Int. J. Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, Vol. 5, No.

4, 2019 433

Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction:

a mixed methodology approach

Zeeshan Iqbal*
Department of Commerce,
Bahauddin Zakariya University,
Multan, Pakistan
Email: [email protected]
*Corresponding author

Aisha Sami
Department of Psychology,
Bahauddin Zakariya University,
Multan, Pakistan
Email: [email protected]

Abstract: Education is the backbone of every country and it plays significant

role in sustainable economic development. For establishing knowledge based
economy, teachers play key role. This study aimed to investigate the factors
that affect the job satisfaction of the teachers in Pakistan. The researchers
employed mixed methodology, where questionnaire based survey and semi-
structured interviews were conducted to yield the data. Furthermore, structural
equation modelling was applied to test the hypothesized relationships. The
results revealed that job security, salary, relationship with colleagues and
relationship with management are the key determinant of job satisfaction. In
addition, researchers noted that most of the teachers from private schools are
dissatisfied from their jobs due to unsecured job and low salary package.
Further, the teachers from government schools have unhappier relationships
with management, while fruitful relationships with colleagues. Moreover, the
research implications, limitations and directions for future research are also
discussed.

Keywords: teachers; job satisfaction; secondary schools; mixed methodology;

Pakistan.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Iqbal, Z. and Sami, A.

(2019) ‘Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction: a mixed methodology
approach’, Int. J. Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, Vol. 5,
No. 4, pp.433–449.

Biographical notes: Zeeshan Iqbal has completed MPhil Commerce in

Business Management and MCom from the Department of Commerce,
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan-Pakistan. He has won two best
research paper awards during second-SME-2017 and third-SME-2018
(international) conferences organized by Small and Medium Enterprises
Development Authority (SMEDA), Pakistan. His main research interests are
consumer behaviour, S-D logic, co-creation behaviour, organizational
behaviour, technology management, mobile marketing, internet banking,
sustainable development and sustainability reporting.

Copyright © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

434 Z. Iqbal and A. Sami

Aisha Sami has completed Master of Science in Applied Psychology from the
Department of Psychology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan-Pakistan.
She has completed BEd degree from Allama Iqbal Open University,
Islamabad-Pakistan. She has more than two years teaching experience at
secondary school level. Her main research interests are individual’s behaviour
and technology management in education sector.

1 Introduction

In the current era, many teachers especially from private schools have faced stressful
working conditions (Dawn et al., 2017) from occupational situations such as lack of
student discipline, lack of administrative support, and lack of resources. Tye and O’Brien
(2002) have pointed out that an increased workload coupled with large class sizes was
contributing to veteran teachers leaving the field. Furthermore, Hamann and Gordon’s
(2000) study concurred with Atkins (2003) findings, “Heavy workloads along with
inappropriate budgets, long hours, and difficult students contributed to teacher stress as
much as external pressures” (Hamann and Gordon, 2000, para. 12). In brief, these
stressors lead to burnout (Hamann and Gordon, 2000). Hamann and Gordon (2000)
further explained their definition of burnout: the dissatisfaction in one’s job conditions
that leads to lack of productivity. Moreover, improvements in teaching conditions were
matched by “increased student achievement and making teaching more rewarding.”
Many researchers claimed that job burnout is an important construct (Ford et al., 2019;
Gharakhani and Zaferanchi, 2019).
Mayo (1930) was the first to be credited with starting the movement on studying job
satisfaction. Through the Hawthorne studies, Mayo (1930) solidified the importance of
understanding employees’ needs and wants in order to increase profits. Maslow’s (as
cited in Huitt, 2001) studies on human motivation and job satisfaction led him to develop
the theory of human motivation. Although Mayo (1930) identified the importance of
management in considering employee’s needs, Maslow was able to define what each
need was (as cited in Lindner, 1998). In fact, Maslow defined these needs into five levels.
As a result, the significance of Maslow’s theory of motivation lies in the fact that
according to Maslow, “employees had five levels of needs: physiological, safety, social,
ego, and self-actualization” [Lindner, (1998), para. 3].
Gawel (1997) stated that human motivation and job satisfaction studies were mostly
based on general business practices. Moreover, Gawel (1997) suggested that teachers’
views and feelings towards motivation and job satisfaction did not necessarily follow the
generality proposed by the theories.
In Pakistan, mostly teachers of private schools leave their existing jobs and move to
other schools or institutions due to significant job pressure, job insecurity, low salary, and
all these elements lead towards job dissatisfaction (Suleman et al., 2018). In Pakistan, it is
the need of an hour to satisfy their teachers and other employees in order to achieve
superior educational quality and to achieve the Pakistan Vision 2025 and sustainable
development goals (SDGs). Therefore, this study was conducted to analyse the factors
that influence the job satisfaction level of teachers in Pakistan at secondary school
located in district Khanewal.
 Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction 435

