| This study provided descriptive and quantitative examination of factors influencing the career progression and job satisfaction of white non-Hispanic women as compared to Mexican-American women in higher education. It assessed overall job satisfaction for/and between white non-Hispanic women and Mexican-American women as it related to supervision, salary, promotion, recognition, job security, working conditions, responsibility, work itself, and colleague relationships.;The study examined the hypotheses that Mexican-American female academicians as compared to white non-Hispanic female academicians: (1) perceived a difference in treatment in promotion and job security; (2) perceived that they did not receive as much recognition; (3) perceived that their career progression was slower and their salary was lower.;The participants were Mexican-American and white non-Hispanic female faculty who had full-time faculty positions in a university which offered graduate programs; were eligible for, or had academic tenure; and had completed a doctoral degree. There were 305 respondents of which 113 were white non-Hispanic, 183 were Hispanic, and of those, 96 were Mexican-Americans.;A demographic profile was used to solicit personal and professional information. Participants completed a Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire which provided subjective attitudes about job satisfaction and career progression. The average age of all participants was 45 years and about half of them were married and the mean number of children was one. One hundred and eight were Assistant Professors and 168 were tenured. Twenty-two were Professors.;The analysis of the participants, utilizing t-tests and multiple regressions, indicated that there was a statistical significant difference in the satisfaction of supervision, colleague relationships, working conditions, and recognition. The analysis showed that Mexican-American female faculty were not as satisfied in these areas as compared to white non-Hispanics. However, the recognition component was the most significantly different component for the Mexican-American. Perhaps this occurs because of the expectations that administrators have regarding their assignments, i.e. spending too much time on teaching and student advising. Encouragement needs to be given towards conducting research. |
