A Comparative Analysis Of Job Satisfaction Level In Public And Private Tertiary Institutions

This study is about job satisfaction with special reference to staff of Benson Idahosa University and University of Benin. Demographic variables such as gender, age, educational qualification, family size, working experience, income and job status were examined to find out their relationship or otherwise with the dependent variable. Another objective was to find out the difference in the level of job satisfaction in the public and private tertiary institutions. The study sample consists of three hundred respondents drawn from across the two universities. A questionnaire instrument was used to gather the needed information and the analytical techniques employed include simple percentage, t-test and regression analysis. All tests were performed at the 0.05 level of statistical significance. The finding of the study suggests that job satisfaction was well above average in areas such as the type of leadership and sort of work, and was below average in terms of salary, community value, pressure they got from the job and participation in supervision. The results also show that the majority of Benson Idahosa University staff were generally dissatisfied with their work especially in terms of feeling of accomplishment, level of participation, the value the community places on their job, the prestige of the job, recognition from supervisors, current state of the department and their chances of getting promoted. Most members of staff of the University of Benin were satisfied with all aspects of their job except feeling of accomplishment; pressure from the job and the value the society places on their job. The study indicates clearly that a higher percentage of staff of University of Benin (62%) enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction compared to Benson Idahosa University (43%). The result of the study shows that job satisfaction is negatively related to family size and job experience but positively related to job status. Based on these findings, it is recommended that private school proprietors as well as the government should make adequate resources available to enable their employees attain maximum satisfaction.