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A self-determined profession? Perceived work conditions and the satisfaction paradox among Czech Academic Faculty:

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Mudrák J., Zábrodská K., Machovcová K.
Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review
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2020
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vol. 56
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issue 3
387-418
EN
While the Czech academic profession faces a range of challenges and problems, quantitative surveys indicate a relatively high level of high job satisfaction among academic faculty. This article addresses this ‘satisfaction paradox’ by exploring the perceived work conditions of Czech academics based on their own reports. The data for this study included academics’ (N = 1202) qualitative responses to open-ended questions regarding the main problems and benefits of their current academic work and workplace. Content analysis was used to categorise the respondents’ answers. Academics reported heavy workloads (26.5% of participants), a lack of financial resources (26.3%), poorquality leadership (23.7%), excessive administration (16.3%), and job insecurity (10.9%) as the most problematic aspects of their workplaces. In contrast, academics reported that good social relationships in the workplace (46.3%), autonomy of academic work (41.8%), personal fulfilment (28.9%), and work/contact with students (25.3%) were the aspects of their workplaces they valued most. These positive features appear to be prevalent, as most (80%) academics reported overall satisfaction with their work. The authors draw on job demands–resources theory to suggest that the relatively high level of satisfaction is due to (still) high levels of key job resources that support the intrinsic motivation of academics despite an environment that can be considered suboptimal in some aspects. They also point to inequalities in job demands and job resources between subgroups of academics and highlight key systemic issues that should be addressed to improve the work conditions at Czech public higher education institutions.
2
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Keeping Marketisation at Bay: The Quality of Academic Worklife in Czech Universities

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Zábrodská K., Mudrák J., Květoň P.
Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review
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2016
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vol. 52
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issue 3
347-373
EN
This study examines quality of academic worklife in Czech public universities to assess the extent to which the global drive towards marketisation in higher education has affected Czech academic staff. A total of 2229 academics (men = 57.1%) completed a survey measuring their job satisfaction, job stress, and work environment perceptions. Findings revealed high levels of overall job satisfaction (83.6% satisfied with their jobs) and relatively low levels of stress (13.7% regularly stressed). Most academics reported positive features of their work environment including autonomy and quality, role clarity, influence over academic work, and a strong social community. Negative features included dissatisfaction with pay, poor leadership, and pressure to produce. Job satisfaction was significantly associated with traditional academic values (focus on quality, involvement in decision-making, commitment to the workplace, recognition), while stress was linked to market-related aspects (pressure to produce, quantitative work demands, job insecurity). The study highlighted relatively high levels of well-being among Czech faculty, which can be attributed to the continued prevalence of a traditional, professor-oriented academic system based on autonomy and collegiality. Despite recent market-oriented changes within Czech research policy, the negative effects of marketisation are not yet pronounced in the quality of academic worklife in public universities, except for the increasing pressure for productivity.
3
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Kumulace výhod nebo utváření práce? Organizační a psychologické podmínky rozvoje výzkumné excelence u výzkumníků na začátku kariéry

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Mudrák J., Zábrodská K., Machovcová K.
Československá psychologie (Czechoslovak Psychology)
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2019
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vol. 63
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issue 4
445-465
EN
The aim of this integrative review is to analyze the contemporary research on individual and social conditions shaping a successful professional development of early career researchers. In this analysis, authors explore two lines of research, a sociological and a psychological. From the sociological perspective, the development of research excellence is determined by social-organizational processes of “cumulative advantage” (Merton, 1988) which enable the development of selected individuals towards research excellence by an unequal distribution of available resources. From the psychological perspective, successful development of research excellence is determined by individual characteristics, such as motivation or individual activity in the academic community and research organization, which authors review within the organizational psychology framework of “job crafting” (Tims, Bakker, 2010). On this basis, authors propose an argument for an integrative “systemic” approach that merges these two perspectives into a unified framework in which authors seek a balanced view of socialorganizational and individual-psychological processes and their mutual interactions. This systemic framework suggests that individual researchers striving for research excellence need not only to exhibit a high level of motivation and research-related activity but also engage in active creating of their position in academic community and research organization that allow them to participate in the processes of cumulative advantage. On the other hand, the research institutions should strive to mitigate the processes of cumulative advantage as these processes increase inequalities between the academics as well as institutions, distort the competition for available resources and in this way negatively
CS
Cílem této integrativní přehledové studie je analyzovat současný výzkum zabývající se individuálními a sociálními podmínkami úspěšného profesního rozvoje výzkumníků a výzkumnic na začátku kariéry. V této analýze se autoři zaměřují na dvě linie výzkumu, sociologickou a psychologickou. Ze sociologického pohledu je rozvoj výzkumné excelence utvářen sociálně-organizačními procesy spojenými s tzv. kumulací výhod (cumulative advantage, Merton, 1988), které umožňují vybraným jedincům úspěšný rozvoj výzkumné dráhy směrem k výzkumné excelenci prostřednictvím nerovné distribuce dostupných sociálních a organizačních zdrojů. Naopak z psychologického pohledu jsou pro úspěšný rozvoj výzkumné dráhy klíčové individuální charakteristiky, jako je motivace a vlastní aktivita v rámci akademické komunity a výzkumné instituce, které autoři popisují v rámci organizačně-psychologického konceptu utváření práce (job crafting, Tims, Bakker, 2010). Na tomto základě autoři předkládají argument pro integrativní „systemický“ přístup spojující tyto dva pohledy do jednotného rámce, v němž autoři usilují o vyrovnaný pohled na vliv sociálně- organizačních a individuálně-psychologických faktorů, především s ohledem na jejich vzájemnou interakci. Tento systemický rámec naznačuje, že pro individuální výzkumníky usilující o rozvoj výzkumné excelence je klíčová nejen motivace a aktivita zaměřená přímo na výzkumnou produktivitu, ale také aktivní utváření vlastních podmínek v rámci akademické komunity a konkrétních institucí, které jim umožňují zapojit se do sociálně-organizačních procesů kumulace výhod. Na druhou stranu pro výzkumné instituce je důležité usilovat o omezení procesů kumulace výhod, neboť vedou ke zvyšujícím se nerovnostem, nižší kvalitě soutěže o dostupné zdroje a tím i k nižší kvalitě výzkumného prostředí jako takového.
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