Quality of life and academic productivity among faculty members in health colleges

Abstract Faculty QoL is increasingly recognized as a key component of effective higher-education systems, particularly in health-science institutions where academic, clinical, and administrative roles overlap. This national cross-sectional study examined whether quality of life (QoL) predicts academic productivity among faculty members in Saudi health colleges. A total of 282 faculty members from 24 universities participated (68.4% male; 51.8% aged 31– 40 years; 76.6% doctoral degree holders; 49.3% with hospital-related duties). QoL was assessed using WHOQOL-BREF, and academic productivity was modeled as a latent construct comprising publication output, teaching load, and years of academic experience. Structural equation modeling demonstrated good model fit (robust) $$\:{\chi\:}^{2}$$ = 27.39, df = 13, p = .001, RCFI = 0.974, RTLI = 0.959, RRMSEA = 0.064) and revealed a significant positive association between overall QoL and academic productivity (β = 0.395, p < .001). Measurement invariance analyses demonstrated stable model performance across gender, age group, administrative position, and hospital-work status, with configural models showing acceptable fit (RCFI > 0.95; RTLI > 0.95; RRMSEA < 0.07) and metric invariance supported across all subgroups (ΔRCFI ≤ 0.01; ΔRTLI ≤ 0.01; ΔRRMSEA ≤ 0.015). Scalar invariance was achieved for age and administrative position. These findings indicate that QoL is a robust and consistent predictor of academic productivity and highlight the importance of institutional strategies aimed at enhancing faculty QoL.