Job satisfaction of lecturers in selected public and private university in ho chi minh city, vietnam

iii This is to certify that the research work entitled “Job Satisfaction of Lecturers in Selected Public and Private Universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Southern Luzon State University of

i

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

_

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

in Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

ii

iii

This is to certify that the research work entitled “Job Satisfaction of Lecturers in Selected Public and Private Universities in Ho Chi Minh City,

Southern Luzon State University of the Republic of the Philippines and Thai

Nguyen University of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, embodies the result of

original work carried out by the undersigned

This dissertation does not contain words or ideas taken from published

sources or written works by other persons which have been accepted as basis

for the award of any degree from other higher education institutions, except

where proper referencing and acknowledgement were made

_

LE HONG LINH (MAY)

Date Orally Defended: June, 2018

iv

The researcher sincerely extends deepest gratitude and appreciation to the following persons who made significant contributions in the completion of this research study:

Dr Gillian Portia P Dimaranan, research adviser, for her advice,

constructive criticisms, and patient encouragement; for sharing her sheer intelligence; for helping the researcher to grow and have her skills and for being the source of encouragement, the researcher humbly extends her gratitude;

Dr Joanna Paula A Ellaga, Dr Chona V Cayabat, Dr Eriberto A Casiño, Dr Moses T Macalinao, and Dr Flormando P Baldovino, Oral

Examination Committee, for their interest in the researcher’s work, inputs, and for their valuable suggestions for the improvement of this study;

Professors from Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam and Southern Luzon State

University, the Philippines, for their great guidance, comments and suggestions during my preparation of this PhD thesis

TNU-IS staff, for providing the researcher needed research materials;

The managers and staff of the universities in Ho Chi Minh City, for their time,

cooperation, honesty in answering questionnaires and for sharing their experiences and sustained interest; and

Her family, friends and colleagues, for the love and support in one way or

the other; and to all who have contributed to make this study success

LHL

v

This piece of work is humbly dedicated to

my colleagues and fellow instructors,

my students, my family and

my relatives, my friends,

my husband, and

my children

LHL

vi

PAGE

TITLE PAGE ……… i

APPROVAL SHEET ……… ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ……… iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……….… iv

DEDICATION ……….…… …… v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……….………… vi

LIST OF TABLES ……… viii

LIST OF FIGURES ……… ix

ABSTRACT ……… x

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……….……… 1

Background of the Study ……….….… 2

Objectives of the Study ……… 6

Hypothesis 7

Significance of the Study 7

Scope and Limitation of the Study ……… … ……… … 9

Definition of Terms ……….………… 10

II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE …… ….…… 14

Conceptual Framework ……… 44

Research Paradigm ……… 46

III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……… 48

Locale of the Study ……….… ……….… 48

Research Design ……… 48

Population and Sampling ……… 49

Research Instrument ……… 51

Data Gathering Procedure ……….…… 52

Statistical Treatment ……….… …….…… 54

vii

IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ………… ……… 59

V SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary ……….……….……… 88

Findings ……….……….…….…… 89

Conclusions ……… 91

Recommendations ……… 93

REFERENCES ……… ……….…….…….…… 95

APPENDICES ……….…… 104

A Letter to Conduct Study……….….… 105

B Questionnaire ……… 106

C Computations ……… … 111

D Plagiarism Check: Originality Report 135

CURRICULUM VITAE ……….…… 136

viii

1 Profile of Selected Universities under Study ……… 59

4 Factors Affecting the Lecturers’ Job Satisfaction as to

15 Results of Assessing Significant Difference as to the Type

16 Matrix of Components of the Enhancement Program …… 85

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IN SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

Name and Address

of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

City

This study was conducted to determine job satisfaction of lecturers in

selected public and private universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam It

investigated the demographic profile of respondents in terms of gender, age,

marital status, educational level, working experience Through 500 valid

respondents of the survey, the test results show that seven (7) factors such as

salary, promotion, supervision, colleagues, work itself, professional development, and fringe benefits had positive relationships with lecturers’ job satisfaction Of which, professional development is the element that has the

strongest influence on job satisfaction, followed by factors of salary, fringe

benefits, colleague, supervision, promotion and finally is work itself Satisfaction is also an indicator of lecturers’ commitment There is, however,

no difference between the level of job satisfaction of the respondents based

on different marital status In addition, there have the difference in job

satisfaction level of respondents based on gender, age, teaching experience,

xi

university managers in orienting strategic solutions for meeting the needs of

university lecturers, enabling them to be more dedicated and committed to the

workplace of the universities

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

Job satisfaction is frequently considered a main topic surveys on job

satisfaction relating organizational development and in many theories and

models (Judge & Klinger, 2008) Many researchers have discussed and

mentioned the importance of examining job satisfaction amongst employees

of different organizations Job satisfaction is an important element in human

resource management, helping employees to increase self-consciousness,

initiative and active dedication to fulfill their assigned tasks, thereby increasing

their benefits for the organization (Spector, 2008) The university that creates

the future employers of the country, where the motivation and satisfaction of

the instructor with the job will greatly affect the quality of the lecture, and the

quality of education, hence to find solutions to improve lecturer satisfaction is

very necessary

In Vietnam, education is always a top concern but current statistics show

that the universities are in general lack of skillful lecturers It difficult to recruit qualified lecturers but it’s harder to retain them However, the fact is that many young lecturers often do not continue teaching job or transfer to other

educational units One of the reasons is about income, which does not meet

their daily life, therefore, they do not satisfy with their organizational treatment

