Investigating the Relationship between Professional Engagement, Job Satisfaction, and Academic Performance: Insights for Academic Career Management

The study explores the intricate relationships between job satisfaction, professional commitment, and individual research performance for early-career researchers in research institutions based in Romania. Quantitative data were collected from 96 individuals belonging to R1 and R2 categories as per the European Commission classification through a cross-sectional design. A carefully constructed questionnaire administered via Web Assisted Personal Interviewing (WAPI) helps to uncover nuanced relationships at a level not previously attempted. The findings therefore indicate that there is a very strong positive relationship between job satisfaction and research output, thereby reinforcing earlier literature that places satisfied professionals at the heart of good research performance. Furthermore, this study also found that professional commitment is a strong predictor of research output, an earlier study described a similar relationship where it had a determination construct for success as a professional. The results have validated the above basic hypotheses and underscored the importance attached to each dimension from the perspective of academic career enhancement. This therefore reflects what is probably the general reality in the Romanian research environment about working conditions, how properly or otherwise researchers are evaluated, supported in their career progression, and professionally committed to attaining optimal individual performance as young researchers. It highlights the clear objectives needed, leadership development, continuous competency development, and work collaboration. Knowing these will help people make good choices about their academic careers and consciously guide their professional growth in an efficient way.