Demographic Factors and Job Satisfaction of Malaysian Chinese Independent School Teachers

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Christina Ong Sook Beng
Siah Poh Chua
Tan Swee Mee

Abstract

The aims of this study are to identify the dimension of job satisfaction among Chinese independent school teachers and to explore the association between demographic factors and their job satisfaction. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 121 teachers from five Chinese independent schools. They were requested to fill out demographic information and a job satisfaction survey. Findings showed that job interest and working environment are the main dimension of job satisfaction that Chinese independent school teachers are satisfied with. It was found that years of teaching is positively associated with job satisfaction, whereas income is negatively associated with job satisfaction. Further analysis suggested that: (i) those with administrative position and with more years of teaching experience are positively associated with job satisfaction in terms of reward; (ii) higher income is negatively associated with working environment, salary and benefits and workload; (iii) age is positively associated with workload and interest in job. This study implied that better monetary compensation and salary scheme should be drafted to enhance Chinese independent school teachers’ job satisfaction.

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