An examination of the relationship between organizational socialization and the organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and role orientation of new student affairs professionals

Newcomers to an organization will need to learn about the culture to make sense of the environment. The socialization process is how this happens. It can range from a formalized, extremely structured series of activities developed by organizational managers to one that is left entirely to happenstance, the proverbial sink-or-swim method. Regardless of how the process occurs, evidence suggests that socialization experiences affect the individual and the organization.; Very little is known about how the socialization experience is shaped for new student affairs professionals or how these individuals respond to their new environment. Staff members in their first full-time jobs in student affairs positions were surveyed to gain a better understanding of their organizational socialization experiences and how it affected their role orientation, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction.; This study examined the relationship between the socialization process of new student affairs professionals and their levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and role orientation. Van Mannen and Schein's (1979) theory of organizational socialization framed this study. The data were collected through a survey instrument that had been used by several other researchers. The sample was drawn from new professionals who attended the 1998 annual conferences of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the American College Personnel Association. A total of 128 questionnaires were received with 110 being usable for the research analysis. The eighteen research hypotheses were tested using bivariate correlation and regression statistical techniques.; The findings indicated that the model was more useful in predicting job satisfaction than role orientation or organizational commitment. The factor analysis results indicated that the original constructs were not effective and suggested ones that were more appropriate. These results led to the development of a model of organizational socialization specifically designed for new student affairs professional.