It is home to a large number of leading universities in economics, medicine,

tourism, law, fisheries and engineering with huge demand for lecturers to meet

training needs However, the fact that universities lack faculty, many high

quality human resources policies designed by schools to increase the number

and quality of faculty, but still seems not really effective

In addition, a significant number of lecturers who have been working at

universities in Ho Chi Minh City tend to go out of the industry or work in the

same field as they do outside The volume is not really stable Specifically, in

2016, the whole city had 546 trainers resigning, transferring jobs increased 30%

over the same period last year (City Department of Education, 2017)

Notably, 65% of trainers are trained in advanced countries such as

England, France, USA, New Zealand, and Japan The reason is that these

lecturers feel the pressure of learning, education and time while incomes do not

match their contributions In addition, university lecturers and intellectuals have

high level of professional knowledge, opportunities for job selection, and

sophistication in communicating behaviors, how to satisfy them In a balanced

relationship with the condition of the organization is very difficult (Hieu, 2013)

As a lecturer, a human resources manager at the university, I wish this

study was undertaken to evaluate the factors that impact on job satisfaction of

lecturers in private and public university in Ho Chi Minh City With the data

collected from sample surveys and through processing, statistical data

analysis, this study provides hope for the higher level of human resource

management in universities, academies insight into the factors that can bring

about job satisfaction for lecturers Since then, they have helped oriented

appropriate policies to use, and training plan to develop human resources and

stabilize university

Background of the Study

Job has a very important role in peopleˈs lives as job brings earning to people and they spend much at work According to Yoganandan and

Sowndarya (2015), people go to work for some reasons such as: getting

income, meeting people, obtaining training and promotion, having a suitable job, achieving benefits, etc People’s satisfaction at work is very important as positive feelings about a job can create greater satisfaction with their lives

Being happy and satisfied with job may lead people to be healthier

psychologically and physically

Spector (2008) specify that work could lead to happiness in lives, and therefore, psychologists and others who pay attention to people’ s happiness emphasize that high job satisfaction should be experienced Job satisfaction

concept has been largely mentioned since early twentieth century in order to

increase the productivity of employees (Baloch, 2009; Ghaffar, et al., 2013)

Job satisfaction can be important to employees and the organization as well

Nowadays, employees expect to be more satisfied with their work Most of

employees think that job satisfaction is a type of work motivation for their

current organization or their transfer to another company

Teaching is also a kind of job, and lecturers likewise work for their organizations, and therefore it’s essential to study lecturer satisfaction at work Lecturers play a very great role in creating and refining the intellectual capacity

of students The knowledge that the lecturer imparts and instills to the students

may decide the future of the students and future of the nation, as students are

the future citizens of the nations Lecturers are the people who help and create

the world for the students to develop into good citizens

Sometimes a lecturer feels stressful when s/he has to teach a lot,

unmotivated fringe benefits, less recognition, severe top down management,

ineffective working environment, less training opportunities, and so on In the

teaching and learning process, lecturers are the important person who may

motivate the learning process so the lecturer should be satisfied with his job as it’s the basic need in the job (Saleh & Qblan, 2015)

In any of the educational organizations, the educational goals and

objectives can be obtained only if the lecturers are satisfied with their teaching

job as when they are happy and satisfied at work they will have long-term

commitment with the organization and therefore they will be dedicated at work

Any organizations would need satisfied employees in order to obtain the

objectives It is important for any university to develop and obtain its strategic

goals and that can be done by attracting, retaining and maintaining competent

and satisfied employees into its organization The university is an organization

that provides manpower for national development thus university should

understand how to satisfy their lecturers

All over the world, universities are very important to the development of

countries as they provide employees for the countries A country whether

develops quickly or not depends largely on the expertise, the ability of the

employees graduating from universities

Job satisfaction is a complex concept because it is a worker's

psychological issue, which means that for different individuals there may be

different ways to satisfy It is a sense of personal acceptance toward a result

that has been achieved (Abadullah, 2008) Abadullah (2008) also researched

on job satisfaction in the aspect of the relation between what the organization

requires and what employees are looking for and about the relation between

what employees are looking for and what they actually do receive He laid

emphasis on the rate of job satisfaction is influenced by many factors relating

to the following factors, viz: personality, education, intelligence and abilities,

age, marital status and orientation to work; regulations and policies relating to

personnel matters, management and leadership styles, labor relations, the

nature of work, the organizational structure of management and working

conditions It is said that quality of teaching and learning can only be improved

if the lecturers are satisfied and content and the growth of an educational

organization is subject to the job satisfaction of its lecturers (Om, 2012)

