Factor Analysis of Academic Staff Satisfaction in Dire Dawa University, Ethiopia

Job satisfaction is defined as how people feel about their jobs, different aspects of their jobs and it is an emotion, a feeling and a matter of perception. This study was conducted to explore academic staff satisfaction with the university and to extract a set of factors from various dimensions used to measure satisfaction. A cross-sectional study on a sample of 150 academic staff selected using simple random sampling technique was conducted. Primary data was collected on teaching-learning, facility provision, benefits & incentives, research undertakings, community engagement, interpersonal relationship and management of the university. Descriptive statistics together with factor analysis using principal component extraction via varimax rotation was used. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and Barlett’s test of sphericity was employed to check the sample size and sufficiency of correlation between the variables. Analysis of data revealed that the general satisfaction level of Academic staff in the university is 40%. The results indicated higher satisfaction levels for teaching-learning, interpersonal relationship, management of the university with 74.6%, 69.7% and 74.8% respectively. The factor analysis identified four factors within teaching-learning, facility provision and research undertaking. It also identified two factors within benefits & incentives, community engagement, interpersonal relationship and management of the university. Additionally the satisfaction level did not indicate variation across sex. Therefore, although satisfaction level for the academic staff increased from the previous academic year it is still moderate and requires further work. Additionally service quality of Dire Dawa University showed progress but the management and other stakeholders should focus on improving the facilities related with recreation, internet access, transportation and restrooms on buildings.