Journal of South Asian Studies The Job Satisfaction of Academic Staff in Higher Educational Institutes

The purpose of this study is to find out the level of work satisfaction among academic staff at Pakistan's higher educational institutions. A quantitative study approach was employed to collect data from universities in Punjab and Azad Kashmir provinces using a questionnaire. To elicit a response from the sample under research, Lester (1987) Teachers' Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (TJSQ) was adopted to collect the data. The findings indicate that academic staff job satisfaction is positively and significantly connected to pay, job security, and working circumstances. Job security is the best predictor of teachers' job satisfaction, according to this study. It is also advised that instructors be encouraged and motivated to improve their performance in the learning process by giving improved advancement chances, stable jobs, and suitable working environments. This research study can aid policymakers in making informed decisions on teacher job satisfaction and retention. Additionally, it may benefit students' well-being and elevate instructors' prestige.


INTRODUCTION
There is no commonly agreed definition of job satisfaction, as is frequently the case when seeking to define a social science term. Job satisfaction, according to Locke (1976), is a positive state of mind that is a consequence of individual's enjoyment during his or her job. This definition of job satisfaction appears to be most widely used and accepted, defining the essential element to reveal what the wider concept of job satisfaction entails . Job satisfaction is a comprehensive notion since it encompasses all aspects of the job and the workplace that individuals find rewarding, fulfilling, and satisfying, as well as aggravating or unsatisfactory (Snipes, Oswald, LaTour & Armenakis, 2005). The evaluation of teaching satisfaction, according to Locke's definition, also entails a cognitive and judgmental process. Only assessing teachers' emotional states will not provide a complete picture of their satisfaction in the classroom (Ho & Au, 2006). Moreover, Locke (1976) argued that job satisfaction is measured by 13 predictors which includes different personality traits like experience, age, education and locus of control, as well as organizational measures like supervisory support, discretion, anxiety, recognition, fairness, expertise, and interaction with colleagues. Job satisfaction, according to Snipes et al. (2005), encompasses a variety of factors, which includes supervisory support, work attitude, compensation, progression possibilities, collaborators, and clienteles. Job happiness has a link to a variety of factors. Job satisfaction and life satisfaction are linked, as are service quality (Hartline & Ferrell, 1996) performance (Khan & Iqbal, 2020), and demographic, career, and different dimensions of personality (Ho & Au, 2006;Miller et al., 2009). Various scholars discovered that job satisfaction have a strong relationship with organizational performance and employee commitment (Junaid, Bashir, Nasim, & Ahmad, 2021;Khan, Tufail, & Ali, 2021). Conducive working environment is essential not only for teachers' job satisfaction and impetus but also play a vital role in providing learning opportunities to students. Similarly, Johnson et al., (2012) revealed that teachers job satisfaction is enhanced by a culture of trust and respect as well as principals' leadership and support. Therefore, the level of motivation of both students and teachers can be increased by providing a conducive work environment in the organizational setting. To be of high quality and effectiveness, one of the most important aspects of production input, effort, must be certified. As a result, the responsibility of instructors and managers in high-quality manpower education cannot be overstated because the performance of any organization depends on human resources (Khan, Ansari, Ahmed, & Malik, 2022). Teachers' and supervisors' levels of contentment and discontent with their jobs have an impact on their productivity. It's critical to figure out the level of teachers' job satisfaction with their jobs in this aspect.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Teachers can be successfully kept if they are happy in their jobs. Job satisfaction boosts productivity and lowers employee turnover rate (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2014). Teachers' work satisfaction and turnover can be managed by monetary and non-monetary incentives (Aydin, Sarier, & Uysal, 2013). Teachers' performance and efficiency tend to rise in tandem with their degree of pleasure. Teachers that are happy with their jobs will be able to provide superior education to their students by encouraging and inspiring them. According to previous research, low job satisfaction has a negative impact on the productivity of even highly trained and skilled teachers. Burnout, absenteeism, and turnover all have an impact on production (Chamundeswari, 2013). Positive effects, self-efficacy, working circumstances, and work objectives are all linked to job satisfaction of employees (Van den Berghe et al., 2014). Compensation and incentive programs are a primary emphasis of human resource management. The compensation structure of a business has a considerable influence on the level of commitment and retention of its employees. Compensation is a critical aspect in hiring and keeping top-notch personnel. Employees are affected by money through their viewpoints, according to the fundamental hypothesis. Pay has an effect on both the recruitment and retention of employees (Way et al., 2019). Offering a competitive wage and benefits package is an often-discussed strategy for keeping staff. Along with offering financial and other resources, awards can also boost an individual's social standing and influence inside a firm. To attract and retain top personnel, businesses must differentiate themselves from the competition through innovative compensation strategies. This implies that a company's compensation plan should be capable of attracting and retaining top talent while also guaranteeing that all employees are treated equitably within the organization (Demirdag, 2015). Similarly, school setup and strategies are part of the working conditions at schools (Nie, et al., 2015). Several research (Hui et al., 2014;Nie et al., 2015;Karim et al., 2017) have confirmed the link between working environment and job satisfaction. Furthermore, conducive working environment is based on empowering teachers and comprehensive policies. Job satisfaction will be suffered due to inadequacy of these facets of job (Jordan, Migli, Todorovi, & Mari, 2017;Khany & Tazik, 2016). A high teaching workload has a negative impact on teacher satisfaction and classroom management (Demirdag, 2015). A competitive