Work Engagement among Staff at One of Brazil's Leading Federal Universities: A Quantitative Analysis

Work Engagement among Staff at One of Brazil's Leading Federal Universities: A Quantitative Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Work Engagement among Staff at One of Brazil's Leading Federal Universities: A Quantitative Analysis Telesmagno Neves-Teles, Cristiane Basso, Cristian Zanon, Rosa Maria Martins de Almeida This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5811029/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Context : Work engagement is an indicator of well-being and performance. In Brazil’s public sector, especially in federal universities, few studies have examined this phenomenon and its relationship with demographic characteristics. Purpose : This study investigates work engagement among public servants at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, addressing the research gap in engagement within the Brazilian public sector. It also examines how demographic factors such as age, gender, education, parental status, occupational group, and career stage relate to engagement levels. Design/methodology/approach : A total of 1,506 public servants (52% women), including technical and academic staff, completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the nine-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9). Statistical analyses included ANOVA, t-tests, and linear regression. Additionally, a mediation analysis was performed to assess whether age mediates the relationship between occupational group and engagement. Findings : The average engagement score (4.61) placed the sample within the 30th percentile of the Brazilian normative population. Moderate positive correlations were found for age, parental status, occupational group, and career stage. Gender and education showed negligible effects. Age partially mediated the association between occupational group and engagement. Public Administration Psychology work engagement UWES-9. civil servants demographic factors public universities Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Statement: Upon consultation with the university’s Ethics Committee, it was confirmed that formal ethical approval was not required for this study. In accordance with Article 2 of University Resolution No. 510/2006, institutional research is exempt from ethics committee review when it meets the following conditions: (1) the study is census-based; (2) all participants provide Free and Informed Consent; and (3) full anonymity of participant data is guaranteed. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5811029","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":571081940,"identity":"b43ea948-515f-43b4-91aa-a176b5253e16","order_by":0,"name":"Telesmagno Neves-Teles","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFklEQVRIie3RsUrDQBjA8e/4oFkSul6p4iscBHQpyavkOHCSKnQRHLwQSJY+QMSXcDpxS8jQJQ+QscUXSMEhgYCmilLBa3ATvP/0fcOP4+MATKY/Gcq95QpgDGS9GwMdsIF8kX5iABOJ7JeEZQPEt8Jw01543qMlrXXNZr5bidH2pYP5mfyZ2HYeuY4S4mmZkTBl51xVAu+PY1gcZRpCeTwlCgWrAhLZrAhOq8sCJxJ4qrvlZJO0rbr9IB179d1UINLuAKEkBkcV3jvpbycPVCCpRwdIyaOpo1YBK/PwbskET8tnRBLTBdUQKynybatufLaKsrq59vxx0r/SdLO5jnzG5d4HAdowBPr/+baRZhCYTCbTP+oNpZBbafRIZIkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4234-3218","institution":"Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Telesmagno","middleName":"","lastName":"Neves-Teles","suffix":""},{"id":571081941,"identity":"a890c62b-5585-4afe-add2-80a7985bebb7","order_by":1,"name":"Cristiane Basso","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6269-0102","institution":"Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cristiane","middleName":"","lastName":"Basso","suffix":""},{"id":571081942,"identity":"8c52a517-e3fe-455d-b445-d7ff6819a6ed","order_by":2,"name":"Cristian Zanon","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3822-5275","institution":"Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cristian","middleName":"","lastName":"Zanon","suffix":""},{"id":571081943,"identity":"da66a35b-ebb8-4f9c-9342-e0299c3d2fd4","order_by":3,"name":"Rosa Maria Martins de Almeida","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2450-2238","institution":"Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rosa","middleName":"Maria Martins","lastName":"de Almeida","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-11 19:54:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5811029/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5811029/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100360337,"identity":"a09a2ec5-0591-4c37-8a9f-21bf72b2494c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-16 07:38:27","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":473445,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptRSPPreprintversion.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5811029/v1_covered_7bc5f7d7-bde2-4796-9d62-b47b2e8f2904.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthics Statement: Upon consultation with the university’s Ethics Committee, it was confirmed that formal ethical approval was not required for this study. In accordance with Article 2 of University Resolution No. 510/2006, institutional research is exempt from ethics committee review when it meets the following conditions: (1) the study is census-based; (2) all participants provide Free and Informed Consent; and (3) full anonymity of participant data is guaranteed.\u003c/p\u003e","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWork Engagement among Staff at One of Brazil's Leading Federal Universities: A Quantitative Analysis\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"work engagement, UWES-9., civil servants, demographic factors, public universities","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5811029/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5811029/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContext\u003c/strong\u003e: Work engagement is an indicator of well-being and performance. In Brazil’s public sector, especially in federal universities, few studies have examined this phenomenon and its relationship with demographic characteristics. \u003cstrong\u003ePurpose\u003c/strong\u003e: This study investigates work engagement among public servants at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, addressing the research gap in engagement within the Brazilian public sector. It also examines how demographic factors such as age, gender, education, parental status, occupational group, and career stage relate to engagement levels. \u003cstrong\u003eDesign/methodology/approach\u003c/strong\u003e: A total of 1,506 public servants (52% women), including technical and academic staff, completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the nine-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9). Statistical analyses included ANOVA, t-tests, and linear regression. Additionally, a mediation analysis was performed to assess whether age mediates the relationship between occupational group and engagement.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFindings\u003c/strong\u003e: The average engagement score (4.61) placed the sample within the 30th percentile of the Brazilian normative population. Moderate positive correlations were found for age, parental status, occupational group, and career stage. Gender and education showed negligible effects. Age partially mediated the association between occupational group and engagement.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Work Engagement among Staff at One of Brazil's Leading Federal Universities: A Quantitative Analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-12 04:24:28","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5811029/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"75d02658-207e-47ac-994d-8d37e0842925","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 12th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":60772356,"name":"Public Administration"},{"id":60772357,"name":"Psychology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-12T04:24:28+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-12 04:24:28","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5811029","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5811029","identity":"rs-5811029","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}