Working Life and Job Satisfaction amongst Teachers: An Empirical Study of Public Universities in Bangladesh

Teachers are amongst the key pillars of society and they play an important role in the development of new generations and, by extension, in the shaping of nations. Consequently, they deserve and desire a good working life. In the absence of decent working conditions their academic performance may be negatively affected. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between teachers' working life, job satisfaction and academic performance in the public universities of Bangladesh as an insufficient research in this area. A self-administered questionnaire survey was distributed to collect primary data for this research. The data were collected from 200 faculties within three leading public universities in the capital city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Primary data were analysed using quantitative statistical tools. The empirical findings of the research find that: first, the quality of the working lives of teachers is positively correlated with job satisfaction and academic performance; second, there exists a relationship between the working lives of teachers and job satisfaction; and finally, working life conditions and job satisfaction have a direct bearing on the academic performance of teachers. However, these relationships vary by academic position, levels of responsibility, seniority and research and higher education opportunities at home and abroad. Hence, the findings of this research will impact on the impartial practice and application to the further and higher education sector globally.