Job Satisfaction of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists

Insights to Inform Effective Educational Leadership

Kimberly A. Boynton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367565848
• eBook ISBN: 9781000407693
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This text responds to the growing need for speech-language pathologists in school settings by asking how factors including people, work, pay, opportunities for promotion, and supervision impact the overall job satisfaction of school-based speech-language pathologists.

Drawing on data from a quantitative study conducted in schools in the US, the text foregrounds the experiences and perspectives of speech-language pathologists working in the public school sector, and illustrates the critical role of effective and supportive educational leadership and administration in ensuring effective recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction amongst these much needed professionals. The text highlights growing responsibilities of speech-language pathologists in schools and considers recruitment and challenges in the sector can be remedied by greater understanding of how job satisfaction relates to speech-language pathologists' experiences and perspectives on pay, work, opportunities for promotion, and support from a supervisor.

This short text is aimed at researchers, scholars, and administrators in meeting the growing needs of children and students with speech and language difficulties in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary education settings . The text will be particularly valuable for school leaders looking to support speech-language pathologists in their setting.

1
Introduction

Chapter Overview

Chapter 1, “Introduction,” serves as a foundation of understanding and the outlining of speech-language pathology practice and education requirements in the USA. Additionally, the chapter outlines the scope of practice and the process of speech-language pathology in various settings including, schools, private practice, healthcare, and early intervention. Information specific to the extensive and comprehensive roles and responsibilities of the speech-language pathologist is covered in the chapter, serving as a review for current practitioners and content building for leaders in education, including superintendents, human resource personnel, and district and building level administrators. Additionally, this chapter discusses the rationale for this study. Information on the current growing concerns about the poor retention of speech and language pathologists in schools is discussed; the growing need for speech and language services for children and students is grounded; and the increasing job requirements for speech and language pathologists in public schools are outlined.

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Exploration and investigation of job satisfaction can be an important area of study in many professions, particularly when considering ways to recruit and retain highly qualified and effective employees. Finding career and job fulfillment is a goal for most people. Several questions emerge from this identified goal, this desire to find fulfillment and reward in the work we do. Do we enjoy the work we do each day? How do we find and maintain reward, satisfaction, and fulfillment within the broad and narrow scopes of our role, practice, or responsibilities? What factors impact the satisfaction we experience within the parameters of a job and a career path? As individuals, we may ask these questions from a place of personal growth and development or a desire to find the satisfaction within the scope of a current job position held or a wider and more long-term career plan. As leaders, we may approach these questions with a goal of enhancing recruitment efforts and maximizing retention potential.

Employers often strive to find ways to support this overall goal of individual employees and collective employee groups to find authentic job satisfaction. Employers may find benefit in understanding the roles, responsibilities, and needs of specific employee groups. The research study development, implementation, and results found within this book specifically focus on speech-language pathologists within a school environment. As a foundation for the research study discussion, a consideration of the way mindset has the potential to play a role in how an individual may view a current job or the facets of the job is valuable. Consideration of mindset is worth exploration in relation to perspectives, goals, and growth as it relates to an individual’s job satisfaction.

Mindset

Let’s begin with the exploration of research linked to mindset as a way to begin framing a component of the basis of this research study related to facet-based perceptions. Young people often develop a fixed or growth mindset beginning at an early age through interactions with parents, teachers, mentors, or other influential figures (Dweck, 2006). A fixed mindset is a focus on proving oneself in education, career, and personal relationships; at its root is the belief that each person has a certain personality type, level of intelligence, and moral character. Counter to the fixed mindset, the growth mindset identifies the basic qualities of intelligence, personality type, and moral character as a starting point from which to change, grow, and strive toward goals (Dweck, 2006). These opposing mindset perspectives have the potential to frame our approach to individual tasks, roles within our current job, willingness to take risks, attitude toward mistakes, and ability to personally and professional grow and develop. As leaders it may be beneficial to identify the values, beliefs, and work environment, specifically considering whether fixed or growth mindset is the basis for evaluation, mentoring, and completion of job duties. The research facets examined in the outlined study may offer a relevant opportunity to consider how mindset may factor into the work environment, with the potential to promote personal and professional growth, or alternatively inhibit creativity and optimal work performance.

