The relationship between psychological capital, social capital, job satisfaction, and job performance of private university lecturers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The objective of this study is to explore the impact of psychological capital, social capital on job performance among lecturers at private universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with job satisfaction serving as a mediating variable. A total of 374 valid responses were collected from lecturers in 12 private universities in the city. The structural relationship between the variables was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS 4.

The findings indicate that personal psychological capital and personal social capital have a positive influence on both job satisfaction and job performance among lecturers at private universities in Ho Chi Minh City. Additionally, job satisfaction was found to mediate the relationship between social capital and job performance. However, no significant mediating effect of job satisfaction was observed in the relationship between psychological capital and job performance. Notably, psychological capital directly impacted personal social capital among lecturers.

The results of this study have important implications for top leadership, deans and department managers at private universities, academics, and human resource managers, as it can inform the development of purposeful and effective human capital strategies to enhance teacher performance through the cultivation of individual psychological capital, social capital, and job satisfaction. Policy makers can also use the outcomes of this study to formulate policies and practices that will enhance lecturers’ psychological and social capital as well as job satisfaction with the ultimate aim of improving the job performance of academics. Higher levels of job performance can lead to better student engagement and academic performance, which will ultimately improve the graduate talent pipeline that can contribute to the growth of the nation. Future research could extend this model to investigate the relationships between these variables in different contexts, such as in public universities and to do a comparative study. Such investigations would contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of these constructs and their implications for higher educational institutions.