TEACHER’S JOB SATISFACTION IN THE DIGITAL ERA IN CHINESE UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The penetration of digital technology is systematically reshaping the higher education ecosystem, and teacher job satisfaction has become a core indicator measuring educational governance effectiveness and talent training quality. This study adopts a combination of questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews based on the Job Demands-Resources Model and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. It systematically examines the influencing mechanisms of six core factors—digital technology application, digital literacy, training system, work support, assessment and evaluation system, and career support—on university teachers’ job satisfaction, while exploring the moderating effect of regional imbalance characteristics across Chinese higher education. The findings reveal that all six factors exert a significant positive impact on teacher job satisfaction; work support and assessment and evaluation systems play partial mediating roles between digital-related factors and satisfaction; regional imbalance characteristics show a significant negative moderating effect, exacerbating cross-school resource imbalances and teachers’ digital adaptation conflicts. This study aims to provide empirical evidence and optimization paths for national digital governance and faculty construction in Chinese universities, enriching localized research findings on teachers’ professional development in the digital era.