# The Role of Resources on Job Satisfaction among US Public Health Master’s and Doctoral Program Graduates at the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and First-Generation Status

## TL;DR

This study explores how personal, social, and economic resources affect job satisfaction among public health graduates, particularly first-generation students and those from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel intersectional analysis of how first-generation status interacts with race and ethnicity to influence job satisfaction through resource access.

## Key findings

- First-generation status moderates the relationship between resources and job satisfaction.
- Black and White first-generation graduates show stronger resource-job satisfaction links compared to non-first-generation peers.
- Findings suggest targeted resource support could improve job satisfaction for first-generation public health graduates.

## Abstract

Investing in a diverse public health workforce has implications for strengthening cultural humility and addressing health inequities within minoritized populations. First-generation (FG) students pursuing graduate level degrees are an important population with the potential to strengthen such efforts in their transition into the public health workforce. However, research on the factors influencing job satisfaction and job decisions is limited. The main objective of this study was to examine how personal, social, and economic resources influence job satisfaction among public health master’s and doctoral level graduates, and to explore differences across education generation and racial/ethnic background. Drawing on Conservation of Resource and Intersectionality theories, we conducted secondary analysis using a recent national survey investigating factors that are associated with public health career choices (n = 751). Adjusted and weighted linear regression models, both with and without interaction terms, were analyzed to examine the associations between resource domains and job satisfaction. Our findings revealed significant moderating effects of FG status across personal, social, and economic resource domains in shaping job satisfaction, both within the full sample and among specific racial and ethnic subgroups. Further analysis revealed stronger influence of these resources among Black FG, White FG and total FG groups compared to non-FG groups, suggesting these resources may play a role in influencing job satisfaction among first-generation individuals. Therefore, public health graduate level academic programs and employers should consider strategies that improve access to resources to better support first-generation individuals’ completion of degrees and transition into the workforce.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10900-025-01513-2.