Job Characteristics and Employee Engagement: A National Study of FCS Extension Educators

The active engagement of educators within the family and consumer sciences (FCS) discipline is an important area of interest to Cooperative Extension. Using job demands-resources theory (JD-R), this study was designed to investigate the impact of job demands and job resources on engagement of FCS educators. Results showed job demands and job resources were negatively correlated and both positively predicted engagement. Findings indicate job resources is the stronger predictor of engagement. This is the first study to use JD-R theory within the Extension context to examine job characteristics and engagement. Implications and potential future research are explored.