Job satisfaction of women employees of the public sector of Afghanistan

Purpose - This paper focuses on job satisfaction of women employees in the public sector of Afghanistan and identifies factors and challenges influencing women's job satisfaction in their workplace. Design/methodology/approach - The survey data were gathered from 92 employees working at the Ministry of Finance at different position levels. Findings - The findings indicate that women employees highly prioritize salary increment and job promotion as their main job satisfaction factors while mentioning low salary, delay in salary payment and unsuitable workplace as the biggest challenges. Among recommendations, the research suggests to launch workshops for male employees to improve their behavior with women employees in the workplace, to promote employees based on their merit regardless of gender, to standardize salary scales, to develop a chart of female rights highlighting how they should be treated in their workplace and to support the female employees by eliminating gender discrimination and providing a secure work environment free of gender bias. Social implications - The findings and recommendations may help public sector organizations as well as the private sector of Afghanistan to improve women employees' job satisfaction. Originality/value - This article represents an added value for the literature which lacks references about the satisfaction of women working in the public sector of Afghanistan.