State-of-the-art organization theory indicates that if organizations are to achieve their goals, they must pay attention to the needs of human resources. In spite of the vital role of department chairs in higher education, their needs are rarely the focus of attention. This study investigated how department chairs at four-year colleges in Puerto Rico perceived that their jobs were fulfilling five needs identified by Maslow/Porter (1961), i.e. Security, Affiliation, Self-Esteem, Autonomy, and Self-Realization, and how selected factors (demographic, personal, organization environmental characteristics) influenced those perceptions. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire (89% response) and interviews. / Three need aspects were measured: Need Fulfillment, Need Satisfaction, and Need Importance. The results indicated that Self-Esteem was the most fulfilled need and Autonomy the least fulfilled. While the department chairs are equally satisfied with four of the needs, they are considerably less satisfied with the Security need. With regard to Need Importance, the questionnaire responses indicated Self-Realization and Autonomy as the most important needs, but those interviewed ranked Security as the most important need, followed by Self-Realization. The factors that related significantly to the perceived needs fulfillment were: sex (women perceived greater Self-Esteem need fulfillment than men); academic major (those in technical/vocational fields perceived greater Self-Esteem need fulfillment than those in arts and sciences); sector (those in private colleges perceived greater Affiliation need fulfillment than those in public colleges); and tenure (those with tenure perceived greater Security fulfillment). / This study also found that private colleges provided greater collegiality and opportunities for participation in decision making than public colleges, and that public colleges were subject to greater outside influences on institutional decisions. A multiple regression analysis revealed that these environmental characteristics significantly influence the perceived needs fulfillment of the department chairs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, Section: A, page: 0261. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76036 |
| Contributors | BURGOS-SASSCER, RUTH., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 185 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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