Career Sustainability of Academic Staff in Public Autonomous Universities

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the level of career sustainability among academic staff in autonomous universities in Thailand. It was a quantitative study with a sample size of 373 individuals working in autonomous universities in Thailand. The research instrument was a closed-ended questionnaire utilizing a checklist format and a five-point Liker’s scale, based on a conceptual framework with three dimensions: workplace well-being, job satisfaction, and work effectiveness. The statistical methods used for data analysis included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and descriptive analysis.
The research findings indicate that: the overall level of career sustainability among academic staff in autonomous universities, across all three dimensions, was indicated as high. The dimensions of work effectiveness and job satisfaction were both indicated at a high level by respondents. However, the workplace well-being dimension was indicated at a moderate level. This suggests an imbalance across the three dimensions, especially in the area of workplace well-being, where respondents perceived only a moderate level of sustainability. In addition, an aspect of those three dimensions showed the lowest levels of sustainability, including: aspect of adequate and fair compensation within the workplace well-being; the issue of negative emotions of the job satisfaction dimension, and aspect of cultural and artistic preservation within the work effectiveness dimension. This highlights the urgent needs to place greater emphasis on improving this particular dimension in order to enhance and support the career sustainability of academic staff in autonomous universities.