2 Review of literature

2.1 Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction is defined as the positive or negative feelings and judgement that
employees have about their job/ work (Weiss, 1999). Similarly, Skaalvik and Skaalvik
(2010) defined teacher job satisfaction as teachers’ affective reactions to their work and
their teaching role.
The satisfaction of a teacher with his/ her job is highly important for the effective
student learning as numerous researchers claimed that highly satisfied teachers are more
productive (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2010, 2011). The teachers may be satisfied with some
aspects of the job such as job security, rewards and other financial benefits, and may not
be satisfied with other aspects such as relationship with management, workload, pressure
from top management, etc. In this research, researchers are interested to investigate those
factors which are closely associated with the job satisfaction of the teachers. In the
context of education sector, job satisfaction is an important construct and still hotcake for
researchers (Jiang et al., 2019; Soto and Rojas, 2019).

2.2 Factor affecting teachers’ job satisfaction

2.2.1 Job security
Job security is defined as “a psychological state in which workers vary in their
expectations of future job continuity within an organization” [Kraimer et al., 2005,
p.390]. Job security is an important determinant of job satisfaction. Numerous researchers
including Kraimer et al. (2005) and Loi et al. (2011) have focused on the job security of
employees. The higher the job security, the higher will be the job satisfaction. In current
era, organizations are now focusing on the job security of employees by offering them
permanent job and after retirement benefits. The businesses think that by offering a
secured job, they can reap maximum productivity from their employees and can will the
trust and higher job satisfaction of employees.

2.2.2 Salary
How much is a teacher worth? According to Ingersoll (2001), a teacher’s salary can be a
determining factor to staying or leaving the profession. Ingersoll’s (2001) “revolving
door” to teacher turnover is based on his studies on teacher turnover and shortages (p. 3).
Furthermore, Ingersoll’s study (2004) analysed the major problems certain school
systems are having in recruiting qualified teachers. Some of those problems indicated
factors such as low salary, discipline problems, and lack of faculty control among the
major factors affecting teacher attrition (pp.13–15).
Allegretto et al. (2008) highlighted, “public school teachers earned considerably less
than comparably educated and experienced people and less than people in occupations in
similar educational and skills requirements such as accountants, reporters, registered
nurses, computer programmers, members of the clergy, and personnel officers” (para. 2).
According to See (2004) teachers enter the profession not with the aspirations of making
large sums of money, but with the aspirations to make a difference and to teach. See’s
(2004) study compared teachers, potential teachers, and other professions and found that
436 Z. Iqbal and A. Sami

teachers’ and potential teachers’ top reason to enter the profession was to share their
knowledge of learning, while salary was a distant number.
The reverse was true to others who saw salary as a major motivator. Metz (2008)
emphasized, “teachers did not expect to become rich, but did expect to be fairly
compensated” (p.1). In fact, Viadero (2008) sided with See’s (2004) study’s conclusion
that Viadero’s own findings found that those that remain teaching do not necessarily do
so because of salary, but because of positive working conditions.
So why would teacher salary and pay be of importance? According to Metz (2008)
teachers should be paid comparable to other professions in the same field. Based on
Herzberg (as cited in Leach and Westwood, 2000) hygiene and motivator theory, pay and
salary are a motivator, only a temporary fix if hygiene factors such as working conditions
are not addressed. See (2004) suggested salaries are at least an attractor to more highly
qualified candidates who may not have considered teaching otherwise. Attracting them
would provide a more diverse and qualified pool of teachers.

