Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums
For professionals caring for humans or non-human animals, many joys are to be found in working towards what an individual believes to be their calling, especially as they contribute to purposeful, meaningful work consistent with and intrinsic to their own values and beliefs. However, there can be do...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/12/2018 |
| _version_ | 1797596504852004864 |
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| author | Sabrina Brando Patrícia Rachinas-Lopes Vinícius Donisete Lima Rodrigues Goulart Lynette A. Hart |
| author_facet | Sabrina Brando Patrícia Rachinas-Lopes Vinícius Donisete Lima Rodrigues Goulart Lynette A. Hart |
| author_sort | Sabrina Brando |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For professionals caring for humans or non-human animals, many joys are to be found in working towards what an individual believes to be their calling, especially as they contribute to purposeful, meaningful work consistent with and intrinsic to their own values and beliefs. However, there can be downfalls. Empathic strain, conflict between co-workers, dissatisfaction with upper management, lack of opportunities to make positive changes, limited or no access to level and experience-appropriate professional development, and other stressors are all risks carried by organisations concerned with animal welfare. In the present study, a survey on job satisfaction and workplace stressors was completed by 311 zoo and aquarium professionals working in a range of roles from junior animal care staff to curator. Respondent profiles were created using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and four distinct clusters were identified through Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components (HCPC), highlighting common themes in different levels of experience and in job roles regarding stressors, satisfaction, and feelings about their work and workplaces. Overall, many zoo professionals were concerned with lacking the ability to feel empowered to do their best for animal welfare, and they described a link between the staff welfare and their perceptions of the welfare of the animals they cared for. Through identifying and understanding where organisations can better support their staff it is possible to target and reduce the number of common stressors faced by zoo professionals, leading to increased staff retention, higher job satisfaction, and an improved ability to perform at their best for animal welfare. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:51:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f8f4665bebc1424caf636e2d0398c773 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:51:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-f8f4665bebc1424caf636e2d0398c7732023-11-18T08:59:26ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-06-011312201810.3390/ani13122018Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and AquariumsSabrina Brando0Patrícia Rachinas-Lopes1Vinícius Donisete Lima Rodrigues Goulart2Lynette A. Hart3AnimalConcepts, P.O. Box 378, 03725 Teulada, SpainAnimalConcepts, P.O. Box 378, 03725 Teulada, SpainTransportation Research and Environmental Modelling Lab—TREM, Institute of Geosciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, BrazilDepartment of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, 3207 VM3B, Davis, CA 95616, USAFor professionals caring for humans or non-human animals, many joys are to be found in working towards what an individual believes to be their calling, especially as they contribute to purposeful, meaningful work consistent with and intrinsic to their own values and beliefs. However, there can be downfalls. Empathic strain, conflict between co-workers, dissatisfaction with upper management, lack of opportunities to make positive changes, limited or no access to level and experience-appropriate professional development, and other stressors are all risks carried by organisations concerned with animal welfare. In the present study, a survey on job satisfaction and workplace stressors was completed by 311 zoo and aquarium professionals working in a range of roles from junior animal care staff to curator. Respondent profiles were created using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and four distinct clusters were identified through Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components (HCPC), highlighting common themes in different levels of experience and in job roles regarding stressors, satisfaction, and feelings about their work and workplaces. Overall, many zoo professionals were concerned with lacking the ability to feel empowered to do their best for animal welfare, and they described a link between the staff welfare and their perceptions of the welfare of the animals they cared for. Through identifying and understanding where organisations can better support their staff it is possible to target and reduce the number of common stressors faced by zoo professionals, leading to increased staff retention, higher job satisfaction, and an improved ability to perform at their best for animal welfare.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/12/2018human wellbeinganimal wellbeinganimal welfarehedoniceudaimonic |
| spellingShingle | Sabrina Brando Patrícia Rachinas-Lopes Vinícius Donisete Lima Rodrigues Goulart Lynette A. Hart Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums Animals human wellbeing animal wellbeing animal welfare hedonic eudaimonic |
| title | Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums |
| title_full | Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums |
| title_short | Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums |
| title_sort | understanding job satisfaction and occupational stressors of distinctive roles in zoos and aquariums |
| topic | human wellbeing animal wellbeing animal welfare hedonic eudaimonic |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/12/2018 |
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