Job Satisfaction and Teacher Absenteeism

Extant research on the relationship between job satisfaction and employee absenteeism in the private sector clearly shows that job satisfaction is not a major factor in absenteeism. To determine whether a similar pattern prevails in educational organizations, a study was conducted among elementary teachers. Although the results of this study are consistent with the previous research, there is evidence to suggest that the relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism, tenuous as it appears to be, is conditioned by the design of the teacher's job. Specifically, job satisfaction and absenteeism are more apt to be related under a condition of high work interdependence than under moderate or low interdependence. (This research was supported in part by the Institute for Educational Finance and Governance, Stanford University.)