2.2.3 Relationship with management

According to Telljohann (2005) the relationship with management is determined by the
quantity, quality and timeliness of the information processes, on the one hand, and by the
presence or absence of consultation processes on the other. In every field including
education, the good relationship of employees with the other administrative as well as the
senior management of the organization is very important. As the good relationships are
more productive in terms of work efficiency, work effectiveness, timely communication,
goals achievement and job satisfaction. For example, if the management has week
relationship with employees, the management will not timely communicate the
information to their employees, this will ultimately lead towards non-productive work
environment and job dissatisfaction.
The flow of relationship in as organization has two sided:
1 flow from upward to downward
2 flow from downward to upward.
For a successful organization, the application of two sided relationship flow is very
necessary. The relationships can be made productive through regular discussion with all
employees. Especially in education, when the management (principal, vice principal,
program coordinators) regularly conduct meeting with teaching staff, this will develop a
sense of emotional attachment in teaching staff with their senior management. Therefore,
for high level of job satisfaction, good relationship with management is highly important.

2.2.4 Relationship with colleagues

Unlike most professions in which collaboration and teamwork are not only encouraged,
but also vital, such as doctors, nurses, and lawyers, teaching presents itself as an
inherently isolated profession (Loeb et al., 2004). Except for the organized team of
teachers in most middle schools, the team concept is rarely observed in elementary or
high schools (Loeb et al., 2004). Kopkowski (2008) further described how new teachers
are the most affected by the isolation. “When they arrive, they often encounter an
isolated, everyone for themselves work environment vastly different from the
 Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction 437

collaborative school of education or student teaching environment they just left”

[Kopkowski, (2008), p.22].
Collaborative teaching environments can have an effect on teacher job satisfaction
and the decision of a teacher to stay or leave the profession. At the same time, the
opposite can be true; a negative relation with co-workers was found to be a factor when
considering leaving the profession by 15% of respondents (Loeb et al., 2004) study.
Viadero (2008) stated the importance of a positive environment of co-workers in their
desires to stay. “Another key to high-quality working conditions is collegiality – the
opportunity to work with a group of motivated colleagues rather than toil in isolation”
(para. 35). Furthermore, McClure (2008) suggested that positive co-worker relations
along with collaboration within schools benefited the teachers, students, and schools.

2.3 Development of research hypotheses and research model

Based on the basis of above discussed literature, the researchers developed the following
research hypotheses and constructed the following research model (see Figure 1).
H1 The job security has significant effect on job satisfaction of secondary school
teachers of Pakistan.
H2 The salary has significant effect on job satisfaction of secondary school teachers of
Pakistan.
H3 The relationship with colleagues has significant effect on job satisfaction of
secondary school teachers of Pakistan.
H4 The relationship with management has significant effect on job satisfaction of
secondary school teachers of Pakistan.

Figure 1 Research model

Job security H1

Salary H2

Job satisfaction
H3
Relationship with colleagues
H4
Relationship with management

Furthermore, researchers also constructed the mathematical model [equation (1)], where
 and  are the coefficients of regression line and u is the error term.
JSAT    1 JS   2 Salary  3 RC   4 RM  u (1)

where
JSAT job satisfaction
JS job security
438 Z. Iqbal and A. Sami

RC relationship with colleagues

RM relationship with management

3 Research methodology

This study used quantitative and qualitative research approaches for investigating which
factors affect the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers of private and government
schools of Khanewal. The interviews were conducted with the secondary school teachers
of District of Pakistan, namely as Khanewal. Based on the analysis of the literature
review, the methodology was developed relevant to the study’s focus.

3.1 Research design

The study is based on both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Gay and
Airasian (2003) described quantitative research as an appropriate methodology because it
allowed the researchers to “collect and analyse numerical data from questionnaires, tests,
checklists” (p.8). Since a statistical analysis (descriptive statistics and structural equation
modelling) was conducted, further, a qualitative approach was also applied by conducting
interviews with the secondary school teachers in order to measure the effect of factors
that affect the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers of Khanewal.

3.2 Population
The population of study was the school teachers working at government and private
schools at district Khanewal-Pakistan. The researchers used convenient sampling method
to collect the data through survey questionnaires and to conduct semi-structured
interviews with the teachers. The total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, however,
435 were correctly responded. Further, 14 semi-structured interviews were also
conducted about the study variables.

