Investigating Factors Affecting the Job Satisfaction of the Academic Staff Members of Takhar University

| ABSTRACT Job satisfaction is one of the most important variables in the behavior of organizations, and the realization of organizational goals is not possible without the job satisfaction of its members. Hence, this research aims to investigate the factors affecting the job satisfaction of the academic staff members of Takhar University. The current research is applied in terms of purpose and field research in gathering information. The statistical sample of this research follows simple random sampling, and to determine the sample size, Cochran's method was used using Morgan's table. The data analysis of this research was done using SPSS software by means of a chi-square test. In order to test reliability, Cronbach's alpha method was used, and the Kolmogorov-Spirinov test was used to test the normality of the data. The results of this research show that all the null hypotheses of this study have been rejected, and the alternative hypothesis that shows the effect of independent variables on the job satisfaction of academic staff members has been confirmed. In the variable valuation test section, job security had the highest impact on job satisfaction, and providing job opportunities for professors' family members had the least impact on academic staff members' job satisfaction.


Introduction
Job satisfaction is one of the most important factors in increasing efficiency, creating motivation, and fostering a positive attitude towards work, which ultimately creates loyalty and longevity among its members.Therefore, it is very important to identify factors that increase job satisfaction (Hosseini, 2016).
Organizations and institutions, as the main pillars of current societies, play a decisive role in meeting the expectations of societies, and human resources are considered the most valuable resource for organizations.Therefore, in order to increase the productivity and efficiency of organizations, paying attention to the needs of members, providing mental and physical health, and getting their satisfaction is especially important (Zamini, 2019).
Universities have a special role in the economic, social, and political developments of society; if they act correctly, the universities can make fundamental changes in line with the development and progress of society and present educated and intelligent students to society so that they can participate in the process of economic activities, social, political, and cultural to play a positive role.Nowadays, universities are considered to be the manifestation of transformation and innovation, and they have serious and ponderable effects on society, which in turn is also greatly affected.In fact, universities are not isolated from society; in fact, many of their issues reflect our changing world.Universities, as the main arteries of the expansion of science and culture in society, always have a special value and respect (Salehi, 2013).
Universities are the most important centers of educational and research activities in any country, and in this regard, university faculty members are one of the most important components of the educational system and one of the essential elements of development and progress in any country.Academic faculty members of different academic fields in each country, the more they can provide their services with better quality, the more the development and progress of that country will accelerate.If these members do not have enough encouragement and motivation for scientific activity and progress, independent scientific and economic problems (Foroghi et al., 2016).
Academic faculty members form the main body of every university, and as one of the pillars of education, they are effective in educating students and improving the health and treatment of society.The motivation and job satisfaction of professors can play a very important role in their performance.Various studies in the field of job satisfaction have shown that many variables are related to the job satisfaction of professors, the most important of which are organizational factors, environmental factors, nature of work, and individual factors.Today, faculty members have extensive job descriptions of education, research, medical services, executive activities, and personal development, and it is necessary to pay attention to all these areas in order to evaluate their job satisfaction.The motivation and job satisfaction of professors can play a very important role in their performance, And not paying attention to the job satisfaction of human resources in an organization will cause them to stop and stagnate and gradually deteriorate (Mehrabian et al., 2019).
Therefore, the current research under the title of Factors affecting the job satisfaction of the academic staff members of Takhar University tries to investigate the factors that affect the job satisfaction of academic staff of Takhar University, which includes a summary, introduction, background, research method, analysis of data and information and description of sub-variables, test of normality of information, test of hypotheses The research includes chi-square test, variable valuation test using Faridman's method, conclusions, suggestions, and references.

