Job satisfaction and occupational stress in Catholic primary schools: implications for school leadership

Relationships between job satisfaction and occupational stress were investigated as part of a larger study. The participants were the staff members of primary schools selected through stratified sampling. The participants were 356 staff members from 52 primary schools of six Catholic school systems in New South Wales, Australia. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey. Factor analyses were used to identify underlying data structures. Nine job satisfaction and four occupational stress factors were identified. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were utilised to investigate the hypothesised relationships. Moderate to strong correlations existed between job satisfaction and occupational stress variables. Multiple regression revealed occupational stress arising from school administration and school climate to be the best predictor of most job satisfaction variables. Other occupational stress domains accounted for considerable amounts of variance in facets of job satisfaction. Implications for school administrators are discussed.