International Journal of Arts & Sciences,

CD-ROM. ISSN: 1944-6934 :: 4(25):279–285 (2011)

Copyright c 2011 by InternationalJournal.org

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AND JOB

SATISFACTION AMONG THE TEACHERS OF PUBLIC AND NON-
PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN TEHRAN

Narges Hasanmoradi
Islamic Azad University-North Tehran Branch, Iran

This study aims at the investigation into the quality of work life (QWL) and job satisfaction
(JS), among the teachers of public schools (PS) and non-public schools (NPS) of secondary
education in Tehran. Teachers were randomly selected from three major fields including
science, mathematics and humanities. Data were collected by two questionnaire of QWL and
JS. The collected data were analyzed by using pearson correlation and independent t-test. The
findings indicate:

1) The teachers of both PS and NPS are in relative unfavorable condition of QWL,
but they enjoy a fairly high level of JS;
2) There is a positive and significant relationship between QWL factors and JS; and
3) There is a significant difference in the level of QWL and JS among the teachers of
PS and NPS.

Key words: Quality of work life, Job satisfaction, Job satisfaction of teacher , Quality of work life of
teacher.

INTRODUCTION

In its broadest sense, QWL means the sum total of values, both material and non-material,
attained by a worker throughout his career life. QWL includes aspects of work-related life such
as wages and hours, work environment, benefits and services, career prospects and human
relations, which is possibly relevant to worker satisfaction and motivation. In fact the notion of
QWL is closely related to the quality of life concept. Parallel concept such as humanization of
work is also used. In Europe, the usual expression is “improvement of working conditions”,
“working environment”, “democratization of workplace” while in the socialist countries, the
term is “workers protection” and in the case of Japan, similar concepts of hatarakigai and ikigai
are used.
Many employees today are spending more time in the workplace in response to job
insecurity, workplace demands, perceived career needs, financial pressures, and so forth. To a
large extent, the rise in working hours has been greatest among members of dual-earner and
dual-career families where both husbands and wives work. The quality of life for the working

279
280 Narges Hasanmoradi

population has been conceptualized as derived from satisfactions experienced through having a
good job and a good life.
The term QWL was introduced in the late 1960s as a way of focusing on the effects of
employment on health and general well-being and ways to enhance the quality of a person’s on
the job experience. QWL is much broader and more diverse than organizational development, in
ensuring adequate and fair compensation, safe and healthy working conditions, opportunities for
personal growth and development, satisfaction of social needs at work, protection of employee
rights, compatibility between work and non-work responsibilities, and the social relevance of
work-life (Walton, 1975).
Meaningful and satisfying work is said to include: (1) an opportunity to exercise one’s
talents and capacities, to face challenges and situations that require independent initiative and
self-direction (and which therefore is not boring and repetitive work); (2) in an activity thought
to be of worth by the individual involved; (3) in which one understands the role one’s activity
plays in the achievement of some overall goal; and (4) take pride in what one’s doing and in
doing it well. This issue of meaningful and satisfying work is often merged with discussions of
job satisfaction, however, the author believed this favorable estimate to QWL instead.
There are three distinctive elements of QWL related interventions: (1) a concern about the
effect of work on people as well as organizational effectiveness, (2) the idea of worker
participation in organizational problem solving and decision making, and (3) the creation of
reward structures in the workplace which consider innovative ways of rewarding employee input
into the work process such as gain sharing, etc (Lawler, 1982). In the 1980s, emphasis was
increasingly placed on employee-centered productivity programs. In the mid 1990s till today
faced with challenges of downsizing and corporate restructuring, QWL is reemerging where
employees are seeking out more meaning where rising educational levels and occupational
aspirations in today’s slow economic growth and reduced opportunities for advancement,
naturally, there are rising concerns for QWL and for career and personal life planning.
Most people want to improve their performance on the job, to receive constructive
suggestions regarding areas they need to work on, and to be commended on their job well done.
Thus, employees during their career will like to experience growth and development, a sense of
where one is going in one’s work life. QWL encompasses the career development practices used
within the organization such as placing clear expectations on employees on their expectations
and succession plans. QWL is linked to career development and career is evolving from such
interaction of individuals within the organizations.
Job satisfaction is defined as a positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's
job situation and is linked with the characteristics and demands of one's work (Evans, 2001).
People’s work-related satisfaction consists of achieving change and improvement, and promoting
their growth which have important implications on teachers' behaviours at work affecting their
desire to continue their work and their involvement in the job, and relationship with other staff
(Ratlif, 1988; Dinham & Scott, 2000).
These are significant predictors of job satisfaction: the level of interactions with students and
colleagues, professional challenges, working conditions which include salary and opportunities
for advancement, school structure, administration, such as large classrooms, lack of resources,
educational policies and procedures, and job security (Arches, 1991; Jones, 1993). According to
Crane and Iwanicki (1986), associated with teachers’ work environment, balanced work load,
relations with co-workers, personal factors, salary and benefits, professionalism and their cultural
background of teachers affect their job satisfaction. In Dressel’s view (1982), job dissatisfaction
is caused by inadequate work conditions. If teachers have feeling overloaded in inadequate
 Relationship between the Quality of Work Life and Job Satisfaction Among.... 281