3.3 Instrument development

Mudgil et al. (1991) created the teacher job satisfaction survey (TJSS); the creation of
this instrument was originally designed specifically for the human service industries. The
75-item scale assesses the teacher job satisfaction in the industries of education. The
TJSS is a norm-measured instrument having specific norms for each of the industries
including education. However, in current study, the instrument measures four facets as
each relates to job satisfaction and based on 20 items (see Table 1):
 salary
 job security
 relationship with colleagues
 relationship with management.
The study is based on both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. A survey
questionnaire was distributed, and semi-structured interviews were conducted in this
 Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction 439

study to collect the data. Participants were asked to complete a brief 5–15-minute
self-administrated survey.
The survey was based on the TJSS (Mudgil et al., 1991). The TJSS is a quantitative
instrument (see Table 1). The survey and interviews included the questions related to
possible factors that affected the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers,
specifically with context to Pakistan. The primary variables of the study included job
security, salary, relationship with colleagues and relationship with management. Also, the
survey was used to gather demographic data such as age, gender, government or private
school, total monthly income, total years of teaching experience, marital status and total
family members of the respondents.
Table 1 Teacher job satisfaction survey

Constructs No. of items Adapted from:

Job security 5 Mudgil et al. (1991)
Salary 5
Relationship with management 5
Relationship with colleagues 5
Job satisfaction 5 Weiqi (2007), Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2011)

3.4 Data collection

First, permission was obtained by contacting each school system (private and
government). Second, upon each school system’s approval for this study, the researcher
contacted the school teachers within the district. The final approval had to be granted by
the principals from each school within district. Third, once permission was granted by the
principal, the researchers conducted self-administrated survey by using printed
questionnaires. Participation of the study was strictly voluntary. For participants to take
part in the study, they simply had to agree and begin answering the survey’s questions.
Participants could stop answering the survey questions at any time, however, the survey
took approximately 5–15 minutes to complete. If a survey was not completed, the results
were discarded and considered invalid for analysis.
Gall et al. (2003) suggested that good care must be taken in order to protect
participants’ identity. This study is based on volunteer participants. In addition, the study
carried no risks or harm to its participants. Participants’ names and any identifiers were
not on the survey questionnaire and the researchers kept all information confidential
including responses of the study. The data was encrypted and was stored for the purposes
of the study.

4 Data analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate which factors affect the job satisfaction of
secondary school teachers. Two sets of variables were analysed: job satisfaction variables
and demographics variables. The job satisfaction variables included job security, salary,
relationship with colleagues and relationship with management. The instrument used to
analyse the job satisfaction variables was the TJSS (Mudgil et al., 1991). Furthermore,
440 Z. Iqbal and A. Sami

the demographic information includes the age of respondents, gender, government or

private school, total monthly income, total years of teaching experience, marital status
and total family members of the respondents.
The data collected from self-administrative survey was transferred into Excel sheet
for data analysis through SPSS and SmartPLS software. The SPSS program allowed the
performance of various empirical tests including descriptive analysis. Descriptive
analysis of data included the demographic analysis in which the frequencies and
percentages were calculated. Furthermore, proposed hypotheses were tested through
SmartPLS software. The researchers applied PLS-SEM approach for hypotheses
testing. The reliability and validity of the data were also assessed through
SmartPLS. Numerous researchers have used this approach for data analysis (Hassan et
al., 2017, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c) due to its ability to examine multiple relationships
simultaneously.
The respondents of the study were school teachers working at private and government
schools at secondary level in district of Pakistan, namely as Khanewal. A
self-administrated survey was conducted. A total of 500 survey questionnaires were
delivered. Out of the 500 survey questionnaire, 435 were correctly completed. Since the
missing data was key in the analysis of the study, incomplete surveys were considered
invalid. As a result, the responding population was 87% or 435 out of the 500 distributed
questionnaires. Consequently, the data analysis and results were based on the 435
completed and valid survey responses.

