Healthcare interpreters X, Y, Z

Abstract

This study explores how differences between generations X (people born from 1965 to 1980), Y (1980s and 1990s), and Z (mid-90s to early 2000s) have an impact on healthcare interpreters’ job satisfaction. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), the paper argues that the degree to which a work environment nurtures interpreters’ feelings of competence, connectedness, and autonomy can determine how motivated they feel, resulting in different degrees of job satisfaction. Stressing the organismic component in SDT, the paper further hypothesizes that the motivation in healthcare interpreting is mediated by interpreters’ values and that these vary across generations. An exploratory and qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews is conducted with 9 interpreters (3 from each generational group) who are working or have worked for the same hospital group. The differences in motivational factors and satisfaction are explored and implications for the ability of healthcare interpreting to retain the different generations are discussed.