working conditions they feel that they have lack of power, isolation from peers, and lack of
collegial support (Blandford, 2000).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

1) Is there any significant difference between teacher's Quality of Work Life in public and non-
public schools?
2) Is there any significant difference between teacher's Job Satisfaction in public and non-public
schools?
3) Is there any significant correlation between teacher’s Quality of Work Life and Job
Satisfaction?

METHODOLOGY:

The data used in this research were collected from the self-administered questionnaire sent to a
stratified random sample of teachers in public and non-public schools) of secondary education in
Tehran (IRAN).
The research reported in this article involved two stages. The first stage involved the initial
design and pilot testing of a preliminary questionnaires of QWL and job satisfaction with a
sample of teachers (n = 35). The second stage involved administering revised questionnaires to a
stratified sample (n = 362) of teachers in 18 public schools and 10 non-public schools. Letters
requesting participation and prior approval via phone were sent to 28 schools with approximately
812 teachers. A total sample of 425 was chosen, giving a response rate of 85 percent.
Confidentiality was maintained by the completed questionnaires being separately returned in
sealed envelopes. 425 sets of questionnaires were distributed. After several reminders had been
issued, responses for 362 members of the sample had been received three to four weeks after the
initial dispatch of the material. All the respondents were Iranian.
The average old of respondent was 43 years (in PS 45.5 years and in NPS 37.8 years), 85%
were married, and 76% worked about 30-40 hours per week and the rest, more than 40 hours.
Respondents had worked an average of 20.5 years (SD = 5.48) in their career with a minimum of
1 year and a maximum of 37 years. The average of work experience in PS was 21.7 years and in
NPS was 18 years. The majority, 57.5% were male.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS:

The QWL scale was adapted from theoretical framework of the study of Walton (1975) and
QWL Index for healthcare providers by Labiris, Petounis, Kitsos, Aspiotis, and Psillas (2002).
The scale reflects the respondents’ perceptions of QWL in terms of Adequate and Fair
Compensation , Safe and Healthy Working , Continued Growth and Security,
Constitutionalism in the Work Organization, Social Relevance of Work life, Total Life Space,
Social Integration in the Work Organization, Human Progress Capabilities.
A five-point response scale is used with 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest for QWL
scales as this multipoint scale yields more data variability and are recommended in model
development with increased variance and better chances of demonstrating covariance among key
variables. Internal consistency reliabilities reported to range from a high of .86 to a low of .79
and it implied that the items making up the scale were relatively consistent.
282 Narges Hasanmoradi

The Job Satisfaction Survey [JSS], which was developed by Hackman and Oldham (1974),
was used as the instrument to measure the teachers' job satisfaction level. This instrument
consists of 14 items and is designed to measure one dimension of job satisfaction. The
frequency scale ranges from 1 (never satisfied) to 5 (strongly satisfied); (high score = high
satisfaction). The JSS has a reported internal-consistency that ranges from 0.71 to 0.85.

ANALYSIS

To be able to answer the research questions 1and 2 Independent t-test was used and for research
question 3 Pearson Correlation’ was used because it helped to describe the linear relationships
between two variables. For the analysis, the data were entered into computer and then, the data
were analyzed using the Statistics Package for Social Scientists Program [SPSS 10.0].

RESULTS

1) Is there any significant difference between teacher’s Quality of Work Life in public and non-
public schools?

To answer this question firstly QWL of teachers was assessed based on QWL components. And
then t.test was employed for comparison of two groups as shown in Table one.
Table 1 – QWL of teachers in PS and NPS.

