This study analyzed the association between academic identity, job satisfaction and stress over the last three decades. This study found that most Korean academics have a dual identity as researcher and teacher but tend to prefer research to teaching. In addition, we found that performance-based management practices at universities have strengthened the researcher identity during last three decades. Finally, this study found that while academic identity is not associated with academics’ job satisfaction, those who identify as researchers are likely to experience higher stress. This study has implications for studying academic identity in relation to the critical topics of job satisfaction and job stress, which are core concepts of organizational studies.

This research is supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2017021672).