Undergraduate Project Team Satisfaction: Analysis of a Theoretically Derived Structural Model

Abstract

Research and societal trends indicate the necessity and permanency of teamwork skills in the workplace thus investigating the relationship between satisfaction and students’ experiences of team and group work is essential. Taking a novel and comprehensive approach the current research study examined the effect of multiple antecedent conditions on undergraduate project team satisfaction. Specifically, a structural model was proposed and tested to examine the effects of clarity, justice, frustration, and fit on project team satisfaction. The model was able to predict 52.7% of the variance associated with project team satisfaction. Among the predictor variables clarity had the largest total (direct and indirect) effect on satisfaction. Frustration was found to have the next largest total effect. Consequently, agricultural educators are encouraged to first focus on clearly articulating the expectations associated with project teams as well as to monitor project teams for emerging frustration and to intervene as appropriate.