After talking to way more colleagues than suits my modest sociability needs, I can conclude that the degree to which people are happy with their job has nothing whatsoever to do with the rank they hold, the salary they get, the size or even the existence of their office, the number of students they teach, the amount of grading they do, or anything else if this kind.
5 responses to “Workplace Contentment ”
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OK, I can believe that. But where are you going with this?
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It’s just an observation. I talked to such a happy fellow yesterday that I feel quite envious.
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What does workplace contentment depend on then? I suspect it has to do with whether or not people are already happy?
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“What does workplace contentment depend on then? I suspect it has to do with whether or not people are already happy?”
-It’s more to do with whether or not the people are doing something that they love, I think. I’m not a very happy person right now, and I haven’t been for a while. But some of the best parts of my year were at work, doing something I enjoyed doing–even with the heat, long hours, exhaustion and sore feet. And that wasn’t even something I’m really passionate about, just a job that happened to suit me well. If you don’t enjoy the work, you’ll never be content when it comes to doing it, even if you’re happy with everything else in life. It’ll just be boring.
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Re: doing something you love — I thought I loved teaching until I started doing it full time. The life of a professor seems ideal when you’re an adjunct — at least for me it seemed perfect. I had no idea how tough the politics and lack of support would be, nor did I understand that teaching would only be about a quarter of my job. I think I’d be better off as an adjunct — not having to do anything but teach — but I can’t afford the salary hit.
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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