Abstract
Although benefits to credentialing are cited in the literature, little is known about the impact of ten years credentialing on the individual health educator. A systematic sample of 504 health educators who were members of the national Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) was chosen to investigate whether individual credentialing has positively affected salary, overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with work, pay, opportunity for promotion, coworkers, and supervision for health educators. Data was collected via a mailed instrument (60 percent response rate) that included: a demographic and education section; questions regarding employment; and Smith's Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job in General Index (JIG) scales (Balzer et al. 1997). The sample had a mean age of 42.19 years (SD = 10.39) and provided 12.16 years of service (SD = 8.67). Over 87 percent possessed a graduate level degree. Fifty-five percent held the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credential. Data analyses showed overall job satisfaction as measured by the JIG. Also, the data indicated satisfaction with coworkers, work, supervision, and pay. However, the sample was dissatisfied with promotion opportunities. Testing for differences between credentialed and noncredentialed health educators was conducted. There were no differences in overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with pay, coworkers, supervision and work. There was a significant difference (P = .01) with opportunity for promotion. Although both groups are dissatisfied with opportunities for promotion, those with the CHES credential are even more dissatisfied. There was no difference in the level of pay between the two groups. Health educators who worked in either a college/university setting or in community-based organizations were less dissatisfied with their opportunities for promotion than those health educators who worked for local/state/federal government (P = .05). Health educators possessing a doctorate level degree in health education were more satisfied with the work facet of the JDI than health educators with a master's level degree (P = .05). It was concluded that credentialing in health education has not resulted in value added, as defined by an increase in satisfaction with job in general, and increased satisfaction with pay, promotion opportunities, coworkers, supervision, work and actual income.