In some recent years, some researches have studied job satisfaction

and dissatisfaction of lecturers universities in developed countries, not much

has done on job satisfaction of lecturers in the developing countries like

Vietnam Only some researchers study for the only one university such as Hieu

(2013) study in An Giang University and Nguyen Thanh Hoai (2013) research

lecturer satisfaction in Technology and Travel University in Viet Nam There

has no research conducting for a job satisfaction of group of universities in Ho

Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

On the other hand, as mentioned above, the reality is that universities in

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam are facing difficulties in satisfying employees,

making them not yet fully committed to the educational career of the university

This research was conducted with a view to identifying the causes of these

limitations by assessing the actual situation of the impact of factors on teacher

satisfaction The results of the study will hopefully help to propose a system of

programs that may improve the satisfaction of teachers, making them

comfortable with the working environment of universities and improving the

efficiency of labor management for universities in Ho Chi Minh City The results

of the study, in addition, add a theoretical basis for the impact of factors on job

satisfaction of teachers in a group of universities in Ho Chi Minh City It will

become the secondary data source for further researches in this field in Ho Chi

Minh City in particular and in Vietnam in general

Objectives of the Study

The study aimed to evaluate the job satisfaction of lecturers in selected

public and private universities in Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam

Specifically, it aimed to achieve the following objectives:

1 Describe the profile of selected universities in terms of the following:

2.5 Years of teaching experience, and

2.6 Highest educational attainment

3 Identify the factors affecting the job satisfaction of the respondents as to:

3.1 Salary,

3.2 Promotion,

Significance of the Study

The results of the study would be beneficial to the selected universities the local universities’ managers, to other researchers, and the researcher herself on the following respect:

Selected universities: This research is of practical significance to

highlight factors that university faculty consider important for job satisfaction

University managers will also find this research useful in improving the policy,

thereby improving the employee's morale and providing job satisfaction for their

employees A teacher who has achieved success in his or her job and is

well-suited to the needs of the workplace will be a dedicated employee who ensures

the effectiveness of his teaching and his commitment to work task In addition,

the study has proposed policies and strategies that can be applied in practice

to reduce job dissatisfaction among university teachers The results of this

study may help administrators make organizational or administrative changes that may lead to increase lecturers’ job satisfaction

Local universities’ managers Many studies have been done on faculty

job satisfaction in higher education, but no research has focused on lecturers

of group of university in Ho Chi Minh City This study adds to current lecturers’ job satisfaction literature by investigating the effect of salary, promotion,

supervision, colleagues, work itself, working conditions, fringe benefits,

professional development, gender, age, marital status, education level and

teaching experience on satisfaction levels of lecturers of group of university in

Ho Chi Minh City The results may also give ideas for of group of universities in

Ho Chi Minh City and local government in the efforts to recruit, promote and

retain lecturers by creating favorable policies and programs to increase the

supportiveness for the lecturers

Other researchers This study will also be helpful to lecturers who are

presently working in primary school will know about their job satisfaction

through this study The research framework constructed by the researcher will

be helpful for other researchers

The researcher herself As a manager, researcher and lecturer at the

university, after doing this research I look forward to finding the best solutions

to help improve staff satisfaction in our department As well as suggestions to

help managers and colleagues find the best solutions to improve satisfaction of

lecturers, improve quality of work, and enhance reputation of the school

Scope and Limitations

This study emphasized job satisfaction that may emerged as a result of

enhanced factors affecting job satisfaction The study is conducted in selected

public and private universities in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam Improved environmental and demographic factors may have an influence on employees’ job satisfaction, which may results in solid commitment among lecturers The

study focuses on finding the reasons for job satisfaction among lecturers and

determine whether there are relations between factors and job satisfaction and

job satisfaction and organizational commitment Recommendations were made

on how to improve the job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction decline among

the people in the survey

Job satisfaction included many factors but in this study only 13 factors

viz salary, promotion, supervision, colleagues, working conditions, fringe

benefits, work itself, professional development, gender, age, marital status,

education level, and teaching experience are measured In addition, job

satisfaction may have many consequences but in this study, the researcher

only covered organizational commitment as one consequence The responses

were retrieved from the lecturers one time The job satisfaction questionnaire

was constructed with the use of Likert scale and SPSS 20.0 Statistic software

No other method was used to construct the Job Satisfaction Questionnaire

The study was limited to 10 selected public and private universities in Ho

Chi Minh It also included the lecturers at 10 public and private universities and

lecturers in the academic year of 2014 to 2016 in the sample of the study The

time required to complete the survey was over 4 months (from June to October

2017)

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined conceptually and/or operationally:

