Prioritization of Factors Influencing Teachers’ Job Satisfaction in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

Abstract

The main objective of this empirical study is to support school managers in reducing the high turnover rate among private school teachers in the United Arab Emirates (in particular, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi) by identifying which factors are most likely to increase teacher job satisfaction (TJS). First, a narrative literature review (NLR) of conceptual and empirical studies suggests which theoretical frameworks are likely to provide predictors of TJS. This results in a preliminary model of TJS that outlines predictors from four theoretical areas: motivation, leadership style, job characteristics and cultural intelligence. Second, in order to make this model more comprehensive, a systematic literature review (SLR) covering three main databases and 67 selected papers reveals all proven determinants of TJS, which results in various changes and additions to the preliminary model. Third, a focus group session with local educational experts identifies predictors that are especially likely to be perceived as important for TJS in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. These predictors then constitute a customized model, including variables from the theoretical areas of motivation, school leadership style, school climate and organisational justice. Fourth, the customized model is subjected to a multi-criteria decision-making analysis (analytic hierarchy process - AHP) based on 24 face-to-face interviews with private school teachers with experience at the kindergarten, elementary, intermediate, and secondary levels. The predictors of ‘pay’, ‘interactional justice’, ‘distributive justice’, ‘recognition’, ‘job security’, and ‘workload’ were perceived by teachers as most important for their job satisfaction. Based on these findings, private school managers and institutional actors, such as Abu Dhabi Educational Council, would do well to focus on these factors in order to decrease teacher turnover.