Minority Physician Job Satisfaction: An Analysis Of Extrinsically-controlled Organizational Factors

Few organizational communication studies examine the organizational aspects influencing career satisfaction specifically among non-white cultures in the medical physician population. This study examines minority physicians' perceptions of extrinsically controlled work environment factors in comparison to their white counterparts. Three research questions were analyzed from a 17-question survey tool to measure: physician satisfaction levels with autonomy over medical decision-making; autonomy over non-medical workplace decisions; and hospital cost containment efforts. These organizational variables have served as major points of discourse within the healthcare arena and they relate to the enigmatic nature of career satisfaction. Determined by the volume of respondents representing each race and ethnicity, five categories were selected for comparison: Asian/Pacific Islander, Indian/Pakistani, White/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and Black/African American. Participants that were surveyed included all physicians listed on the medical staff roster of a Southeastern, not-for-profit hospital group, regardless of status and medical specialty. The primary findings indicate that substantial variance exists among racial and ethnic subgroups regarding satisfaction with the dependent measures. Due to low numbers of minority health care physicians, previous studies have commonly measured physician job satisfaction aggregately, failing to differentiate cultural groups. Interestingly, when minority and non-minority groups were aggregately juxtaposed, no significant differences were reported in the data. However, when satisfaction was measured contrasting minority subgroupings with that of non-minority physicians, significant variations emerged from the data set. This study contributes to understanding better the organizational experiences of minority physicians in healthcare and the body of knowledge concerning minority health research as a whole.

Author dc:creator

• Fletcher, Shaun

Contributors dc:contributor

• Barfield, Rufus

• job satisfaction
• minority health
• physician satisfaction
• organizational communication
• Communication

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

CFE0000502

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-1317