Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Publication Date

7-11-1973

Abstract

The present study was an investigation of the sources of job attitudes of school superintendents. The study sample consisted of forty of the eighty-eight superintendents in the State of New Mexico. Demographic data indicated that the sample approximated the national group of school superintendents along several important dimensions, including age, experience, and formal preparation.

The study utilized as its conceptual base the Herzberg Dual-Factor Theory of job satisfaction. The methodology of the study closely approximated that used in the empirical research reported by Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman. The presen1t study supports Herzberg' s thesis that the factors associated with job satisfaction are different from the factors associated with job dis­satisfaction. The study did not confirm Herzberg's assertion that factors in the job content have only the power to satisfy. Superintendents in the present study reported significant dissatisfaction associated with the work content factors, Work Itself and Responsibility. Significant sources of satisfaction for superintendents were feelings of Achievement, Recognition, and Pride, while School Policy and Administration-Internal, School Policy and Administration-External, and Interpersonal Relations-Others were additional significant sources of dissatisfaction.

The present study is closely comparable to the investigations of the sources of job attitudes of teachers and principals conducted by Sergiovanni and Iannone respectively. Based in part on a cross-role analysis of these three line positions suggestions were made for practice, preparation, and research.

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Educational Leadership

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy

First Committee Member (Chair)

Paul Arnold Pohland

Second Committee Member

Ronald Eugene Blood

Third Committee Member

James Allen Hale

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