compensation plan is one way for businesses to retain their staff. Compensation and benefits that are competitive and market-related are critical components of a company's retention strategy since they motivate employees to stay loyal. Employees will remain loyal as long as they feel valued. On the other hand, if they are devalued, they will depart. Employees are more likely to stay with an organization if they believe their contributions, efforts, and abilities are appreciated (Khany & Tazik, 2016). Offering both monetary and nonmonetary incentives can help increase employee retention. Staff retention was observed to be significantly impacted by performance bonuses, proper remuneration, and recompense for rare talents. Promotions, child care facilities, extended leave, and recreation facilities were all included in the survey as examples of non-monetary perks. Additionally, it has been asserted that nurses are unsatisfied with their compensation, which may contribute to a high staff turnover rate. Financial considerations were also noted as a significant factor in the movement of professional nurses from South Africa to other nations (Wright & Davis, 2003). Similarly, Stephen Dinham (1995) examined that teachers' job satisfaction is associated with the interaction of teachers with contemporaries, past and current students, and parents. Similarly, (Bogler, 2002) and (Ramsey, 2000) argued that job satisfaction is affected by different demographic features such as position, age, tenure of job, teaching experience, and gender (Khalid & Khalid, 2015;. Therefore, job satisfaction is a multifaceted phenomenon that is very hard to investigate. In this regard, the Herzberg motivation hygiene theory is considered as an important tool to evaluate different aspects of teachers' job satisfaction . Employees will work more if they feel their efforts will be rewarded positively, according to the expectation theory. As a result, both work satisfaction and reward are increased. Employee satisfaction is positively impacted by extrinsic benefits such as job security. According to empirical research, job satisfaction is positively connected with job security, whereas employment instability is negatively correlated with job happiness (Karim et al., 2017). As many individuals are aware, layoffs and terminations are frequent occurrences in the workplace. A stable employment is critical for them, as losing their job might have major consequences. The work atmosphere is a well-researched variable in industrial and administrative psychology, and it has long been known to influence academic productivity in organizations (Way et al., 2019). Similarly, some administrative psychology studies (e.g., Jiang et al., 2018;Pierce, O'driscoll, & Coghlan, 2004) have shown that certain aspects of the work environment, such as more independence, job variation, and involvement in decision making, have been shown to improve employee satisfaction. These findings confirm the findings of Kapenda and Pieters (2017), who claimed that a conducive and encouraging work environment, as well as involvement in decision-making process, are among the elements that explain employees' job satisfaction. Similarly, Elechi, Lambert, and Otu (2018) looked at characteristics in employees' environments (like job stress and job involvement) that predicted job satisfaction among Nigerian correctional officers. It is possible for a task to be carried out in an environment that is both enjoyable and potentially dangerous to the health and safety of the workers. External factors include weather conditions, temperature, humidity, draughts, lighting in the workplace, noise and interference, gases, radiation, dust, and smoke, and other harmful factors; subjective factors include fatigue, monotony, and unfavorable posture while working; and organizational factors include the length of the work shift (Ayub, Khan, Ahmed, & Ansari, 2022). Only those who meet strict criteria in terms of age, sex, qualifications, health, physical and mental state, and psycho-physiological and psychological attributes are allowed to work in jobs with extremely difficult working conditions. Employee performance suffers when they are forced to deal with challenging working conditions. Taking efforts to alleviate uncomfortable working conditions, or, if that isn't possible, putting in place proper safety procedures, is therefore critical. Workplace safety is concerned with ensuring that working conditions are safe for employees' lives and health, as well as preventing and/or reducing the impacts of workplace accidents, injuries, and diseases. Equipment that employees use on a regular basis should be considered in terms of workplace safety (Pierce, O'driscoll, & Coghlan, 2004). Machinery, equipment, plant, tools and supplies must be functional and well maintained in order to prevent workplace accidents and decreased productivity. Employees must be thoroughly trained on how to operate the equipment in order to avoid accidents or performance deviances, no matter how well the equipment was cared for. Instruction in the proper use of safety equipment and personal protection should be part of employee training. According to the existing body of literature, job satisfaction is a consequence variable that is affected by a number of variables, including the job's qualities and context, as well as demographic aspects. Several research (like Misis et al., 2013;Griffin, 2001) have found that a combination of work environment factors has a statistically significant association with job satisfaction. Job security is one of the factors that creates the feeling of satisfaction in academic staff of public sector universities (Javeria, 2013). Whereas many research studies on job satisfaction and work atmosphere conducted in non-academic organizational settings (like Albert et al., 2016;Wright & Davis, 2003) revealed that perceived work environment is associated with employees' job satisfaction. Nevertheless, it might be argued that alike factors could also influence academic work satisfaction. Despite the fact that research aimed to explore the connection between perceived work environment and job satisfaction is quite useful, the majority of them have been undertaken outside of the academic setting.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN
This research study used a quantitative method to collect and analyse the data. The population of study consisted of the academic staff of universities located in Punjab and the Azad Kashmir provinces of Pakistan. Two universities were selected from Punjab and two universities from Punjab. A random sampling method was used and a total of 300 questionnaires were filled out, of which 264 were finally used in data analysis. The Scale of Lester (1987) was adopted to collect the data about job satisfaction of academic staff, and analysis was done by using SPSS software.