4.1 Demographic analysis

Table 2 represents the results for the demographic analysis. The total respondents of this
survey were 435 and from which male participants were 151 and hold 34.71% while the
female participants were 284 and hold the 65.29%.
The age of the overall respondents ranges from 20 years till 55 years approximately.
The demographic analysis revealed that 219 participants were from the age group of
21–30 years old and grasped the 50.34%, 119 participants were from 31–40 years, 81
respondents were from the age group of 41–50 years old and more than 50 years old
respondents were only 16 and hold 3.68%.
The sample of this study contained the respondents (i.e., teachers) from both type of
schools (government ownership and private ownership). From 435 respondents, 306
respondents were from private schools and 129 respondents were from government
schools.
The researchers also assessed the total monthly income of the respondents
in Pakistani currency ‘Rupees’. The results revealed that 203 participants have
the monthly income between 15,000–25,000 rupees, 87 participants have the
monthly income between PKR 25,001–PKR 35,000, 113 participants earn between
PKR 35,001–PKR 45,000 and remaining 32 participants earn more than 45,000 rupees
per month (see Table 2).
Table 2 also sums up the analysis of the respondents’ teaching experience. The results
showed that 235 participants have the experience range from 1–5 years and sustain
54.02%, 68 participants have the experience range from 6–10 years and sustain 15.63%,
55 participants have the experience range from 11–15 years and sustain 12.64%, 48
participants have the experience range from 16–20 years and sustain 11.03% and
remaining 29 participants have the experience of more than 20 years and sustain 6.67%.
 Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction 441

Table 2 Results for demographic analysis

Items Responses Frequency Percentage

Gender Male 151 34.71
Female 284 65.29
Total 435 100.00
Age of respondent 21–30 years 219 50.34
31–40 years 119 27.36
41–50 years 81 18.62
More than 50 years 16 3.68
Total 435 100.00
Sector Private 306 70.34
Government 129 29.66
Total 435 100.00
Monthly income PKR 15,000–PKR 25,000 203 46.67
PKR 25,001–PKR 35,000 87 20.00
PKR 35,001–PKR 45,000 113 25.98
More than PKR 45,000 32 7.36
Total 435 100.00
Teaching experience 1–5 years 235 54.02
6–10 years 68 15.63
11–15 years 55 12.64
16–20 years 48 11.03
More than 20 years 29 6.67
Total 435 100.00
Marital status Single 155 35.63
Married 280 64.37
Total 435 100.00
Family members 1 – 3 members 139 31.95
4 – 6 members 209 48.05
7 – 9 members 87 20.00
More than 9 members 0 0.00
Total 435 100.00

Furthermore, the marital status of the respondents was also assessed. The results revealed
that total respondents of this survey were 435 and from which single participants were
155 and hold 35.63% while the married participants were 280 and cover the 64.37%
respondents of the total sample.
Moreover, Table 2 also shows the analysis of the respondents’ total family members.
Results showed that 139 respondents have the family members range from 1–3 and
occupy 31.95%, 209 respondents have the family members range from 4–6 and occupy
48.05%, 87 respondents have the family members range from 7–9 and occupy 20% of the
total sample and no respondent has more than nine family members.
442 Z. Iqbal and A. Sami

4.2 Testing the reliability and validity

The score of Cronbach’s alpha was utilized to assess the reliability of the data. All
variables must hold more than 0.70 score of Cronbach’s alpha in order to meet the
reliability criterion (George, 2011). The results showed that the score of Cronbach’s
alpha ranges from 0.754 (salary) to 0.912 (job security), hence all variables meet the
reliability criteria.
Table 3 Results for reliability and validity analysis

Variables Cronbach’s alpha Factor loadings

Job security (JS) 0.912 JS1 = 0.879
JS2 = 0.890
JS3 = 0.895
JS4 = 0.823
JS5 = 0.814
Salary 0.754 Salary1 = 0.837
Salary2 = 0.850
Salary3 = 0.635
Salary4 = 0.703
Relationship with colleagues 0.815 RC1 = 0.708
(RC) RC2 = 0.718
RC3 = 0.754
RC4 = 0.820
RC5 = 0.788
Relationship with management 0.841 RM1= 0.804
(RM) RM2 = 0.821
RM3 = 0.763
RM4 = 0.799
RM5 = 0.723
Job satisfaction (JSAT) 0.891 JSAT1 = 0.755
JSAT2 = 0.812
JSAT3 = 0.918
JSAT4 = 0.811
JSAT5 = 0.872

Furthermore, the factor loadings were used to assess the validity of the items of all
constructs. Here the items mean the questions which were used to measure a construct.
For example, JS1, JS2, JS3, JS4, JS5 were used to measure the construct, namely as ‘job
security.’ The threshold criterion is that all items must hold more than 0.60 factor loading
(Hair et al., 2016). The item(s) which does not meet the threshold criterion, were
removed from the study. In this study, all items of each construct meet the validity
criteria except one item of salary viz., salary5 ‘Teaching profession acknowledge and
reward the hard and dedicated work.’
 Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction 443