Colleagues refer to those who may be sympathetic, helpful to other lecturers

and that may results in a good relation, collaboration, understanding and

communication among colleagues, on the other hand, colleagues many

also mean those who are unhelpful and do not co-operate with other

lecturers (Baloch, 2009) In this study, these are other lecturers who

work with lecturers in a similar position or in the same department

Enhancement program are developed based on factors presented to have a

great influence on the job satisfaction of universities’ lecturers in Ho Chi Minh City, which inluded system of solutions for improving weaknesses

and limitation in current policies, enhancing the lecturer's satisfaction

and their commitment to the working environment at the universities in

Ho Chi Minh City

Environmental Factors are factors concerned with working environment of the

universities The views and perceptions that employees have about

different aspects of the work environment explain in different ways the

impact and the degree of impact of the factors (Boey, 2010) In this study,

the environmental factors include salary, promotion, supervision,

colleagues, teaching equipment and materials, work characteristics,

fringe benefits, training and development opportunities

Fringe benefits are considered as retention factors affecting job satisfaction

Social benefits namely allowances for housing and transportation,

pensions, holidays, health insurance, and overtime payment affecting

employees' satisfaction in many different ways (Singh, 2010) It is a

bonus or occasional allowance such as welfare, lunch allowance, and

bonus for completing tasks

Highest education attainment refers to the degree the lecturer holds or the

degree obtained by the individual like that of, bachelor, and masters

degree, doctor degree or post- doctor degree

Job satisfaction can be measured through the contentment of the lecturers If

the worker is content with what he receives at his job, it is a positive

feeling, which means that the lecturer is satisfied with it (Carlan, 2007)

In this study, it is the feeling of the lecturers at work It can be positive or

negative thoughts towards the teaching job or the university

Organizational commitment is the desire to be a member of organization, the

willingness to accept the goals and values of the organization, the

willingness to make efforts to work for the organization

Professional development refers to ongoing program to enhance lecturers’

growth and to help lecturers to teach better Professional development

creates the educational opportunities such as workshops, seminars or

training courses (Chen, 2008) This factor considered the encourage

from universities to bring chances and moneytary support for their

lecturers to take part in the training courses, conferences or workshops

and chances to apply new knowledge or teaching methods at work

Promotion is the chance for lecturers to get promoted to higher position or the

situation of pushing a lecturer up the organizational hierarchy (Choi &

Tang, 2009) The assessment on promotional factors from lecturers of

the study related to the contributional recognition, chances, criteria, the

fairness of promotional policies of universities

Private university is a higher education institution belonging to the national

education system, which means enrollment and training have to be in

accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training of

Vietnam A private university is established by a person/organization by

their own fund

Public university is a higher education institution that is invested in funds and

facilities (land and buildings) and operate primarily with the public

financial resources, non-profit contributions, other than private colleges,

are funded by contributions from students, clients, and donations

Salary refers to the amount paid by the school or the government to lecturers

at the end of each month for their regular duties (Bakotic, 2013) In this

study, assessment about salary factor from lecturers is measured by

statements such as if the amount of monthly paid is reasonable or not,

and is it enough for their living demand in comparison with their efforts

and qualifications at work

Supervision refers to how the supervisor treats the lecturers as to praises,

giving advice, instructions, way to work with lecturers, understanding of the nature of the lecturers’ work (Denizer, 2008) The measurement also

considered the relationship between superviors and lecturers of

universities in terms of communication, support, feedback and fairness

of treatment among lecturers from supervisors

Teaching experience refers to the number of years the lecturer has served as

a lecturer

Working condition is the availability of the basic infrastructure like the school

buildings, space, proper ventilation, furniture, teaching and learning

materials, conditioners, overhead projectors for the lecturer to plan and

work, and games and sports facilities (Duong Quang Minh, 2013)

Work itself refers to actual characteristics of job in the view of the employees

Employees tend to prefer jobs with higher opportunities to use their skills

and abilities, self-determination, and feedback on how well they are

doing Other may prefer jobs with many challenges, which create better

performance and recognition The staff exposed satisfaction with the

motivational elements such as growth, responsibility, achievement,

advancement and recognition from work (Freund, 2015) In particular, in

the area of higher education, the characteristics of the work are directly

related to the use and development of academic specialization,

communication with students and practical research in applied science

Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents literature on job satisfaction, a comprehensive

insight into job satisfaction, the measurements job satisfaction, which decide the reasons for lecturers’ satisfaction, and the factors having different effects

on lecturers’ job satisfaction The consequences of the job satisfaction, which explain organizational commitment are also presented

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction concept has been defined by different researchers

worldwide in different perspectives According to Lin (2012), job satisfaction is

an important factor of productivity (Lin, 2012) It is a positive, happy emotional

state through the evaluation of one's work experience The definition of job

satisfaction allows the measurement to be made when a person feels satisfied

about his or her job Machado-Taylor, Meira Soares and Gouveia (2010) refer

satisfaction to specific outcomes, such as performance and productivity and at

present, there are many studies on factors affecting job satisfaction in higher

education institutions in developed countries.