Dweck (2006) suggested that humans have an innate love of learning. Yet, a person’s motivation and mindset develop continually, changing with life’s exposures, experiences, and opportunities to learn. Career opportunities and job facets are linked to these various exposures, ongoing experiences, and distinct learning opportunities that may shape an individual’s motivation and mindset. Indeed, researchers may consider intrinsic and extrinsic motivation when studying the relationships between job satisfaction and various facets of a specific job. Both intrinsic drive and extrinsic motivation determine how individual interests, goals, and career path choices feed the innate human need for autonomy, self-determination, and connectedness (Pink, 2009).

It may prove valuable in studying job satisfaction to identify the ways growth mindset may offer opportunities to strive and grow based on flexibility, adaptability, and willingness to succeed and learn in the midst of perceived failure. Excitement and growth have the potential to offer opportunities for positive perceptions linked to needed flexibility and adaptability within a career path or specific job situation. Indeed, human nature drives an innate curiosity and need for self-direction. Because individuals are driven to find a path resulting in improvement of their life, having autonomy to make individual choices improves overall well-being (Pink, 2009). In considering the continuous evolving speech-language pathology roles and responsibilities, as well as the breadth and depth of the speech-language pathology field, there is an ongoing need for flexibility, adaptation, and willingness to grow, grounded in the study, research, and understanding of the implications of a growth mindset.

Public schools in Indiana struggle to recruit and retain speech-language pathologists. High caseload numbers, increased workload, and growing responsibilities are contributing to speech-language pathologist stress and burnout (Coordinating Committee of the Vice President for Speech-Language Pathology Practice, 2009). Because of diverse work environments and job aspects, speech-language pathologists respond to various intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, which influence their career trajectory, work setting choices, and retention of speech-language pathologists at various stages of their career paths. Speech and language skills correlate closely to academic success and achievement, highlighting the importance of the speech-language pathologist’s role in the educational environment. Yet, the demands on speech-language pathologists continue to increase without solutions for preventing burnout and promoting job satisfaction. Woltmann and Camron (2009) stated that the speech-language pathologist shortages in school-based settings, primarily resulting from large caseloads and increased paperwork requirements, can result in underserved students in need of speech and language evaluation and intervention. It is important to consider the impact of this shortage of speech-language pathologists on needed student support, as well as the systemic educational need for speech and language expertise on school teams. Public school-based speech-language pathologists have experienced an increased need for flexibility, adaptation, management of expanding job responsibilities, and role adjustments as the field continues to evolve and the scope of practice grows. School district leaders face the challenge of recruiting and retaining public school-based speech-language pathologists in a competitive market. The field has evolved to include working with a diverse population and addressing a multitude of disorders and impairments in a variety of settings. Multiple opportunities and career decisions exist, including the selection of audiology or speech-language pathology, preferred client population and work setting, and desired employment facility (Leonard, Plexico, Plumb, & Sandage, 2016).

The field of speech-language pathology encompasses a comprehensive landscape of assessment and intervention, with a primary focus on supporting effective and functional communication. This monograph aims to explore the job satisfaction of school-based speech-language pathologists in the USA, through investigation of a focused, quantitative research study conducted in schools in Indiana and the accompanying analysis and synthesis of the associated research evidence. This monograph serves to offer insights in terms of how educational administration and speech-language pathologists can work collaboratively to better understand and find solutions to the needs for increased job satisfaction of the speech-language pathologists practicing in a field where demand now exceeds supply (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019).

Few researchers have focused specifically on identifying how speech-language pathologists determine their career paths and job choices. Additionally, based on a review of the literature, researchers have not specifically focused investigation on job satisfaction in relation to specific job facets in the field of speech-language pathology. Few researchers have focused on public school-based speech-language pathologists’ job satisfaction, specifically studying facet-based job satisfaction. Limited facet-based job satisfaction data specific to Indiana speech-language pathologists have been collected based on literature review prior to this study. A detailed understanding of speech-language pathologists’ initial career decisions, the reasons for their subsequent employment choices, and the facets with the strongest correlation to job satisfaction can serve to inform employers about important recruitment, job satisfaction, and retention information to consider when developing and implementing recruitment and retention strategic plans.

