Presidential satisfaction in higher education: an empirical study of two- and four-year institutions

Situated in the broader context of academic administration and senior executive university leadership, this study examined variables correlated with self-reported satisfaction and performance among community college and four-year university presidents in four densely populated north American states. The results of our analysis suggest that personal and institutional demographics as well as measures of institutional discord are significant predictors of self-reported presidential satisfaction and performance. It was found that malleable factors – such as the difference in perception between what 'is' and what 'should be' – are more influential in predicting satisfaction and performance than fixed factors, such as personal and institutional demographics.