In the research by Lambert, Pasupuleti, Cluse- Tolar and Jennings

(2008), Job satisfaction is explained as positive emotional state of a person

involved in the job Job satisfaction can be affected by a lot of factors, such as

relationship between teacher and their supervisor, the work environment and

the level of performance of the instructor Job satisfaction means the

contentment at work It is the personal appreciation of the job conditions with

the following features: job itself, the organizational policy and administration,

wages, occupational security etc (Khalid, 2010)

Another definition of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction is as individual

degrees of a positive or negative affective orientation with work orientation

(Chen, 2008) Job satisfaction is viewed as the result of comparison between

the expectations of employees from their work and the response that their work

can bring Results appear in two states that are satisfied or dissatisfied when

desired to meet or not When employees' expectations are not met, employees

feel unhappy, resulting in reduced productivity and commitment to work and

organization (Denizer, 2008; Daneshfard & Ekvaniyan, 2012)

Other authors argue that job satisfaction should be the general attitude

of workers in workplace Satisfaction is the result of a number of motivations at

work such as: work attitude, working conditions, attitudes toward the

organization, physical benefits and attitudes towards their supervisors There

are three types of explanations for the different perspectives in defining the job

satisfaction of employees as follows:

The first reason explained by the factors of personality of the employee

and the relationship is established when evaluating the job and the expected

benefits that the job brings While psychological factors have some influence

on job satisfaction, such an explanation is incomplete without considering the

relation between job satisfaction and characteristics The second explanation

is about the attitude considering job satisfaction in terms of differences in the

nature of job that the people do This explanation talks about work role

characteristics and job satisfaction and effort to set up a causal relation The

third explanation is that satisfaction is not only a function of the objectivity of

the work; it is also the motive of individual, in which the degree of satisfaction

meets the personal needs This explanation of job satisfaction is a

multi-dimensional system of factors related to three groups: attitudes, values,

creative thinking opportunities, problem solving, money wages, hours worked,

benefits, organizational environment, etc

For Latif (2011), job satisfaction is simply an employee's emotional

orientation to one's job In other words, it is a person's emotional response to

the job they are doing that results from comparing the results to what they are

expecting According to Chen (2008), job satisfaction describes the feelings,

attitudes or preferences of individuals involved in their work

In this study, the author uses the concept, job satisfaction is the

satisfaction of the employee on factors of work environment and conditions viz

salary, benefits, welfare, colleagues, promotion opportunities, Leaders and

superiors, that have a positive impact on the psychology and thinking of the

workers so that they feel happy and relaxed and show a positive response to

their work aspects

Many studies have studied the relation between job satisfaction and

organizational performance, and employee motivation (Singh & Tiwari, 2011;

Bakotic, 2013) They have found that job satisfaction has positive effect on both

individuals and organizations Researchers concluded many possible

consequences of job satisfaction such as: organizational commitment, and

citizenship behavior; job performance; job involvement, withdrawal behavior,

namely, absenteeism, and actual turnover (Latif, 2013) In Vietnam, Many

researchers found that, if the employee satisfy with their job, they willing to try

their best for task completment event working all the time (Lan, 2008) The

employees who are highly committed to the organizations may experience

higher levels of job satisfaction Freund (2005) found that hat job satisfaction

was a significant predictor of organizational commitment

Measurement of Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is a psychological concept that would in fact appear

difficult to measure According to Usha Rani (2013) job satisfaction might be

decided through personal interaction or through other available information with

regard to resignations, productivity, absences, lateness, reports by the

employees who had been interviewed and talked about leaving their job,

accident reports, and suggestions and training registers

Analyzing Job Satisfaction Phenomena: The methods analyze

phenomena representing level of job satisfaction among employees Some

study phenomena like absence or sick leave Some researchers explain that

we may foresee the factors that motivate employees to continue with or leave

their jobs This way of measurement has advantages and disadvantages (cited

following Fang-Mei Tai, 2014)

Herzberg’s Way Story Approach: Herzberg evaluated the level of job

satisfaction to conclude that the factors that lead to satisfaction or

dissatisfaction may differ However, some researchers have stated that this

study suffers from a lack of objectivity (Ryan E Smerek, 2007)

Interviews and Questionnaires: Face to face formal or informal,

structured or unstructured, interviews are used to measure job satisfaction This

kind of method is effective with a small sample and it a flexible and appropriate

way to get more information Observation is another way to study job

satisfaction and each way has its advantages and disadvantages Another

method is the questionnaire, with a rating scale approach carefully designed to

study many previous studies This method has advantages and disadvantages

such as: acceptable level of reliability, less time consuming, limited facets The

factors of most scales are general, so they will not include more specific areas

that might be covered in interviews or other methods (Spector, 2008)

The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ): The Minnesota

satisfaction questionnaire was created by Weiss in 1967, which, has 20 factors,

such as ability utilization, achievement, advancement, authority, policies of

companies and procedures, colleagues, independence, job security,

recognition, supervision, working conditions and so on.
The advantages of this

method are that it obtains an individual picture of employee job satisfaction, as

well as providing an accurate measurement of job satisfaction with a lot of

workplace factors One disadvantage of MSQ is that it takes a long time to

prepare

The Job Descriptive Index (JDI): The JDI, which was launched by

Smith, Kendall and Hulin in 1969, carries many facet scales in organizational

research This measurement assesses five facets: work, colleagues, pay,

supervision and promotion Each facet scale has a brief illustration and is

followed by the items that concern that facet This method has some criticism

such as the limitation of the scale In addition, particular items may not apply to

