Intra-organizational Trust as a Factor that Affects Satisfaction with Doctoral Studies

Abstract

The aim of the article is to examine intra-organizational trust as a factor impacting satisfaction with doctoral studies. The study on intra-organizational trust is related to three types of trust: vertical trust, horizontal trust and institutional trust. In turn, perceived satisfaction is linked to knowledge and competences gained at a university (academic satisfaction) and studying atmosphere (satisfaction with atmosphere). Furthermore, the following research questions were addressed in this paper: (1) Does personal experience from the past, current personal experience and the impact of surroundings affect particular types of trust? (2) Do particular types of trust and support provided by a university influence the willingness to take a risk? Therefore, in the underlying research the following factors that may be related to trust have been studied: university's support, willingness to take a risk, personal experience from the past, impact of surroundings. The sample consisted of 41 PhD students (26 women and 16 men). The Jagiellonian University has been represented by 11 doctorate student, where as  AGH University of Science and Technology surveyed 30 PhD students. The results of the study allow to answer the research question by pointing out to particular types of intra-organizational trust at a university as factors that affect PhD students’ satisfaction with doctoral studies. Study presents a positive correlation between intra-organizational trust and satisfaction at a university. Moreover, the impact of institutional trust on academic satisfaction and the influence of trust in lecturer and the impact of horizontal trust on satisfaction from atmosphere has been prove.