Happiness among faculty: associations with resilience, quality of life, and satisfaction within the educational environment

Happiness and faculty satisfaction are important dimensions of well-being and may influence the educational environment and student learning. Given the potential impact of faculty well-being on the educational process, this study aimed to evaluate faculty perceptions of happiness, resilience, quality of life, and satisfaction with their educational environment, considering multiple elements under a System Thinking approach. An observational, cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted at a Brazilian University. Undergraduate faculty members were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected through a questionnaire including sociodemographic information and the Faculty Satisfaction Questionnaire, self-assessment measures of overall quality of life (QoL) and QoL in the educational environment, a global happiness measure, the General Happiness Scale, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, and the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14). One hundred forty-nine (65%) faculty members agreed to participate; 72 (48.3%) were female, with an average age of 43.4 years-old. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire showed positive correlations with resilience, overall QoL, QoL in the educational environment, and satisfaction within the educational environment. Older faculty members (born between 1945 and 1960) reported higher levels of happiness, better overall QoL and QoL in the educational environment, and greater satisfaction with the educational environment ( p < 0.05). Faculty members with longer teaching experience also reported better perceptions of happiness, higher resilience, and greater satisfaction with the educational environment ( p < 0.05). In addition, faculty members with higher perceived happiness showed higher resilience scores, better overall QoL and QoL in the educational environment, and greater satisfaction with the educational environment ( p < 0.001). Faculty satisfaction was associated with better perception of happiness, resilience and quality of life. Investing in faculty well-being could be a systemic strategy for improving the educational environment and faculty experience.