutions and the inter-relationships between job satisfaction, work environment, and demographic variables. The quantitative study explored job satisfaction based on archival data from earlier research on academic advisor job satisfaction. The study investigated four aspects of academic advisor job satisfaction: overall job satisfaction, satisfaction working with the supervisor, satisfaction working with students, and satisfaction working with coworkers among academic advisors employed at small, medium, and large institutions. There were no significant differences found for each of the four aspects of academic advisor job satisfaction among academic advisors working for small, medium, or large institutions. The data showed that academic advisors reported the highest job satisfaction working with and interacting with students. The study also investigated correlations between the four aspects of job satisfaction and demographic variables. The largest effect size correlated overall job satisfaction to variety of work responsibilities at small institutions. Several recommendations for future research and for practice were made based on the findings of the study