Literature Review
Now, in order to clarify more, we will briefly examine some of the research conducted on the subject.
Mohammad Zaman and Jahan (2014), in the research under the title of "Studying the job satisfaction of professors of private universities in Bangladesh", using the field method and distribution of questionnaires, the results of the research indicate that most of the professors are generally satisfied with their jobs.
Hossein Hosseini (2016), in research titled "Job Satisfaction of Professors of Private Universities in Bangladesh", using the field method and the use of questionnaires on variables such as gender, age, education, skill level, and employment period, reached the conclusion that there is a significant relationship between age and job satisfaction so that professors over the age of 27 are more satisfied with their jobs than professors under the age of 27.In addition, gender also has an effect on job satisfaction, so that female professors are more satisfied with their jobs than male professors.Also, people with a high skill level are more satisfied with their jobs than people with a low skill level, and permanent professors are more satisfied with their jobs than temporary professors.
Shakib Varjaei (2015), in his research under the name of "factors affecting the job satisfaction of professors of the Islamic Azad University of Tehran", came to the conclusion that the factors that led to the low level of satisfaction of the professors include more students in the class, difficulties in continuing education and promotion The academic level of the professors, the lack of laws to protect their rights, the low level of salary, the lack of attention of university units in timely promotion and change of employment status, the difficulty of research projects in terms of administrative procedures and the weak academic motivation of some students.Ghori (2018) has conducted research titled "Examining the Job Satisfaction of Kabul University Professors."The results of the research show that, overall, the level of job satisfaction of Kabul University professors is above the average level.Soheila Zamani et al. (2013), in their research titled "Investigating the Relationship between Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction and Job Burnout among Employees of Tabriz University", based on the findings of this research, it appears that cooperative organizational culture has the highest level of job satisfaction and causes the lowest level of job burnout.Amir Ashkan Nasiripour and colleagues (2012) have conducted research under the title of "factors influencing job satisfaction of workers based on Herzberg's theory in teaching hospitals of Qazvin city" and have come to the conclusion that proper salary and job security, the feeling of Responsibility at work and the feeling of success at work as motivational factors can be effective in improving the performance of employees more than any other factor.Yahya Erwaneh, Safura Jesour, and Esfandiar Mohammadi (2016), in their research entitled "The Relationship between Justice in Payment and Job Satisfaction", have conducted a case study of the social security organization of Ilam City.The result indicates that there is a relationship between the dimensions of justice in payment and the job satisfaction of workers.And there is a significant correlation.
Soheila Selimian (2013), in her research under the title of "Investigating the factors affecting the job satisfaction of the employees of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company", finally, what was obtained was classified into four groups which fair distribution of facilities, value factors, money The opinion of the employees towards the company and the level of education has been influential on the variable of satisfaction with the welfare facilities.
Farnoosh Panahpour Eslami and Marjan Mohammad Jafari (2016) have conducted research on the effect of employee turnover on the job satisfaction of the branches of the National Bank of Kerman; the results indicate that the turnover of employees has a positive and significant effect on the job satisfaction of the employees.Shahabuddin Hosseini and Mohammad Abdullah Shah (2016) have conducted research under the title of "investigating the relationship between the types of rewards and the job satisfaction of the employees of the case study of the Tourism Bank"; the results showed that the types of rewards have different importance from the perspective of the employees and the managers of organizations By specifying the importance of different types of rewards in their organization, they can focus on the optimal management of the reward system and the correct allocation of reward types with the aim of increasing the job satisfaction of employees, improving their performance and increasing their productivity.
Abbas Qaltash (2013), in his research under the title of "Examining the relationship between organizational culture and organizational intelligence with job satisfaction of employees", the results showed that there is a direct relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction, between organizational intelligence and job satisfaction, and between all dimensions of organizational intelligence.Job satisfaction has a direct and meaningful relationship, and all aspects of organizational culture have had a direct and meaningful relationship with job satisfaction.

Methodology
In this section, the research method used in this study is discussed.This section includes the research method and design, measurement tools, validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the definition of the statistical population used, and the statistical software used for data analysis.
In general, research methods in behavioral sciences can be divided according to two criteria.a) the purpose of the research and b) how to collect data.Based on this, the current research is practical in terms of purpose.In terms of collecting field information (questionnaire), More precisely, applied research is an attempt to answer a practical problem that exists in the real world.In applied research, the theories, laws, principles, and techniques developed for basic research are used to solve practical and real problems (Khaki, 2013).
Considering that the main goal of this research is to find cause and effect relationships and since this research examines the effect of an independent variable on the dependent variable, the research method is scientific-adaptive with a descriptive-analytical approach.It is descriptive because it uses questionnaire tools, and it is analytical because, in addition to the existing situation, it tests hypotheses based on predicted relationships.

Statistical population
The statistical population of this research consists of the academic staff members of Takhar University.

Study sample and sampling method
The statistical population of this research includes all the professors of Takhar University, and an attempt was made to select a sample through which we can test the research hypotheses.Therefore, the statistical sample of this research follows random sampling.

Determining the size of the research sample
In this research, Cochran's method was used to obtain the sample size.The total number statistical community is 170 members of the academic staff of Takhar University, among which 36 are in master's and doctoral programs inside and outside the country, and out of 134, using Morgan's table, 98 samples have been achieved

Method of collecting information
The secondary data of this research was obtained through library sources (books, articles, and theses), and the primary data was obtained from the field method (through a questionnaire).The data collection tool in this research is the researcher's self-made questionnaire, which will be described and explained below.
Questionnaire questions: This part of the questionnaire consists of two parts.

A) Demographic variables:
In this section, 7 questions have been asked, and an attempt has been made to collect general and demographic information regarding the respondents.b) Main specialized questions: 15 specialized questions were designed in the distributed questionnaire, which the researcher wanted to use to answer the research questions.Finally, this questionnaire was distributed among the academic staff members of Takhar University, and the required data was collected.
Questionnaire questions were designed based on a five-point Likert scale (very low, low, medium, high, and very high); with the help of this range, the respondent can express his attitude and belief towards a phenomenon or topic by choosing the relevant phrase to express it and in this way, the researcher will be able to understand the respondent's attitude.

Validity of the questionnaire
In this research, for the validity test, the questionnaire was distributed to a number of professors, and regarding the correctness and transparency of the questionnaire questions, they confirmed the validity of the questionnaire.

