Audiologists' professional satisfaction

The authors surveyed currently practicing audiologists to evaluate their professional satisfaction and compared the results to a similar survey conducted in 1997.

The authors repeated an audiologist professional satisfaction survey conducted in 1997; 382 randomly chosen, currently practicing audiologists participated. Responses to 38 statements were on a 5-point Likert scale (5 = strong agreement with a statement, 1 = strong disagreement with a statement). The respondent sample was broken down into demographic subgroups, and statements were divided into subgroups reflecting 6 core reward areas that contribute to overall professional satisfaction.

Mean group satisfaction was 3.9 ( n = 382; SD = 1.01), which has remained unchanged since 1997 ( p < .05). Private practice audiologists' mean group satisfaction of 4.31 ( n = 80, SD = 0.78) was higher than for other practice settings ( p < .05). AuD private practice owners' mean group satisfaction of 4.52 ( n = 46, SD = 0.66) was higher than for other degrees and practice settings ( p < .05). Core reward area ratings differed for AuD, MA/MS, and PhD degree holders ( p < .05). Correlations between the average core reward area ratings and mean group satisfaction met statistical significance ( p < .05).

These results have implications for goal setting and planning within the profession and for audiologists' career choices.