Profiles of job insecurity reveal variation across Swedish academia

Tanimoto, A. S., Richter, A., Bujacz, A., & Lindfors, P. (2024). Are Profiles of Job Insecurity Associated with Health-Related Indicators Among Faculty in Swedish Academia? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. DOI: 10.1111/sjop.13064

What is this study about?

This questionnaire study consisting of a representative sample of faculty working at Swedish HEIs in 2021 identifies and investigates profiles of job insecurity in relation to exhaustion, depressive symptoms, well-being, and conflict between work and family domains. 

What are the important take-aways from this study?

Among those sampled, most faculty belong to the Secure profile, meaning that these faculty are not worried about losing their jobs in the near future, and express low concerns about deteriorating conditions at work.

In contrast, a smaller group of faculty, consisting of both permanent and fixed-term faculty, belong to the Insecure profile, and experience high levels of both dimensions of job insecurity. While this group only contains six percent of the sample, they are identified as the most vulnerable, and risk developing exhaustion disorder and depression.

What is unique about this study?

This study is unique in that it is one of the first studies (perhaps the first) to investigate perceptions of job insecurity with a person-oriented approach in a representative sample of faculty in Sweden.

This study provides insight into the extent of current job insecurity perceptions among faculty working in Swedish higher education, and reveals that both permanent and fixed-term faculty can experience high job insecurity. It also shows that high levels of job insecurity are associated with more vulnerability when it comes to indicators of health and well-being.