A Structural Equation Modeling of Teachers’ Job Satisfaction: An Application in Saudi Arabia-TALIS 2018

Abstract

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is one of the indispensable multivariate statistical techniques for analyzingcomplex relationships in many fields. The education field has emerged as an active area of SEM applications due to the inherent nature of its interacting variables. This research applies SEM to provide an in-depth analysis of the factors influencing teachers’ job satisfaction in Saudi Arabia. The study draws upon data collected from Saudi teachers who participated for the first time in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS-2018). For this purpose, 2744 teachers and 192 principals from the secondary school level were selected using a stratified sampling strategy. The results indicated school climate, professional practices, motivation and participation, and student-teacher interaction significantly impacted teacher job satisfaction (β=0.35,0.12,0.17 and 0.21) respectively p-value=0.000. Not surprisingly, the stress construct negatively impacted job satisfaction with (β=-0.30) with p-value=0.000. Based on the results, teacher satisfaction can be enhanced by focusing on variables that have a significant influence and avoiding stress causes.