School factors that influence principals’ job satisfaction

Proceedings of The 4th World Conference on Teaching and Education

Year: 2022

DOI:

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School factors that influence principals’ job satisfaction

Dijana Tiplic-Lunde and Eyvind Elstad

ABSTRACT: 

The purpose of this study is to analyse how different school factors can influence principals’ job satisfaction. Our analysis is based on data from Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) survey. 162 Norwegian principals participated. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse statistical relations between several potential explanatory variables and principals’ professional and individual job satisfaction. The main findings show that innovation support and stress are statistically related to principals’ job satisfaction with school. On the other hand, principals’ teaching support is not related to their job satisfaction with school. In addition, principals’ perception of stress is negatively related to several positively charged characteristics of school as an organisation (innovation support, teaching support and job satisfaction with school). One interpretation of the findings is that innovation support contributes to job satisfaction with school but that stress can be perceived as an inhibitory factor in principals’ work. This article focuses on stress that involves a work overload from following up on teachers’ professional development, having too much administrative work and having extra work due to staff absence. This stress is primarily related to a connection between principals’ working capacity and their ambitions to execute their leadership goals. Implications for practice and further research are discussed

keywords: school principals, job satisfaction, innovation support, instructional leadership.