Tan, Charissa
(2024)
Psychosocial working conditions and wellbeing in contract workers in higher education in Singapore.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
There is a growing trend within many sectors, such as higher education institutes (HEI), to utilise contract workers (McComb et al., 2021). Consequently, this type of employment contract has become more prevalent within the workforce (Lahiri & Schwartz, 2018). Contract workers (also known as fixed-term contract workers) refer to employees whose employment will terminate on the expiry of a specific term unless it is renewed. As flexible employment contracts become more prevalent in organisations and HEIs, understanding the psychosocial working conditions faced by contract workers is important to protect their work-related wellbeing and mental health. However, these working conditions are not well understood as majority of research in this area has focused on traditional, permanent workers. This population, considered “hard-to-reach” by researchers (e.g., Ellis, 2021), has important contextual experiences that could further our understanding of the antecedents and mechanisms explaining wellbeing in contract workers.
Aim of the Thesis
Given the growing trend of contract work in higher education, this thesis seeks to investigate the psychosocial working conditions associated with work-related wellbeing and the mechanisms and contextual factors underpinning these relationships. The thesis draws on Job Demands-Resources theory (Demerouti et al., 2001) to inform the study hypotheses and conceptual approach.
The thesis examined three research questions (RQ):
RQ1: What is known about the empirical evidence and theoretical frameworks in the literature about the psychosocial working conditions and work-related wellbeing in contract workforces in higher education institutes?
RQ2: What are the relationships between psychosocial working conditions (operationalised as job demands and job resources) and work-related wellbeing (operationalised as engagement, job satisfaction, and commitment) in contract workers in the higher education sector in Singapore?
RQ3: What are the lived experiences of work-related wellbeing in contract workers in higher education in Singapore?
Method
This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, inclusive of three empirical studies: a systematic review, a cross-sectional online survey, and an interview study. Data collected for this thesis derived from an organisational case study in higher education in Singapore.
The systematic review addressed RQ1 by synthesising empirical evidence and theoretical frameworks in the extant literature about psychosocial working conditions and work-related wellbeing in contract workers in higher education institutes. The PRISMA guidelines (Moher et al., 2009) informed protocol development, study design, and reporting procedures. The applied inclusion criteria for the searches were work-related psychosocial working conditions, work-related wellbeing, studies examining contract workers and education sectors, and quantitative studies.
Fieldwork for Studies 2 and 3 was conducted in a higher education institution in Singapore which employed contract workers. RQ2 was addressed by Study 2, a cross-sectional online survey, which was disseminated among contract faculty within this higher education institution. The design of this survey was informed by the results of the systematic review. Standardised measures of the psychosocial working conditions and work-related wellbeing were used to quantify study variables. Participants were provided the opportunity to opt into an additional follow-up interview (Study 3) following the completion of the survey. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the direct effects of psychosocial working conditions and work-related wellbeing outcomes (burnout, anxiety, cognitive stress, engagement, commitment, and job satisfaction). A total of 49 contract faculty (mean age 51.7 years) completed the survey.
Participants who expressed interest in the follow-up interview study were contacted following the completion of their survey. The results from the quantitative survey and systematic review informed the development of the interview schedule, which was peer reviewed and piloted ahead of data collection. Seventeen participants participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Reflexivity practices were utilised throughout data collection and analysis. A six-phase reflexive thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke (2006) was used to analyse the qualitative data, with the key aim of understanding the lived experience of contract workers in higher education and to explore the mechanisms underlying the relationship between perceived working conditions and their work-related wellbeing.
Results
The systematic review was completed in 2020, at which point 12 studies met the inclusion criteria for the study. The findings indicated limited understanding of the psychosocial working conditions impacting wellbeing outcomes among contract workers in education, and the lack of application of theoretical frameworks for these studies. These findings formed the rationale for applying Job Demands-Resources theory in framing Studies 2 and 3.
Findings from Study 2 observed the following job demands (namely, quantitative workload and job insecurity) to be significantly associated with strain-related outcomes (burnout, stress, and anxiety). Conversely, the following job resources (namely, meaningfulness of work and job control) were significantly associated with engagement related outcomes (engagement, commitment, and job satisfaction). Due to limited statistical power, indirect effects (job demands x job resources) were not explored or investigated within this study. From this study, it was concluded that the Job Demands- Resources model explained the structural relationships between psychosocial working conditions and outcomes in contract faculty to some extent.
The findings from the interview study (Study 3) observed evidence of unique contextual factors and mechanisms influencing contract faculties’ work-related wellbeing. Contract faculty were found to hold multiple jobs and were observed to manage competing demands across multiple work environments that were critical to maintaining work-related wellbeing. When conflicting demands from different work environments were juxtaposed, the experience was stark and jarring, and stressful to the individual. Nonetheless, they were highly engaged and motivated by job meaningfulness and the altruistic drive of giving back to their professions.
Discussion
The findings revealed that the psychosocial working conditions experienced by contract workers were complex and arose not just from demands from one job but from the interface between demands from multiple jobs. Even with this complexity, their experiences of wellbeing were positive, unique, and multifaceted, and stemmed from altruistic drives and job meaningfulness. From the studies, it was clear that contract teaching provided flexibility which offered highly educated professionals an avenue to continue to remain active even after resigning from their long-term jobs.
The thesis makes three key theoretical contributions to the literature. First, reflections on the theoretical implications of the findings suggest that the Job Demands-Resources model, a structural model of work-related stress, was only partially able to explain the experiences of contract workers in higher education. Second, emerging trends in career stage theories could be an important alternative theoretical perspective when conducting research in this unique population of contract workers in higher education. Career stage theories (Sullivan & Ariss, 2021) were used to explain the processes underlying their career choices and work engagement. Lastly, the findings also established the importance of unique contextual factors experienced by contract workers that explained mechanisms underlying their work-related wellbeing. Overall, this thesis provides evidence that contract work in higher education can be meaningful and warrants further research in light of the growing trends of contract work.
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