Lacking lecturers in higher education is an international issue where society faces insufficient educational services to enlighten one’s future, and lecturer work satisfaction also merits higher attention. Work satisfaction is closely associated with turnover rates, lecturer retention, overall university cohesion, lecturers’ well-being, professional teaching improvement and research and publication performances. This study aims to explore how causes of actions (work–family conflict [WFC] and workload) influence consequences (stress and burnout) which affect the overall attitude (lecturer work satisfaction).

Researchers collected data from 450 Thai lecturers from different universities via survey questionnaires. Furthermore, a structural equation model method was used to analyze the data.

Results showed that lecturer stress was significantly influenced by WFC and workload. Next, stress, workload and WFC were the main predictors of lecturer burnout. Then, lecturer work satisfaction was significantly influenced by burnout, except stress. Finally, a relationship between lecturer stress and work satisfaction was mediated by burnout.

This research proposes a theoretical mechanism to analyze how causes of actions (WFC and workload) influence consequences (stress and burnout) which lead to a development of lecturer attitude (work satisfaction) in higher education.