Exploring Factors that Influence Teachers’ Job Satisfaction and Their Decision to Stay or Leave the Job in one Nazarbayev Intellectual school

Abstract

Many countries are facing high rates of teacher turnover and Kazakhstan is not an exception. This quantitative cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted to to explore factors that affect teachers’ job satisfaction and explain their decisions to leave their jobs in Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Southern Kazakhstan. It also aims to find out what is an influencing factor for teacher turnover. The sample of the study was represented by 95 individuals who worked at the research site in the past but then left the school. The study examines the relationship between teachers’ job satisfaction and demographic factors such as gender, age, marital status, academic degree, work experience and subject area. Also, it is aimed at identifying whether there is a significant relationship between teacher job satisfaction and job dimensions, namely: job characteristics, social benefits and support from the school administration. The results showed that support from the school administrators is the pivotal factor affecting job satisfaction along with low salary and huge workload. This in turns lead to turnover.