all employee groups.
 There are many tools available to measure the factors

of job satisfaction in which Smith's 1969 job description index (JDI) refers to

five aspects of job performance such as job type, salary, promotion, superiors

and colleagues

The Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS): Spector developed the job

satisfaction scale by Spector in 1985 The nine aspects of job satisfaction are

assessed: wages, promotions, supervisory management, welfare, ire- rial

rewards, working conditions, co-workers, the nature of work and

communication JSS also assesses overall satisfaction The scale includes 36

items and uses a rating scale format, which is the most popular for job

satisfaction scales

The Job in General Scale (JIG): JIG assesses overall job satisfaction

This scale was developed by Ironson et al in 1989 JIG has the same format as

JDI It contains 18 items; each one is concerned with the job in general rather

than facets of it Although there are many scales in many studies, the

researcher believes that there is no best way to measure job satisfaction and

each measure has its own advantages and disadvantages

Theories of Job Satisfaction

There are many doctrines of job satisfaction Job satisfaction is a very

multifaceted concept without any single conceptual model that can be

structured quite accurately In 1911, Frederick W Taylor created the Scientific

Management School, a theory that focused primarily on material motives, but

did not consider the human aspects of job satisfaction He adds that many

studies show more than just the explanatory factors for job satisfaction In 1935,

Hoppock was the first author to undertake in-depth analysis of job satisfaction

His research underscores the significance of studying the emotional state and

attitudes of employees to their work (cited after Kispal Vitai, 2016)

There are two theories to job satisfaction, namely: content theory and

process theory Content theory explains the factors that affect job satisfaction

and the process theory explains the process in which factors such as

presumption, needs and values, factors relating to the characteristics of work

has influence on job satisfaction Both of these theories explain human

behavior and workplace efforts (Robinson, 2008)

Content Theory For Locke (1976) “content theories attempt to specify

the particular needs that must be satisfied or the values that must be attained

questions like: "What human needs should be met?" Content theories suggest

that management can decide the needs of workers via behavioral observation

in the workplace and thereby predict behavior by anticipating demand their

Consequently, these content theories suppose that the manager's job is to

develop a working environment that reacts positively to the needs of the worker

(cited following Kispal Vitai, 2016)

Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory In 1954, Maslow demonstrated a

System of Human Demand in Ranks from Low to High, in a gradual trend, by

his view that human needs are not the same and they should be placed at

different levels according to a hierarchy of the importance of those needs

Based on this demand hierarchy, Maslow defined a demand pyramid of five

levels The lowest level of demand pyramid is the basic needs of physiology,

safety needs, the need for love, the need for respect, and the need for personal

expression is the highest level The working principle of this demand hierarchy

is that if the demand at each lower level is not satisfied, until it is met, it is difficult

to better meet the needs of the higher ones When low demand is satisfied, it

is no longer a motivation or fulfillment (cited after Fang-Mei Tai, 2014) These

levels of demand can be explained as follows:

Physiological or basic needs: The basic human psychophysiological

demand is explained as the lowest level of demand, which must be met to

ensure existence in life as the need to eat and sleep In Maslow's view,

lecturers only care about their higher needs when their basic needs are met

When the basic needs are met in a reasonable way, this satisfaction will

motivate to trigger the demand at the next level

Safety or security needs: When individuals are significantly satisfied with

their basic needs for survival, the need for safety leads to direct behavior,

meaning that the needs include being protected and safe from danger, be free

and avoid painful injuries or threats of physical attack, medical needs and

treatment (Amos et al., 2008) Amos and colleagues pointed out that in a

university, the need for safety is not only shown in the need for financial

certainty but also in the way of being treated fairly by superiors, working

conditions safety, security benefits and job security policies

Love or social needs: Boey (2010) suggested that in an educational

organization, the need for love and social interaction is the need for lecturers of

respect, and help stemming from the relationship between individuals and

colleagues, their superiors, students and teachers If the teachers have a

perception of belonging to a school, this will lead to satisfaction of their social

needs When teachers engage in school activities, and especially when

engaged in decision-making, it develops perception of belonging toward

institution Communication process between faculty members, teachers and

students are effective, and teachers create better performance at work

Esteem or ego needs: This demand shows at two levels: the need to be

loved by others, respected through their own achievements, and the need to

feel, respect themselves, the reputation of I have self-esteem, confidence in

ability Responding and meeting this need can make a child learn more

positively, an adult feels more free (Amos et al., 2008) For work, a demand is

expressed in the form of salary increases for work achievement, recognition of

superior and in the form of authorization and promotion

Self-actualization needs: This is the peak demand of the Maslow ladder

It is the need to express ourselves, to assert ourselves in life, to live and work

in passion and to devote ourselves to humanity or a community To put it simply,

this is the need to use all of our potential, to assert ourselves, to work, to

achieve social results

In conclusion, according to Maslow's demand theory, human needs

consist of five levels, however, for lecturers, it is necessary for them to be

satisfied at basic levels in order to create highly productive in their work Most

universities need to meet their basic needs Satisfaction is essential to the

motivation of the lecturers (Marwan Saleh Al-Smadi, 2015) Maslow's demand

theory is particularly suited to lecturers in low-income countries, especially in

developing countries (Akyeampong & Bennell, 2007)

Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory: According to Herzberg from

1966, the factors, which create job satisfaction, were separate and distinct from

factors that led to job dissatisfaction The factors that lead to the job satisfaction

are individual and not related to the factor that causes job dissatisfaction

Managers, therefore, seek to reduce the elements that can lead to job

dissatisfaction that can bring certainty but are unlikely to give motivation to

work They will placate the workers rather than motivate them Thus,

characteristics such as company policy and mechanism, supervision, human

relations, working conditions and wages are considered by the elements of

conditionality When fully assured, people will not be dissatisfied; and they are

not satisfied If we want to motivate people in our work, Herzberg suggests

emphasizing achievement, recognition, job itself, responsibility and promotion

These are the characteristics that people see as "reward" inside (Ryan E

Smerek, 2007)

Motivators or intrinsic factors: These are factors creating satisfaction,

achievement, recognition of the work, the responsibility and the function of

promotion This is the basic requirement of the employees when joining the

work The characteristic of this group is that if it is not satisfied, it leads to

dissatisfaction, if it is satisfied it will have a motive effect A teacher who is not

recognized for his or her performance at school will not necessarily be

dissatisfied with teaching or even quit their job, except for being provided good

earning and good relation with co-workers In teaching, internal factors play an

important role in motivating individuals to participate in professional field (Jyoti

& Sharma, 2009)

Hygiene or maintenance factors: These are factors that affect working

environment of the employee, corporate governance policies, wages, work

instructions, relationships with people, and working conditions These factors,

when well-organized, are effective in preventing dissatisfaction with the work of

the workers (Amos, et al., 2008; Ellsworth, et al., 2008) For an instructor, when

they feel that their salary is not high, not worth the effort they spend, they will

be dissatisfied, however, if the school improves their wages at acceptable

levels This is not synonymous with job satisfaction Likewise, when trainers

think their working conditions are good, it does not mean they are always

satisfied at work Adopting and promoting these factors does not mean

increased job satisfaction, but it is only effective in reducing or eliminating

dissatisfaction

Process Theories: Process theories talk about how the behavior is

developed, directed and maintained Process theories include the two famous

theories such as: Adams’s equity theory and Vroom's expectancy

Adam’s Equity Theory: The equality theory states that the workers

compare what they put into a job (input) to what they get from that job (output)

and then compare the input-output ratio of them with input-output ratios of

others If their rate is equal to the rate of others, then there is a fair balance If

this rate is not equal, then they think there is an unfair situation When

conditions of injustice exist, employees will work to fine-tune them, which

means that the way people are treated at worked directly affects their behavior

and attitude toward work (Fang-Mei Tai, 2014)

Equity theory identifies that people not only pay attention to the entire

amount of rewards they are given for their efforts, but also the relationship

between mass that with what others get Inputs such as effort, experience,

education and talent are compared with outputs such as wages, salaries,

recognition and other factors When people perceive there is a difference in

their input-output ratio compared to others, there will be some tension This

tension set up the ground for motivation, as people try to get what they consider

fair and satisfactory (Spector, 2008) When employees are aware of an

injustice, they will take actions to correct this situation The result may be higher

or lower productivity, better or reduced quality, increased absenteeism, or

voluntary resignation

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory: Victor Vroom's theory is that people will be

motivated to perform tasks to obtain a goal if they think of the value of that goal,

and they can see that the work will help them achieve that goal According to

this doctrine, motivation is the function of individual expectation, a certain effort

will result in a certain achievement, and that achievement may result in the

desired results or rewards Specifically, the human needs are perceived to be

the behavior of the person, the act of motivating a task is progressing well if

one perceives the positive relationship between the effort and achievement

Promoted behavior continues to increase if there is a positive correlation

between good performance and special results or awards if the result or award

is highly valued Therefore, there are three promoting behavioral enhancement

relationships that are a positive relationship between effort and achievement, a

positive relationship between good job performance and reward and

achievement The results or rewards are appreciated

Locke’s Value Theory (Goal setting and commitment): This theory holds

that individual goals help explain ones’ motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity In this theory, when an individual realizes that his or her personal

goals are being taken care of by managers, that goal accomplishment can be

achieved then the result is that their commitment and productivity increase,

leading them to be more satisfied with their work (Badenhorst, et al., 2008)

