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‘bv1531uJ RETURNING MATERIALS: PIace in book drop to LIBRARJES remove this checkout from J-nnzyuz-L your record. FINES wiII be charged if book is returned after the date stamped beIow. A STUDY OF JOB SATISFACTION AS PERCEIVED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN KUWAIT By HASSAN ABDUL-HUSAIN SAFAR A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Educational Administration July 1987 © Copyright by HASSAN ABDUL-HUSAIN SAFAR 1987 ABSTRACT A STUDY OF JOB SATISFACTION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN KUWAIT BY Hassan Abdul-Husain Safar The purpose of this study was to find out the level of satisfaction as perceived by secondary school principals with their jobs in terms of selected needs fulfillment in the State of Kuwait. The study employed the cross-sectional survey method to answer the following research questions: 1) What is the perceived level of satisfaction of secondary school principals with their jobs in terms of selected personal and professional needs fulfillment? 2) Do the perceived levels of satisfaction of secondary school principals in terms of selected personal and professional needs fulfillment vary with their sex, age, marital status, number of children, nationality, educational area, educational system adopted in the school, number of students, highest degree held, country of highest degree earned, length of administrative experience as a principal, and length of experience as a principal at the present school? The population for this study consisted of all the secondary school principals in Kuwait. Since the pepulation was not very large, the data was collected from all the secondary school principals. A questionnaire was designed, developed and validated for the purpose of collecting data Hassan Abdul-Husain Safar from all 113 principals. Copies of the final questionnaires were sent to the respondents with a cover letter. The rate of return of completed questionnaire was 100%. To analyze the data ANOVA, Scheffe post hoc test, means, frequencies and percentages were used. Major findings of this study show that the highest level of satisfaction was associated with prestige, colleagues’ relationships, and recognition. The medium level of satisfaction involved five needs, namely autonomy, development and advancement, decision-making involvement, superiors’ relationships and job security. The lowest level of satisfaction was expressed by the respondents with regard to salary. The findings also indicated that the levels of satisfaction differed significantly in relation to salary, job security, recognition, and decision-making involvement. The findings of this study can be profitably used by the Ministry of Education of Kuwait to manipulate factors to increase productivity and efficiency of secondary school principals. DEDICATED TO MY MOTHER, FATEMAH (1920 - 1948) an I! ‘1 Prl ". I. i (ll ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this research would not have been possible without the contributions from a number of people. First of all, I would like to express my thanks to Dr. John H. Suehr, my guidance committee chairman, for hisd guidence, support and cooperation in completing this dissertation. Thanks are also extended to the members of my advisory committee: Drs. Ruth H. Useem, Ben A. Bohnhorst and Louis G. Romano for their inputs, encouragement and support during the course of this study. A deep sense of appreciation is expressed to Dr. M. Noorul Hussain for his professional help in designing, organizing, and editing this dissertation; and to Dr. James McComb for his assistance in analyzing the data of this study. Appreciations are also extended to Drs. Ali Al- Hajjaj, Ali Askar, Iesa M. Jasem, Mohammad Jawad Ridha, Yahia A. Ahmad, Misbah Haj-Issa, Mohammad S. Al-Mohaini, Qasem A. Al—Sarraf, Ahmad Abdullah, A.R. Al-Jalili, Saleh M. Jasim, Farouk Al-Farra, Ahmad A. Al-Bustan, Saad Al-Hashil, Abdullah Al-Assar, Essam El Dein Nofal, Mustafa A. Abdul- Wahid, and Messrs, Jafar Al-Aryan, Abdul-Fattah Al-Sukkary and Omar S. Bakkish for their inputs with regard to the questionnaire. Special thanks are due to the secondary school principals in Kuwait, who took time from their busy schedules to complete and return the questionnaire of this iii study. Thanks are also due to the Assistant Secretary for General Education in the Ministry of Education, Kuwait and the directors of educational areas for facilitating the data collection process of this study. Also I feel indebted to the Director of Educational Research Center, Kuwait for allowing me to use the Ministry Mail Service for distribution and collection of the questionnaires. Thanks are also due to Dr. Mesaed R. Al-Haroun, Cultural Counselor, Embassy of the State of Kuwait, Washington, D.C., for his support with regard to my graduate program at Michigan State University. Thanks are also extended to all my friends for their moral support and encouragement during the completion of this study. Thanks are also expressed to Mr. Boctor, Krissy Scheer, and Lisa Goulet of Quality Typing Service for typing this dissertation. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my father, Abdul-Husain, stepmother, Fatemah, brothers, Ahmad, Mahmoud, Jasem, Mohammad, and Abdul-Hameed, and sisters, Zahra, Halima, Jamela, Sukaina, Saffiya, Hameedah, and Ameenah for their love, encouragement and support. Finally, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my wife, Narjes for her sacrifice, encouragement, and support; and to my children: Ali, Fatemah, Maytham, Ammar, Yaser and Sumayyah for their patience, cooperation and understanding which inspired and motivated me to complete my graduate program at Michigan State University. iv Ch TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List OfTables 0......OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO00...... Vii-i List Of Figures ....0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0.0.0.... x ChapterI00.0.0000........OOOOOOOOOOOOO............. 1 Introduction ...................................... 1 Background of the Problem ...................... 1 The Problem .................................... 4 Purpose of the Study ........................... 7 Significance of the Study ...................... 8 Assumptions of the Study ....................... 9 The Setting of the Study ....................... 9 Educational Development ........................... 9 Education Today ........................... 11 General and Specific Goals of Education ... 13 Principles of the Educational Strategy .... 14 Administration of Education ............... 16 Educational Areas ......................... 17 Levels of School System in Kuwait ......... 19 Kindergarten Level ........................ 19 Primary Level ............................. 19 Intermediate Level ........................ 22 Secondary Level ........................... 22 The Goals of Secondary School .... ........ 24 Definition of Terms ....................... 26 Theoretical Framework .......................... 29 Research Questions ............................. 32 Limitations of the Study ....................... 33 Organization of the Study ...................... 33 Summary ........................................ 34 Chapter II .......................................... 36 Review of Literature ........................... 36 Theories of Motivation ......................... 36 Content or Substantive Theories ........... 37 Need Hierarchy Theory ................. 37 ERG Theory ............................ 40 Two-Factor Theory ..................... 41 Mechanical or Process Theories ............ 42 Expectancy Theory ..................... 42 Goal Theory ........................... 45 Attribution Theory .................... 46 Theories of Job Satisfaction ................... 47 Comparison Process ........................ 48 Social Comparison Theory .................. 49 Opponent-Process Theory ................... 49 Two-Factor Theory ......................... 50 TABLE OF CONTENTS, CONT’D Page RelatedStUdies 000.00.000.00... 51 summary ....0...0..0.00....0..0. 57 Chapter III .0....00..0....0..000.000 62 Research Design and Procedures Research Des ign .. Research Que stions The Populati on ... Instrumentat ion .. Questionnaire Design and Development Validity and Reliability ....... Data Collection Permission ..... Data Collection ..................... Measures Taken for High Rate of Return Statistical Measures and Analysis variables ......00000......0...0..0. Presentation Form at 0.00.00.00.00... summary 0......0......0.0.0.0.000... Chapter Iv 00......0000000000.00.00.00... 75 Data Analysis and Findings Introduction 75 Level of Satisfaction with Selected Needs. 76 Difference in Levels of Satisfaction 78 Satisfaction with Salary 78 Satisfaction with Security 80 Satisfaction with Job Development and Advancement 83 Satisfaction with Recognition 85 Satisfaction with Autonomy 87 Satisfaction with Prestige 89 Satisfaction with Colleagues’ Relationships 91 Satisfaction with Superiors’ Relationships 94 Satisfaction with Decision-Making Involvement 96 Frequencies and Percentages of Responses 98 Demographic Data 101 Responses to the Open-ended Question 105 summary 0.......0....0.00.....0.00.0.0.0.......0 106 Chapter V 109 Summary, Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations 109 IntPOduction 00.000.00.00...0... 109 Summary of the St udy .. 109 Discussion of Fin dings 112 Conclusions and Implications ... 118 Recommendations ................ 000.00.00.00... 121 summary 0.00.00.00.0000000000... 122 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS, CONT’D Page Appendices Appendix A The Questionnaire ................. 124