Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
8-2026
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6326-0941
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Jim J. Adams
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dena Counts
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Daniel Lufkin
Abstract
As U.S. higher education institutions face increasing challenges related to employee morale and retention, understanding the drivers of workplace satisfaction is critical for institutional stability. This research investigates the relationships between organizational climate factors and job satisfaction among staff within Texas community colleges, applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene as the theoretical framework. Specifically, this study explores the influence of institutional communication, employee well-being, and organizational mission and pride on staff job satisfaction. Utilizing a quantitative correlational design, the study analyzed secondary data from ModernThink’s Higher Education Insight Survey©. The sample consisted of 2,265 higher education professionals collected between 2021 and 2023. Participants were composed of exempt professionals (56.82%), administrators (22.08%), and nonexempt staff (21.10%). Demographically, the sample was majority White (51.39%) and female-identifying (59.02%). The results revealed positive correlations between the identified climate factors and job satisfaction, and suggest that when staff members perceive transparency in leadership communication and feel a deep alignment with the institutional mission, their reported job satisfaction increases. Furthermore, the study examined how demographic variables, such as race/ethnicity and gender, and institutional variables, such as student enrollment size, impacted these perceptions. The findings offer insights for community college leaders seeking to enhance employee retention and implement a supportive organizational culture. By prioritizing internal communication strategies and fostering a sense of organizational pride, leaders can mitigate the risks of turnover. The discussion provides implications for organizational support theory, provides recommendations for practice, and future research to address the evolving needs of the non-faculty workforce.
Keywords: job satisfaction, community colleges, organizational climate, institutional communication, employee well-being, mission and pride, non-faculty staff, employee retention
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hilliard-Daniels, Tamesha, "A Correlational Study Exploring the Influence of Organizational Climate on Job Satisfaction of Non-Faculty Staff at Texas Community Colleges" (2026). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1046.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/1046
Included in
Community College Leadership Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Higher Education Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Organizational Communication Commons