Additional helpful research may include identifying the point when speech-language pathology students determine the path to follow and whether perceived facets of job satisfaction affect employee retention when new graduates transition into professional practice. Miller and Ciocci (2013) stated that new college students define academic focus areas, career, and clinical interests based on preferences, experiential opportunities, and job characteristics. The national need for speech-language pathologists in public schools, necessary for meeting the needs of eligible students, warrants research that may help increase job satisfaction, diminish burnout, and promote consistency and retention.

It may also be beneficial to explore career paths and preferences specific to the field of speech-language pathology. Although researchers have not extensively studied career path preferences of speech-language pathology students, I have gained insight into the decision-making process from studies involving medical students. Several factors may influence a student’s choice of medical specialty, including sociodemographic factors, individual characteristics, and environmental considerations (Nieman, Holbert, & Bremer, 1986). Additional primary factors include clinical experiences, student attitudes toward career opportunities, exposure to a specific employment environment, and the academic institution’s focus on research and clinical practice (Brooks, 1991). In addition to studies of medical students, general vocational theory is relevant to recruitment, hiring, and retention of speech-language pathologists in public-school settings.

We must also consider the overall structure, health, and vitality of an organization as a component of potential impact related to recruitment, retention, and the job satisfaction variable. Kramer, Brewer, and Maquire (2011) investigated the impact of healthy work settings on new graduates’ transitions into the professional practice within the field of nursing. Although the study encompasses only the field of nursing, it provides considerations for speech-language pathologists transitioning from academic training and preparation programs to professional clinical practice. In the field of nursing, the physical, social, and interaction aspects of the environment, as well as organizational structures and the values and actions of people, affect the transition from the academic setting to professional practice (Pearson et al., 2007). In studying the research, it seems the most effective way to master a new professional role is to undertake cooperative tasks with people in the work environment. In the field of speech-language pathology, these opportunities exist within the practicum clinical experiences, research opportunities, and clinical fellowship year experiences embedded to varying degrees within undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs and professional requirements.

Kramer and Schmalenberg (2002) described healthy work environments in the field of nursing as a system that involves interrelated components of people, organizational structures, and practices that allow nurses to provide quality patient care. Nursing graduates transitioning from academia to professional practice demonstrate high expectations for their first clinical professional practice work environment (Kramer et al., 2011). The new graduates expect a healthy work environment based on people, organizational structures, and practices to support high quality care, resulting in job satisfaction (Lacey et al., 2011). Kramer et al. (2011) suggested that a healthy work environment needs a foundation of strong leadership with collaboration to promote increased retention and productivity of nursing graduates transitioning into clinical practice. A need exists for similar studies of transitioning and veteran speech-language pathologists; however, perhaps we can gain relevant insight into expectations of new speech-language pathology graduates related to organizational structure and healthy work environment. As educational leaders, how might we support this transition of recent graduates from coursework and practicum into the professional realm of independent practice?

Facet-Based Research

The details of this quantitative study conducted in schools in Indiana, USA, included in the following chapters, will provide a foundation for important ongoing considerations and discussions surrounding job satisfaction, with a link to recruitment and retention of speech-language pathologists in school-based settings. The study offers an in-depth investigation of the relationships between five identified job facets of the school-based speech-language pathologist’s job, and general job satisfaction as identified, organized, and measured by the Job Descriptive Index (JDI; Bowling Green State University, 2009a) and the Job in General Scale (JIG; Bowling Green State University, 2009b). Included is an investigation of the effects of people, work, pay, opportunities for promotion, and supervision on general job satisfaction, as measured by quantitative survey data collected from speech-language pathologists, licensed and employed by public-school districts and cooperatives within Indiana.

The information obtained during this research investigation and subsequent analysis will serve to inform educational leaders, speech-language pathology students, early career and experienced speech-language pathology clinicians, and research scholars of the impact of individual and specific job facets on general job satisfaction with a research focus on speech-language pathologists in the school-based setting. The study offers a foundation that can serve as a platform for understanding the field of speech-language pathology, as well as provide a springboard for school leaders...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Author Bio
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Understanding Speech-Language Pathology Practice in the Educational Setting
• 3 Understanding Motivating Factors to Support Speech-Language Pathology Job Satisfaction
• 4 School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist Job Satisfaction
• 5 Facet-Based Job Satisfaction
• 6 Professional Experience and Job Satisfaction
• 7 Research to Practice: Considerations for Educational Leaders
• Index