Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment: A Study of General Higher Education in Tamil Nadu Province (India)

Abstract

The performance of any academic institute determines many factors such as methodology in the teaching and learning process, curriculum designing, technology used, research and development activities, collaboration, industry-institute interaction, number of technologies transferred, patents registered and so on. But the most important determinant factor is the management of academic workforce i.e., their motivation, supportive HR policies, job satisfaction, commitment towards their profession and institute, favorable work climate, work-life balance, opportunities for research and consultancy, etc. The importance and value of employees have been well realized and recognized in industrial organizations for their success. However, it seems that the Indian higher education sector has not well realized the value of the academic workforce and their vital role in the success of the overall performance and maintaining academic standard of the institute. This paper tries to investigate determining the level of Job Satisfaction (JS) with five dimensions (Salary and Promotion, Job Support, Job Content, Interpersonal relationships and Working Conditions) of the academic workforce in Private and Self-Financed Colleges. Besides, the study also tries to examine the relationship between Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment and identify the effectiveness of Job Satisfaction levels on Organizational Commitment. The findings of the results indicate that the academic workforce in private and Self-Financed Colleges are satisfied with all dimensions except “Salary and Promotion” where they have less satisfaction and overall JS level have a positive correlation with their OC. The results also indicate that factors of JS have jointly predicted the Organizational Commitment of the academic workforce at these Colleges.