Higher Education Ph.D. Dissertations

Follower Perception of Leadership Communication and Leadership Style Significantly Predicting Follower Job Satisfaction Among Ohio Community College Employees

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Higher Education Administration

First Advisor

Patrick Pauken (Advisor)

Second Advisor

William Balzer (Other)

Third Advisor

Francis Dumbuya (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

Judith Jackson May (Committee Member)

Fifth Advisor

Matthew Lavery (Committee Member)

Abstract

The problem addressed in this study was that of the challenges that Ohio community colleges have been experiencing in terms of student attrition, the cost of instruction, the time to earn a degree being reduced, and changing academic outcomes for community college graduates are putting a strain on the community college system and further taking a toll on the morale of the people that work for them. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the degree to which the two variables of communication, both content and style, and leadership style, both task and relational, significantly predict the level of job satisfaction maintained by employees of community colleges in the State of Ohio. The research questions were 1) What is the relationship between communication, leadership styles, and job satisfaction among employees of community colleges in Ohio?, 2) Do the variables of communication and leadership style predict job satisfaction among employees of community colleges of Ohio?, and 3) Do communication, leadership style, and job satisfaction significantly differ by the demographic groups of age, gender, educational level, and job type among Ohio community college employees?

Two Ohio community colleges participated in the survey consisting of a total of 54 items and was tabulated by a program called Qualtrics and there was 220 participants in this study. The results demonstrated that there was a statistically significant positive correlation among communication content and style, and leadership task and relational style and job satisfaction. Further, there was a statistically significant regression model indicated between the predictor variables of communication content, communication style, leadership task style, and leadership relational style with job satisfaction. Demographic analysis demonstrated that men and women both are not that dissimilar with regard to their response to communication and leadership with regard to job satisfaction. It was further discovered that the age group of 35 to 44 had no statistically significant correlations with any of the independent variables and job satisfaction and that there were no differences among the categories for educational level attainment with respect to the independent variables. Further, there was a statistically significant positive correlation with the independent variables and job satisfaction and job type. Communication and leadership can be leveraged positively by organizations to enhance job satisfaction which in turn leads to increased productivity.

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