Abstract
Objective: Teachers’ job satisfaction is one of the key factors in institutional dynamics and is generally considered to be the primary variable by which the effectiveness of an organization’s human resource is evaluated. The objectives of this study were to assess the level of job satisfaction among university teachers and to clarify the associated factors. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2013 and January 2014. Teachers from six universities in Shenyang, China were randomly sampled. The job satisfaction scale Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), perceived organizational support (POS), psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ-24), and effort-reward imbalance scale (ERI) together with questions about demographic and working factors were administered in questionnaires distributed to 1500 university teachers. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to explore the related factors. Results: 1210 effective responses were obtained (effective respondent rate 80.7%). The average score of overall job satisfaction was 69.71. Hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that turnover intention, occupational stress and chronic disease all had negative impacts on job satisfaction, whereas perceived organizational support, psychological capital and higher monthly income were positively associated with job satisfaction among the university teachers. Age was also linked to the level of job satisfaction. All the variables explained 60.7% of the variance in job satisfaction. Conclusions: Chinese university teachers had a moderate level of job satisfaction. Demographic and working characteristics were associated factors for job satisfaction. Perceived organizational support showed the strongest association with job satisfaction. Results of the study indicate that improving the perceived organizational support may increase the level of job satisfaction for university teachers.
Highlights
It is generally believed that a teacher, considered as an engineer of the human soul, plays an important role in society
A similar survey conducted in an Australian university showed that of all the staff members, academic staff who engaged in both teaching and research had the highest psychological distress and lowest job satisfaction, indicating that high work loads may be the cause for work stress [3]
Our results revealed that Chinese university teachers enjoyed a moderate level of satisfaction, which was at the same level of teachers in special needs schools of South Africa (69.55) [39], lower than an American standardized group [39], but higher than Chinese community health workers (68.2) [19] and doctors (65.86) [10]
Summary
It is generally believed that a teacher, considered as an engineer of the human soul, plays an important role in society. They are considered pillars of society because they shoulder the responsibility of educating and training students upon whom our future relies. A study performed in the UK showed that university academic staff rated conducting research and time constraints as the main causes of stress at work, and 74.1% and 14.7% of the teachers had moderate to serious levels of stress, respectively [2]. A similar survey conducted in an Australian university showed that of all the staff members, academic staff who engaged in both teaching and research had the highest psychological distress and lowest job satisfaction, indicating that high work loads may be the cause for work stress [3].
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