An Analysis of Selected Factors Related to Job Satisfaction as Determined by a Survey of Business Teachers Employed in Utah Public High Schools

Origin and nature of the problem Work is an important aspect of the total life experience. It has been estimated that man spends a total of one-third of his waking hours each week engaged in some type of work. As an important aspect of life in our culture, satisfying work contributes to man\u27s sense of general well-being and feeling of personal worth. Work that is not personally satisfying tends to have the opposite effects. (25, p. 329) The above quote, taken from Siegel\u27s Industrial Psychology, discusses an important problem in this age of technology--job satisfaction. Several personal characteristics have been identified as affecting job satisfaction. Chief among these are sex, age intelligence, experience and personal adjustment (25, p. 344). Morse makes the statement, There is some evidence indicative of increased job satisfaction with increased employee age (20). This is due to the fact that the older an employee becomes, the more resigned he becomes to his job. He realizes that there is no place else to go. Also, at an older age, lack of opportunity for advancement and low salary are of less importance because the employee is not raising a family. Younger employees who are raising families do feel the need for advancement and higher salary, thus they experience a feeling of discontent. Do these theories hold true for teachers fall when first hired, it seems especially important that this question be answered. One of the mandates subscribed to by writers in men\u27s magazines such as Playboy is that women are using jobs as hunting preserves for future husbands and are therefore not subject to the same intrinsic job dissatisfactions as men. Leading feminists such as T. Grace Atkinson, Gloria Steinem and Betty Freidan disagree with this position, however, and say that women are equally as aware and conscious of feelings of job dissatisfaction as are men. What do the working women themselves say bout their feelings of job satisfaction? In looking at the large number of female high school business teachers currently employed, their responses would be quite timely. What part does experience play in feelings of job satisfaction? one professor at a leading Western university made a statement that the job loses its spice after a few years of experience. This same professor felt that staying at the same place of employment over a great period of time was not appealing and that a change very few years would be challenging and keep job satisfaction alive. IF this position is one commonly held by high school teachers, it would seem to have many ramifications for teacher placement personnel. Perhaps teachers of the future would be shifted around every two years automatically to avoid job stagnation. Just how much a part is played by experience in keeping a teacher alive and on his toes would seem a vital statistic for hiring boards to have at their fingertips. Just as some students abhor English and excel at math, there seem to be teachers quite adept at teaching shorthand who shiver with apprehension each time it is their turn to teach business English. Does the subject matter a teacher is called upon to instruct have any effect upon his satisfaction with his job? If so, it would be to the benefit of the personnel department to assign teachers to classes that they enjoy teaching, thus ensuring permanency within the ranks