Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), often in rural and underserved areas, face safety concerns, including arson and a campus shooting. These events may affect employees’ perceived safety, which impacts work engagement, crucial for organizational performance and employee well-being. This study examined the relationship between safety perceptions and work engagement among TCU employees using a cross-sectional survey (September–December 2024). The survey included the Work Safety Scale and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, disseminated to 86 TCU representatives. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that perceived job safety predicted all three work engagement components—absorption, vigor, and dedication—while coworker safety had a more nuanced or negative influence. These findings emphasize the need for a comprehensive safety climate at TCUs and culturally responsive safety initiatives tailored to their unique social and historical context.

Keywords

tribal colleges occupational safety work engagement

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Balanay

J. A. G.

Adesina

Kearney

G. D.

Richards

S. L.

(2013). Assessment of occupational health and safety hazard exposures among working college students. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 57(1), 114–124.

Dekker

(2014). Safety differently: Human factors for a new era. CRC Press.

Greenwood

M. L.

de Leeuw

S. N.

(2012). Social determinants of health and the future well-being of Aboriginal children in Canada. Paediatrics & Child Health, 17(7), 381–384.

Hayes

Perander

Smecko

Trask

(1998). Measuring perceptions of workplace safety: Development and validation of the Work Safety Scale. Journal of Safety Research, 29, 145–161.

Hockey

G. R. J.

(1997). Compensatory control in the regulation of human performance under stress and high workload: A cognitive-energetical framework. Biological Psychology, 45(1–3), 73–93.

Joseph

A. S.

(2021). A modern trail of tears: The missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) crisis in the US. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 79, Article 102136.

Karsh

B. T.

Holden

R. J.

Alper

S. J.

C. K. L.

(2006). A human factors engineering paradigm for patient safety: Designing to support the performance of the healthcare professional. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 15(Suppl 1), i59–i65.

Kobley

(2025, April 21). Police identify 2 suspects in Diné College fire; school shares rebuilding plans. Arizona’s Family. https://www.azfamily.com

Nahrgang

J. D.

Morgeson

F. P.

Hofmann

D. A.

(2011). Safety at work: A meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 71–94.

10.

Neal

Griffin

M. A.

(2006). A study of the lagged relationships among safety climate, safety motivation, safety behavior, and accidents at the individual and group levels. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 946–953.

11.

Schaufeli

Bakker

(2003). UWES Utrecht work engagement scale preliminary manual. UWES. http://www.beanmanaged.com/doc/pdf/arnoldbakker/articles/articles_arnold_bakker_87.pdf

12.

Svihovec

(2022, September 26). Suspect pleads not guilty in August shooting on United Tribes Campus. The Bismarck Tribune.

Impacts of Work Safety Perception on Work Engagement in Tribal Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References