Career choice, satisfaction, and perceptions about their professional image

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting career choice, job satisfaction, and perceptions of the public image of librarians in Kuwait. Design/methodology/approach -Data were gathered via questionnaires sent to 117 professional librarians working in academic, public, and special libraries in Kuwait. Findings -The study identified factors which influenced the choice of career, sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Respondents reported that they were moderately satisfied with their current job. The results show that extrinsic measures, such as recognition of accomplishment, fair performance evaluation, and job security were ranked in the top and are the most important aspects of job satisfaction, whereas intrinsic measures, such as suitable daily working hours and nature of work, fell close to the bottom of the list. The cause of employee job dissatisfaction occurs in the area of benefits, contingent rewards, communication, salaries, working conditions, and promotions. Recommendations are made to improve the job satisfaction and the public image of librarianship in Kuwait. Practical implications -The results of the study may provide useful information and practical advice for library managers, library education programs, and professional associations in Kuwait. Originality/value -This paper is the only study on career choice, job satisfaction, and librarians' image in Kuwait. It is useful to increase the understanding and improve the career choice, job satisfaction, and librarians' image in Kuwait.

Job satisfaction and work values: Investigating sources of job satisfaction with respect to information professionals

“…Studies exploring the relationship between information professionals' satisfaction and years of professional experience have shown contradictory results. It has been found that job satisfaction diminished as the number of years of working experience increased (Mirfakhrai, 1991;Togia et al, 2004), while other studies have shown a positive relationship between length of work experience and job satisfaction (Alansari, 2011;Baro, Fyneman, & Zoukemefa, 2013;Berry, 2007;Van Reenen, 1998).…”

“…The majority of studies that have examined job satisfaction have focused on academic libraries (Bernstein, 2011;Horenstein, 1993;Leckie & Brett, 1996;Leysen & Boydston, 2009;Mirfakhrai, 1991;Sierpe, 1999), and only a few have examined it with respect to information professionals working in a range of other organizations such as public, school, and special libraries, and archives (Alansari, 2011;Pors & Johannsen, 2002;Williamson, Pemberton, & Lounsbury, 2005). Even though the latter studies examine how satisfied employees are in a variety of organizations, they do not consider the differences in job satisfaction among them.…”

“…There are a few studies that have examined the job satisfaction of information professionals working in various information organizations (Alansari, 2011;Pors & Johannsen, 2002;Williamson et al, 2005). Specifically, Williamson et al (2005) investigated the relationship between personality traits and the job satisfaction of American academic librarians, archivist, records managers, distance education librarians, public librarians, school librarians, special librarians, and systems librarians.…”

Choice of career in library and information science and past work experience

“…Further, they found that the educational and occupational background of MLIS students got more diversified as a result of a growing interest in librarianship among non-library professionals. Other similar studies confirmed that the love of books and reading, interest in library work, pleasant library working environment and employment opportunities were important factors for people to choose a career in the library profession (Alansari, 2011; Hallam and Partridge, 2005).…”

Professional Inclination of Library and Information Science (LIS) Students of India: A Study of Socioeconomic Background and Career Choice Factors

“…Taylor et al … (2010) surveyed to know the motivations for choosing a library career of MLIS students, and results show that an overwhelming majority of current MLIS students (76%) indicated that job function was the primary motivator in their decision to pursue librarianship as a career. Alansari (2011) investigated the factors affecting career choice, job satisfaction, and perceptions of the public image of librarians of 117 professional librarians working in academic, public, and special libraries in Kuwait. Respondents reported that they were moderately satisfied with their current job.…”