Exploring satisfaction of online teaching faculty from a Job Demands-Resources model perspective: the mediating roles of emotional exhaustion and motivation

The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural relationship among the job demands and job resources of institutions regarding online teaching, faculty’s emotional exhaustion and autonomous motivation in online teaching, and their satisfaction in teaching. Since the pandemic, regardless of the capacities of universities where faculty work, there has been an increasing sense that the quality of online education and institutional decisions to offer more online courses and programs would be one of the most significant strategic steps for the universities. This has brought new job demands and at the same time new resources, for faculty’s work in the area of teaching. Situated in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, we collected survey data from 261 faculty members at US higher education institutions who teach online courses. The findings indicate the significant effect of job demands associated with online teaching on faculty’s emotional exhaustion. The study also highlights the mediating role of faculty exhaustion from online teaching on the relationship between job demands and satisfaction with their teaching. Moreover, emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between job demands and motivation for online teaching. This study contributes to the current literature by sharing insights on the motivation and well-being of university faculty who face constantly changing job demands and workplaces. Implications for future research and practices to extend and apply the findings are discussed.