ANALYSIS & RESULTS Reliability
Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to measure the reliability of items in the instrument.
Minimum cronbach alpha of 0.6 is sufficient to conduct research (Nunnally, 1994). In general, the value of Cronbach alpha for the instrument was 0.924 which was above than the generally accepted level Pearson Correlation: *N=264, P < 0.01 Table 1 shows that all the variables are significantly allied with job satisfaction. The positive values of 0.75, 0.82, and 0.69 indicate that the relationship is positive. Among these factors, job security is most significantly related to job satisfaction. It indicates a feeling of job security leads to job satisfaction for academic staff.

Hypothesis Testing & Regression Results
See table 1 and 2 for checking the data.

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION
Results show that teachers are highly satisfied with pay, job security, and working conditions. The regression value of 0.86 and the correlation value of 0.75 of pay and rewards indicate that these two variables are positively interrelated with each other . Previous studies found the same result: that pay and rewards positively influence the teachers' job satisfaction. Thus, hypothesis 1 is accepted and supported in this study. Similarly, the regression value of 0.92 and the correlation value of 0.82 indicate that job security and job satisfaction are positively associated with each other. Among these factors, the correlation value of job security is higher than the remaining factors, which indicates that job security is one of the best predictors of teachers' job satisfaction, and among academic staff, it is the most imperative factor that make them more satisfied with job. This result is also consistent with previous research, as Nurdan and Atabay (2014) also revealed that job security is positively and significantly linked with job satisfaction among Turkish academic staff. Finally, the regression value of 0.77 and the correlation value of 0.69 indicate that the working environment is positively correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, hypothesis three is also accepted and supported. This research study concludes that teachers can perform better in the classroom only when they are satisfied with their jobs. Teachers' job satisfaction is associated with the attributes of salary packages, job security, and working conditions. This research study therefore recommends that teachers be encouraged and motivated by taking into consideration the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the job that make them more productive and satisfied during the learning process. It can be in the form of providing better advancement opportunities, job security, conducive working conditions, and recognition. The study has various implications for university management and administration. It shows that in order to increase the job satisfaction of academic staff, they must be well paid, provided with a professional environment, and given regular job arrangements so that they can perform better to achieve the goals and objectives of the university.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
There are certain limitations to this research study. Firstly, the domain of this research is the education sector. It is further recommended to carry out research on these variables in a different organizational environment. Secondly, it is a kind of cross-sectional study. There is a need to conduct longitudinal research studies to analyse the effects of concerned variables in the long run. Future studies can explore more factors of job satisfaction as this study considers only three factors.