Examining the Antecedents of Novice STEM Teachers’ Job Satisfaction: The Roles of Personality Traits, Perceived Social Support, and Work Engagement

Abstract

It is reported that teachers’ satisfaction levels are lower and stress levels are higher than other professional groups in many countries. This is especially true for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers. Considering job satisfaction has a direct impact on turnover intention, low satisfaction levels have led to high turnover rates and thus exacerbated the shortages of STEM teachers. Hence, there is an urgent need to explore the antecedents of novice STEM teachers’ job satisfaction. This study proposes a new model to show how novice STEM teachers’ personality traits and perceived social support influence their job satisfaction. A total of 2592 novice STEM teachers in eighteen randomly selected high schools in China were recruited. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach. The results illustrated that most novice STEM teachers had low levels of job satisfaction. Novice STEM teachers’ personality traits could directly and indirectly impact their job satisfaction. Meanwhile, novice STEM teachers’ job satisfaction was also directly influenced by work engagement and indirectly influenced by their perceived social support. Our findings theoretically contribute to the understanding of the determinants of STEM teachers’ job satisfaction and have important practical implications.

Personality Traits as a Predictor of Job Satisfaction among Student-Teachers in Ghana

“…In relation to job satisfaction, neuroticism is found to be negatively associated with job satisfaction (Maricutoiu et al, 2023;Van Aarde et al, 2017). In Wang et al (2024) meta-analysis, neuroticism is most strongly correlated with job satisfaction, but in a negative manner. Maricutoiu et al, (2023) in another meta-analysis found that emotional stability-the reverse of neuroticism-is also strongly associated with job satisfaction.…”

“…The relationship between neuroticism and job satisfaction is found to be negative (Mamić et al, 2024;Wu et al, 2024). In Wang et al, (2024) meta-analysis, neuroticism has the most negative correlation with job satisfaction. In another meta-analysis, Maricutoiu et al (2023) discovered that emotional stability, the opposite of neuroticism, is similarly highly associated with job satisfaction.…”

Job Satisfaction, Mental Symptoms, and Well-Being in Adult Workers: A Gender Analysis

“…Regression analyses also showed that greater job satisfaction was associated with better mental health and well-being for both women and men, although its relevance depended on the type of mental health indicator used and on gender. Because previous research has shown that job satisfaction is associated with self-esteem and social support [2,18,20,56], to determine whether the effects of job satisfaction on mental symptoms, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction persisted beyond the effects of self-esteem and social support, both variables were included in the regression equation (in Model 3), whereas only job satisfaction was included in Model 2. Although the magnitude of the effect decreased considerably after self-esteem and social support were included in the regression, job satisfaction remained a statistically significant predictor in all regression analyses.…”