There are a lot of studies on the lecturer job satisfaction in different

countries around the world Research on this theme has been carried out over

the years Most of the studies were in developed countries, such as the UK,

Canada and the USA In developing countries, many researches have done on

this the subject to understand the factors affecting job satisfaction

Saba (2011) carried a research on satisfaction among academic staffs

of Bahawalpur Colleges in Pakistan and to investigate the factors that affect to

job satisfaction The research indicates that teachers of the colleges tends to

be happiest with work itself, paying policies, working conditions, job security

and colleagues, but less satisfied with promotion opportunities of the colleges

Azumah (2017) examined university staffs’ job satisfaction at Sunyani Technical University Using ordinary least square method (OLS), the results of

the study revealed that staffs are satisfied with job satisfaction and elements of

salary and workload are the most satisfied factors In addition, the findings of

research indicated that management of higher institutions should consider the

findings in motivating performance of staff from a better quality service because

they are first members in dealing with new students of community

Dabre (2012) carried research on job satisfaction for the teachers in

academic organizations in Cyprus, India by using expert system The study

made framework model included factors related to salary, work itself, working

condition, promotion, job security, co-workers Using expert system method,

studies found out that system generates satisfaction results on factors of job

relation, working environment, policy, motivation, performance and appraisal

Boeve (2007) carried out a study of job satisfaction of the lecturers at

Faculty of Education of Physician Assistants in medical schools in the United

States using theory and Herzberg's two-factor Theory and JDI by Smith,

Kendall & Hulin The factors of job satisfaction were divided into two groups:

intrinsic factors including work itself and promotion and extrinsic factors

including salary, support from superiors and relationships with colleagues The

objective of this study was to test the validity of the two theories The results of

correlation analysis of five JDI factors and job satisfaction showed that work

itself, relationships with colleagues and promotion are most strongly correlated

with job satisfaction while the support of the superiors and pay have weak

correlation with job satisfaction of lecturers The study revealed that beside the

five factors in JDI, teaching experience is an important factor, the result of the

study is that the longer the lecturers work for the Faculty, the more they feel

satisfied

Pan (2012) used study job satisfaction of employees in Northeastern

Region of China The study was carried with a sample of 1500 teachers of six

universities in Shenyang, China by several scales like Minnesota Satisfaction

Questionnaire (MSQ), perceived organizational support (POS), psychological

capital questionnaire (PCQ-24), and effort-reward imbalance scale (ERI) In addition, the research worked with questions about respondents’ demographic and working factors The findings suggested that turnover intention, chronic

disease and occupational stress all had negative affect to job satisfaction,

meanwhile factors of perceived organizational support, higher income and

psychological capital is positively associated with job satisfaction of teachers

Khalid (2012) used JDI and Herzberg's two-factor Theory to assess job

satisfaction among academic staff of public and private sector universities of

Punjab, Pakistan The study showed that lecturers of private schools were

satisfied with their pay, supervision and promotion and while lecturers of state

schools felt satisfied with colleagues

Nadim (2012) conducted a study on the impact of internal and external

motivation factors on teacher satisfaction in public colleges of Punjab, Pakistan

There were 406 respondents from public colleges in Punjab The model

analyzes the impact of internal factors such as opportunity to develop work

skills, opportunities for promotion, and participation in decision-making and

self-control The model also analyzes the impact of external motivational factors

such as wages, relationships with older people, working environment, reward,

feedback) on teacher satisfaction in schools The findings confirm that there is

a significant relationship between internal motivational factors and job

satisfaction at public colleges in Pakistan

Saifuddin (2012) surveyed 218 university lecturers from the province of

Khyber Pakhtun, Pakistan The study researched six environmental factors

including: salary, work, supervision, promotion, colleagues, environment and

demographic factors as follows: designation, qualification, length of service,

age, department, marital status, and gender The researcher studied relation

between the above- mentioned factors and lecturers’ job satisfaction and commitment The findings show positive consequences between pay, work,

supervision, promotion, colleagues and environment and job satisfaction and

commitment

Saba (2013) carried a study on Job Satisfaction Level of the Academic

teachers of Public and Private Universities of Punjab, Pakistan Researchers

showed that adequate pay, job security, appropriate working conditions, high

career advancement, and job characteristics have positive effect on the job

satisfaction at work of the lecturers at both public and private universities in

Pakistan After having done the research, the researcher has made some recommendations as follows: lecturers’ compensation packages must be revised according to their work performance and level of expertise and

qualification They must be provided with equivalent chances of promotion

subject to their desires and level of efforts in achieving these and the researcher

also finds that unfair promotions or non-transparent and illegal promotions

cause dissatisfaction among lecturers Proper facilities must be provided in

universities such as: building infrastructure, latest technology for teaching, and

other resources to make teaching easier and more effective to facilitate

lecturers to have quality education

Al-Smadi (2015) carried a study in Najran University, Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia They found that the factors of working environment, financial support,

psychological and social aspects and interpersonal communication generated

staffs satisfaction Besides there are statistically significant differences by

demographic profiles of respondents in terms of gender, teaching experience

and college type

Ghaffar, et al (2013) carried a survey with academic staff in the Islamia

University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan This study examined the impact of job

security, payment, coworkers and promotion on job satisfaction It concluded

that the most important factor is payment, followed by security, promotion and

ultimately coworkers

Yoganandan and Sowndarya (2015) had a study on satisfaction among

200 respondents in engineering colleges in Namakkal district, India Their study

focused on factors of payment, promotion opportunities, security, working

conditions, relationship between workers and fringe benefits The study results

supported other findings in the relationship between experience and level of job

satisfaction of the faculty members

Tai and Chuang (2014) carried a study to understand the satisfaction

among staff of public and private universities in Taiwan and the difference in