A Comparative Study Of Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction For Foreign Ex-pat Teachers And Native Teachers In China

With the internationalization and popularity of high education, the team of university teachers is also becoming increasingly global. In order to effectively introduce and retain these outstanding talents, this study developed the Effecting Factors of Job Satisfaction Survey with both Chinese and English versions on the basis of interview and literature review. 160 Chinese university teachers and 120 foreign ex-pat teachers were administered this survey to investigate whether the Chinese teachers and foreign ex-pat teachers experience significantly different levels of job satisfaction and factors affecting their job satisfaction.The major findings of this study were discussed as below:(1)While both types of teachers were basically unsatisfied with their jobs, there was no significant difference in levels of dissatisfaction and in choosing to become a teacher in next career between Chinese teachers and foreign ex-pat teachers.(2)There was no significant difference in levels of job satisfaction, but significant difference in choosing to become a teacher in next career between female and male Chinese teachers. There was no significant difference in levels of job satisfaction and in choosing to become a teacher in next career between female and male foreign ex-pat teachers. There was no significant difference in levels of job satisfaction and in choosing to become a teacher in next career between female and male foreign ex-pat teachers. There was no significant difference in levels of job satisfaction and in choosing to become a teacher in next career among Chinese teachers group with different ethnicity, ages, highest degrees, marital states and among foreign ex-pat teachers group with different ethnicity, ages, highest degrees, marital states.(3)In the analysis of effecting factors, Chinese teachers attached great importance on interpersonal relationships and little importance on working rewards, while foreign ex-pat teachers were most concerned about social status and recognition and least concerned about self-realization and self-development. Chinese teachers and foreign ex-pat teachers had significantly different views on the importance of factors of working rewards and social status and recognition.(4)Foreign ex-pat teachers with different ethnicity had significantly different views on the importance of factors of social status and recognition; Chinese teachers with different genders had significantly different views on the importance of factors of working rewards, work itself, interpersonal relationships, social status and recognition, while Foreign ex-pat teachers with different genders had no significantly different views on the importance of these five factors; Chinese teachers with different ages, teaching years had significantly different views on the importance of factors of interpersonal relationships, social status and recognition, self-realization and self-development, while Foreign ex-pat teachers with different ages, teaching years had no significantly different views on the importance of these five factors; Chinese teachers and foreign ex-pat teachers with different highest degrees had significantly different views on the importance of factors of interpersonal relationships; Chinese teachers with different marital status had significantly different views on the importance of factors of interpersonal relationships, social status and recognition, while Foreign ex-pat teachers with different marital status had significantly different views on the importance of factors of working return.According to the results above and interviews, this project gave some suggestions in improving the level of job satisfaction of both Chinese and foreign ex-pat teachers, which including removing bureaucratization, improving the assessment system, creating a sound working environment, increasing trans-cultural training, improving salary and welfare and motivation system.