The job satisfaction differences between elected and appointed superintendents in the state of Mississippi and selected variables

The primary purpose of this study was to ascertain which type of superintendent, appointed or elected, in the state of Mississippi experienced a higher job satisfaction with their jobs. This study considered eight job satisfaction variables. Those variables were pay, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, operating conditions, coworkers, nature of work, communications, and total job satisfaction. (This study may provide state leaders in Mississippi with more insight as to how superintendent vacancies should best be filled.).;Mississippi is one of only three states in the nation that still allow superintendents to be elected. Job Satisfaction Surveys(c) were mailed to the 84 active appointed superintendents and the 64 active elected superintendents in Mississippi.;A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data collected for dependent variable total job satisfaction. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was utilized on three groupings of the other seven dependent variables. One group consisted of the dependent variables of pay and fringe benefits. The second group consisted of the dependent variables of contingent rewards and operating conditions. The third group consisted of the dependent variables of coworkers, nature of work, and communications. Every hypothesis was shown to have a statistically significant difference.;The dependent variable of total job satisfaction indicated a statistically significant difference between appointed and elected superintendents. The dependent variables of pay and fringe benefits indicated a statistically significant difference between appointed and elected superintendents. The dependent variables of contingent rewards and operating conditions indicated a statistically significant difference between appointed and elected superintendents. The dependent variables of coworkers, nature of work, and communications indicated a statistically significant difference between appointed and elected superintendents.;The only exception, with respect to statistical significance, was found when a univariate test was performed on the dependent variable coworkers. This test indicated that there was no statistically significant difference on the dependent variable coworkers between appointed and elected superintendents.