Job satisfaction among Secondary School Teachers: The Role of Gender and Experience

Abstract

The paper investigates the association between individual characteristics and teacher job satisfaction in secondary education in Cyprus. It focuses on two individual characteristics commonly linked to job satisfaction in the literature, namely, gender and years of experience. A short version of a questionnaire previously employed by Dinham and Scott was administered to a sample of secondary school teachers. The use of factor analysis resulted in the identification of the following seven factors which represent different aspects of job satisfaction: School Climate, Key Stakeholders, Support and Training, Participation in School Management, Student/School Progress, Professional Development and Employment Terms. Experienced teachers report significantly higher job satisfaction on two of the identified dimensions (Key Stakeholders and Participation in School Management). The differences between men and women are not significant on all dimensions of job satisfaction, pointing to the absence of a link between gender and job satisfaction.