4.3 Testing the hypotheses

The path coefficients and t-values were used to assess the significance of tested
hypotheses. The score of path coefficients shows the magnitude of relationship between
variables and the sign associated with the score of path coefficients shows the direction of
relationship. Furthermore, t-values were used to assess the significance of relationships.
The t-values were interpreted along the following criterion:
 When t-value= 1.96, the p-value will be less than 0.05.
 When t-value= 2.58, the p-value will be less than 0.01.
 When t-value= 3.31, the p-value will be less than 0.001.
The results showed that hypothesis 1 is significant at 0.001 level of significance, while
hypothesis 2, hypothesis 3 and hypothesis 4 are significant at 0.05 level of significance
(see Table 4).
Table 4 Results for hypotheses testing

Hypothesis no. Relationships Path coefficients Std. deviation T values

H1 JS  JSAT 0.360 0.112 3.214**
H2 Salary  JSAT 0.167 0.085 1.965*
H3 RC  JSAT 0.153 0.073 2.096*
H4 RM  JSAT 0.213 0.105 2.029*
Notes: JS = job security, JSAT = job satisfaction, RC = relationship with colleagues,
RM = relationship with management, *t = 1.96, p < 0.05 and **t = 2.58, p < 0.01
Furthermore, the predictive power of the overall model was assessed through
R-square. The value of R-square shows how much independent variables predict the
dependant variable i.e. job satisfaction. The results show that all variables (job security,
salary, relationship with colleagues, relationship with management) jointly predict 64.6%
to the job satisfaction (see Table 5). The score of R-square is interpreted along following
criteria:

 when R-square = 0.19, the value will be considered as weak

 when R-square = 0.33, the value will be considered as moderate

 when R-square = 0.67, the value will be considered as strong (Henseler et al., 2009;
Hair et al., 2016).
The results are graphically presented in Figure 2. In Figure 2, the circles represent the
variables, rectangles represent the items of the variables and arrows represent the
relationship between variables.
Table 5 Predictive power of the model

Construct Value of R2 Interpretation

Job satisfaction 0.646 Moderate
444 Z. Iqbal and A. Sami

Figure 2 Graphical representation of SEM results (see online version for colours)

5 Discussion and conclusions

Teachers’ roles have become increasingly more complex with the expansion of their
workload requirements, expectations, and class size. Studies have suggested that many
educators are overburdened and their working conditions may lead to job dissatisfaction.
The reality of the situation is that teacher job dissatisfaction can lead to attrition and may
result in the shortage of school teachers (Marshall, 2004; Ingersoll, 2006; Ash, 2007).
Ingersoll (2001, 2006) argues that a disproportionate number of teachers are leaving the
profession.
This research focused on investigating which factors affect the job satisfaction of
secondary school teachers of district Khanewal-Pakistan. The empirical results revealed
that job security is highly associated with the job satisfaction of the teachers ( = 0.360,
t = 3.214, p < 0.01). In addition, three teachers were interviewed regarding the job
security. Two of them belonged to the private school and the rest one was from the
government school. The interviewee teacher who belonged to a government school and
was teaching there from the last ten years, she said:
“I feel very secure about my job because even after the retirement I will have
the pension and this was the reason that I decided to choose government
sector.”
The second interviewee teacher also belonged to the government school. She was married
and has 1 child. She said:
“I got the desired job like I always wanted to do some government job. There
are many benefits of government job including good salary, increments and
especially the job security”
The third teacher was from a private school and she was teaching there from the last 4
years. She mentioned:
 Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction 445

