A Comparative Study of Regular and Contractual Teachers' Job Satisfaction

This study was undertaken to explore the job satisfaction of teachers. Present research compared job satisfaction of 26 contractual and 24 regular teachers on pay, promotion, supervision, fringe benefits, coworkers, nature of work, communication, contingent & rewards and operating conditions. These aspects of working environment contribute as factors of job satisfaction. Data were collected through a six point rating scale developed by Spector (1994). Results indicated that there is significant difference between the contractual and regular teacher’s job satisfaction on the pay, fringe benefits and contingent & reward aspects. As the job satisfaction of teachers can directly affect students and classroom so it is recommended that there should be regular teachers in the schools so that their satisfaction can produce good results. 1. Introduction Job satisfaction has been defined as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job (Locke, 1976 cited by Weiss. 2001), a reaction to one’s job; and an attitude towards one’s job. Weiss (2002) has argued that job satisfaction is an attitude. Studies on job satisfaction began in the early 1900's in United States in the field of industry conducted on industry workers. The findings from these studies produced data relevant to specific job factors and to the employee's perceptions of these factors. Extent of the level of satisfaction differs for different people and the explanation for these differences lies in the nature of the jobs. Studies re veal that variables like age, gender, educational level, experience, location of the organization, size of organization influence the job satisfaction. Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction depends on a large number of factors ranging from where employees have to eat their lunch to the sense of self fulfillment they may receive from doing their jobs. Usually, job satisfaction involves a delineation of those factors that an employee perceives to either foster a positive attitude about work, or a negative attitude about work. (Ghazi, 2007). Factors which can influence job satisfaction may be achievement, recognition of work, nature of work, responsibility assigned, chances of advancement in job, salary, interpersonal relations, institutional policies and administration, working conditions, personal life, and job security. Hackman & Oldham (1976) proposed the Job Characteristics Model (JCM). The model states that there are five core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) which impact three critical psychological states (experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of the actual results), in turn influencing work outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work motivation, etc.) The five core job characteristics can be combined to form a motivating potential score (MPS) for a job, which can be used as an index of how likely a job is to affect an employee's attitudes and behaviors. A meta-analysis of studies that assess the framework of the model provides some support for the validity of the JCM (Fried, & Ferris, 1987).