Job satisfaction among academic staff in Ethiopian public universities

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring the level of job satisfaction among academic staff members in Ethiopian public universities. For this purpose, a conceptual framework incorporating group of constructs, namely university policies and support, working conditions, student achievement, and demographic factors was developed based on the literature reviewed in the study. A descriptive survey research design was employed in the study to collect and analyse quantitative data obtained from participants. Clustered and systematic random sampling techniques were used in the study to choose 400 academic staff members from eight public universities. A questionnaire comprising closed- and open-ended questions, and Likert scale items was adapted in order to gather data from the participants. Descriptive and inferential statistical procedures were used to analyse the relationships between all the study constructs with the help of IBM SPSS, version 25. The study revealed that there were significant differences among different demographic groups, and positive relationships between job satisfaction and its defining constructs. The study also found that most of the academic staff members were dissatisfied with their jobs. Female academic staff members were more significantly dissatisfied with students‟ discipline policy, university governance and support, their salary, workload, communication, and students‟ achievement than male academic staff members. Male academic staff members were, however, more significantly satisfied with the promotion policy and more significantly dissatisfied with reward than the female academic staff members. The study revealed that academic staff members significantly differed in the level of job satisfaction corresponding to their age and qualification. The study also indicated that academic staff members significantly differed in the level of job satisfaction corresponding to their work experience and academic rank. Significant correlations between the eight constructs and job satisfaction of academic staff members were also found in the study. Finally, the study recommended directions for policy amendment and implications for practice and future research relevant to the issue under study.