PS( n=244) NPS(n=188)

‫ ه‬ Question
M SD M SD
AFC 5 10/51 3/27 16/23 2/95
SHW 3 9/62 2/15 10/37 1/84
CGS 3 8/11 2/91 8/71 1/87
CWO 6 19/26 3/78 17/80 3/21
SRW 3 9/34 2/45 11/21 1/95
TLS 5 10/38 3/15 16/52 2/53
SIW 4 12/00 2/88 13/11 2/15
HPC 3 8/27 2/78 10/54 2/42
Total(QWL) 32 87/50 14/25 104/48 8/67
AFC= Adequate and Fair Compensation SHW= Safe and Healthy Working
CGS= Continued Growth and Security CWO= Constitutionalism in the Work Organization
SRW= Social Relevance of Work life TLS=Total Life Space
SIW= Social Integration in the Work organization HPC= Human Progress Capabilities

As shown in Table one, the QWL mean for PS teachers was 87.5 (55%) and for NPS teachers
was 104.48 (65%) out of 160.Except of CWO in other QWL components ,the mean score of NPS
teachers was higher that of PS teachers. SDs of NPS teachers were lower than those of PS
teachers. Similarly t.test was used for comparing two groups. (Table 2)
 Relationship between the Quality of Work Life and Job Satisfaction Among.... 283

Table 2 – Comparing of means of teacher's QWL in PS and NPS.

Components Mean Difference t Sig(2 Tailed)

AFC 5/72 11/92 0/024
SHW 0/75 1/13 0/217
CGS 0/60 0/826 0/335
CWO -1/46 5/37 0/043
SRW 1/87 5/94 0/041
TLS 6/14 15/74 0/012
SIW 1/11 3/82 0/047
HPC 2/27 6/40 0/034
Total(QWL) 16/98 32/17 0/000

As shown in Table two there was significant difference between PS teachers and NPS teachers in
term of QWL. However there were significant differences between two groups regarding CGS
and SHW.

2) Is there any significant difference between teacher’s Job Satisfaction in public and non-
public schools?

To answer this question firstly job satisfaction of teachers was assessed based on JS components.
And then t.test was employed for comparison of two groups as shown in Table three.
Table 3 – Teacher's satisfaction in PS and NPS.

PS(n=244) NPS(n=118)
Components Questions
M SD M SD
Resources 3 10/18 2/35 13/83 2/13
Climate 4 17/33 2/95 18/25 1/78
Relationship 4 16/62 3/18 17/89 2/22
Environment 3 9/74 3/39 13/60 2/27
Total(Js) 14 53/87 6/54 63/57 4/76

As shown in Table three, the JS mean for PS teachers was 53.87 (77%) and for NPS teachers was
63.57 (91%) out of 70. The mean scores of NPS teachers in all JS components were higher that
of PS teachers. SDs of NPS teachers were lower than those of PS teachers. Similarly t.test was
used for comparing two groups. (Table 4)
Table 4 – Comparing of means of teacher's JS in PS and NPS.

Components Mean t Sig(2 Tailed)

Difference
Resources 3/65 3/92 0/014
Climate 0/92 1/73 0/066
Relationship 1/27 1/99 0/047
Environment 3/86 4/87 0/028
Total(Js) 9/ 7 17/5 0/000
284 Narges Hasanmoradi

As shown in Table three there was significant difference between PS teachers and NPS teachers
in term of JS. However there were significant differences between two groups regarding
organizational climate.

3) Is there any significant correlation between teacher’s Quality of Work Life and Job
Satisfaction?

To answer this question firstly correlation between quality of work life and job satisfaction of
teachers was assessed and then the correlations of two groups were analyzed based on school
type ( PS or NPS ).Result of these analysis were shown in Table 5 :

Table 5 – Correlation between QWL and JS of PS teachers and NPS teachers.

Sig
(r2) Correlation(r)
0/000 0/61 0/78 Total (n=362)
0/000 0/58 0/76 PS Teachers ( n=244)
0/000 0/69 0/83 NPS ( n=118)
Teachers

As shown in table 5 there was a positive and significant correlation between two groups totally
and based on type of school too.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings, the Quality of Work Life of teachers was at the average level and not so
good (93 out of 160 – 58%).The QWL indicator in non-public schools was higher than in public
schools and was statistically significant.
In other hand the job satisfaction of teachers was fairly good (57 out of 70 – 81%) and there
was significant difference between groups.
The correlation between QWL and JS both totally and based on school type (PS/NPS) was
positive and significant (Total = 78% PS = 76% NPS = 83%).

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