Alghamdi, Ghadah; (2020) Job Satisfaction in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a case study with reference to female headteachers. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (Univeristy College London).

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Abstract

This thesis investigated factors that influence job satisfaction in the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, based on a case study of female headteachers. This investigation has focused only on female headteachers as the laws and social circumstances of the country forbid cross-gender socialising outide of the immediate family. Instead, the research on headteachers in Saudi Arabia undertaken in this study was aimed at discovering what factors influenced their job satisfaction, bearing in mind that gender specific issues were limited by the context in which the investigation took place. General research on headteachers in the Kingdom was found to be an underexplored topic, but in contrast to previous Saudi studies, the sample used in this study was not restricted to one stage of school. In order to evaluate participants responses, this study used a sequential exploratory strategy employing a mixed methods approach. Building on semi-structured interviews, the first sample of the study gathered data from 20 head teachers to determine which factors led to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The research investigated various contributory factors such as rewards i.e. pay, recognition, promotion and training; the female environment and the relationship with workload and work-life-balance; the working environment i.e. school condition, school location and student headcount); relationships with teachers, students and parents; supervision, authority and autonomy; age and experience, and school-level issues. These factors were subsequently used to build a questionnaire, which was intended to be sent to 664 schools (numbers provided by the Ministry of Education). When starting the research, however, it was found that 186 of these schools did not have a headteacher in post. Consequently, the final sample size was 478 headteachers. Finally, in the third stage of the sequential research, semi-structured interviews were held with nine headteachers to verify the results of the survey. The overall level of job satisfaction for elementary, middle and high schools headteachers in the Eastern Province was generally low average. However, it was found that factors causing high and average job satisfaction derive from multiple demographic isues or independent causes in the workplace. Specifically, this study has identified several factors related to job satisfaction in the Eastern Province that have not been previously found in previous research in Saudi Arabia: work/life balance, the female leadership-environment, location, financial rewards and transportation. This study’s findings could inform the work of educational planners, helping them to improve their understanding of the most important aspects of the career of headteachers. In addition, this research provides a contribution that could assist public policy development in education; furthermore, it provides an understanding of what to avoid and what works most effectively. Future policy could be better informed by understanding the factors that affect levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and implementing more appropriate policy objectives that deploy resources more effectively.

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