“Even though I have provided my services to this school for the five years, still
I’m not secure about my job that any mistake or blunder will result in the
termination from the job. I have seen 2, 3 cases of termination in the school
when administration put aside all the services and work of the guilty person and
terminated him.”
Hence, researchers concluded that the job security has major influence over the job
satisfaction level. However, the private schools should offer more secured job offerings
in order to deliver good services to community.
Furthermore, the results also disclosed that salary has positive association with the
job satisfaction of secondary school’s teachers ( = 0.167, t = 1.965, p < 0.05), hence
proved hypothesis 2 of this study. In addition, four teachers were interviewed regarding
their salary in the respective schools. Three of them were belonged to the private school
while the one was from the government school. In an interview, the teacher from one
private school said:
“I can leave this job for the sake of higher salary as it is getting difficult for me
to manage my budget in this amount of money”
The second teacher was also from the private school and she was married too. She said:
“If school has provided yearly based increment or some kind of bonuses only
then there is a chance of staying here on long term basis. The low wages are
insufficient to maintain the family expenses because I have 3 kids and all are
school going now.”
The third teacher was also belonging to a private school of Khanewal district and was
quite young and had joined that school before two months only. She mentioned:
“The work which is taken in this institution is far more than the money they
pay me in return and if the situation remains same, I am planning to switch to
some other school.”
The fourth teacher belonged to a government school and she said:
“The salary I get from the government school is sufficient to maintain my
family according to my status.”
Hence, researchers concluded that for private schools, the salary has major influence over
the job satisfaction level of private school teachers and has less influence over the job
satisfaction level of government schools’ teachers.
Moreover, the results of this study revealed that relationship with colleagues is
positively and significantly associated with the job satisfaction of the teachers ( = 0.153,
t = 2.096, p < 0.05). In this regard, three teachers were interviewed. Two of them were
belonged to the private school and one was from the government school.
The first teacher was from a private school. She was quite young and she said:
“I have been working here from the last three months and the staff here is very
cooperative. I share my problems with them and they always guide me
properly.”
The second teacher was also from the private school. She said:
“The teachers here are being very helpful here even they are willing to help for
the completion of task.”
446 Z. Iqbal and A. Sami

The third teacher was from a government school and she was teaching there from last 8
years. She mentioned:
“No one here is reliable because everybody is mean to one another. Nobody
admire your efforts if you try to do any.”
This implied that for government as well as private schools, the relationship with
colleagues has major influence over the job satisfaction level of both sector.
Finally, the empirical results disclosed that relationship with management is
positively and strongly associated with the job satisfaction of the secondary school
teachers in Pakistan ( = 0.213, t = 2.029, p < 0.05). In semi-structured interviews, three
teachers were interviewed regarding their relationship with management and its
association with their job satisfaction. Two of them were belonged to the private school
and one was from the government school.
The first interviewer who belonged to a government school said:
“The management is not very cooperative and even in case of emergency you
are bound to abide by the rules set by the policies of the government.”
The second interviewee teacher was from a private school. She was working there from
two years. She mentioned:
“I have always found the administration and management very supportive and
helpful. It listens to the problems and tries its best to guide us according to it
even to solve them also.”
The third interviewee teacher was also from the private school and she said:
“Whenever I feel some difficulty I go straight to the head teacher for assistance
and never get disappointed.”
This implied that fruitful relationship of teaching staff with their management is highly
important for sustainable development. The educational institutions should deeply focus
on all the investigated factors (job security, salary, relationship with colleagues and
relationship with management), as collectively they showed a good predictive power, i.e.,
64.6%.

5.1 Directions for future research

Although this study has highlighted factors that affect the job satisfaction of secondary
school teachers of private and government schools located in Khanewal, further research
in this topic is recommended. Four recommendations can be made for further research.
First, further research is recommended by conducting the same study, but with a
larger sample of participants. A larger pool of participants may help achieve statistically
significant results. Second, conducting a qualitative study portion of this research would
help further explore the why of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among the secondary
school teachers of private and government schools located in Khanewal.
Third, investigating if there are job satisfaction differences among private and
government school teachers would benefit further exploration of the variables and
investigating if the different nature of schools (private and government) show different
levels of job satisfaction. A fourth recommendation would be to investigate if job
satisfaction varies with the subject of teachers such as math, physics, chemistry, english,
biology, etc.
 Factors affecting the teachers’ job satisfaction 447

5.2 Conclusions
This study showed that job security, salary, relationship with management and
relationship with colleagues have positive influence over job satisfaction of secondary
school teachers of private and government schools located in Khanewal.
Additionally, the survey also concluded that the teachers who are married and have
larger family are more worried about salary and job security. Furthermore, it was also
discovered that young teachers have more cooperative relationships with each other,
rather than the relationship between older teachers. In addition, the teachers who have
high monthly income are more satisfied with the job and have less intention to leave the
job. Besides that, the age group has also influence over the job satisfaction, for example,
in survey it was analysed that young teachers showed more intention to leave the job if
they found any better opportunity in terms of job security and salary. So, the higher
management schools should always focus on the needs of their existing staff in order to
provide them higher job satisfaction and to retain them.

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