Questionnaire reliability
In this research, in order to check the reliability of the data obtained from the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficient method was analyzed using SPSS software, which showed an alpha coefficient of 84 percent.

Method of data analysis
In this study, descriptive statistics such as absolute frequency distribution tables and averages were used to check and compare the information collected through the questionnaire, as well as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for the normality of the data.The chi-square test is used to test the hypotheses of the research.Researchers use this test if the number of variables in their hypotheses is more than two variables and the distribution of data is normal.The reason why I used this test was the non-normality of the data and the large volume of assumptions.SPSSv26 software was used to analyze and apply these tests.

Data analysis 4.1.1 Descriptive analysis of variables
Based on the information obtained from the table below, it shows that the majority of the participants of this research are in the age groups of 20-30 and 31-40, and the age group of 60-70 has the least number of participants.

Inferential analysis of data 4.2.1 Normality tests
The information in the table below shows the results of the Kolmogorov-Spernov test.According to the information in the table below, the research variables are non-normal because the probability value or sig. is smaller than 0.05.

No
Variables Sig.
No Variables Sig.
The type of interaction of leadership 0.0000 2. Cash bonuses and supplements 0.0000 10 .
Opportunity for academic promotions 0.0000 4. The number of lectures in a week 0.0000 12 .
The type of interaction of colleagues 0.0000 5. Student performance 0.0000 13 .
Job opportunities for family members 0.0000 6. Separate office 0.0000 14 .
The view of the university about the future of the staff 0.0000 7. Freedom of action 0.0000 15 .

Source: Research finding
Based on that, the null hypothesis of the normality test is rejected, and the alternative hypothesis of non-normality is confirmed, so the conditions for using the chi-square method to test the main hypotheses of the research are favorable.

Chi-square test results
Based on the results estimated by the chi-square method, which is also shown in the table below, all the null hypotheses are rejected, and the alternative hypotheses of the research are confirmed because the p-value estimated for all hypotheses is less than 0.05.

۰.۰۰۰۰
Rejected There is no significant relationship between the amount of income and satisfaction.H0 1.
Accepted There is a significant relationship between the amount of income and satisfaction.H1
Accepted Cash reward has an effect on satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰
Rejected Providing the opportunity to continue education does not affect satisfaction.H0 3.
Accepted Providing the opportunity to continue education has an impact on satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰ Rejected
The amount of coursework does not affect satisfaction.H0 4.
Accepted The amount of coursework has an effect on satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰
Rejected Academic performance of students does not affect satisfaction.H0 5.
Accepted Academic performance of students has an effect on satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰
Rejected Having an independent office does not affect satisfaction.H0 6.
Accepted Having an independent office does not affect satisfaction.H1

Rejected
Good communication and cooperation of the administration does not affect the satisfaction.H0 9.
Accepted Good communication and cooperation of the administration has an effect on satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰ Rejected
The opportunity to present new ideas does not affect job satisfaction.H0 10.
Accepted The opportunity to present new ideas causes job satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰ Rejected
The opportunity for promotions and scientific advancements does not affect job satisfaction.H0 11.
Accepted The opportunity for promotions and scientific advancements affects job satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰ Rejected
The relationship between colleagues and a good working environment does not affect satisfaction.H0 12.

Accepted
The relationship between colleagues and a good work environment has an impact on satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰
Rejected Providing employment opportunities for family members does not affect satisfaction.H0 13.
Accepted Providing employment opportunities for family members has an impact on satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰
Rejected The university's clear vision about the future of employees does not affect satisfaction.H0 14.
Accepted The university's clear vision about the future of employees affects satisfaction.H1

۰.۰۰۰۰
Rejected Providing academic tours for professors does not affect satisfaction.H0 15.
Accepted Providing academic tours for professors has an impact on satisfaction.H1 So, we can say that there is a significant relationship between the salary and job satisfaction of professors, which means that increasing the salary can cause job satisfaction.There is a significant relationship between cash rewards and supplements and professors' job satisfaction, which means that increasing cash rewards and supplements can cause professors' job satisfaction.There is a significant relationship between providing the opportunity to continue education and the job satisfaction of professors, which means that providing the opportunity to continue education can cause job satisfaction of professors.There is an inverse relationship between the number of teaching hours and the job satisfaction of professors, which means that with an increase in the number of teaching hours, the level of satisfaction decreases, and with a decrease in the number of teaching hours, the level of satisfaction increases.There is a significant relationship between academic performance and student success and professor job satisfaction, which means that increasing the performance of students' success can cause job satisfaction of professors.There is a significant relationship between having an independent office and the job satisfaction of professors, which means that having an independent office can cause the job satisfaction of professors.There is a significant relationship between autonomy, academic freedoms, and job satisfaction of professors, which means that increasing the amount of autonomy and academic freedoms can cause job satisfaction of professors.There is a significant relationship between job security and professors' job satisfaction, which means that more job security can cause professors' job satisfaction.There is a significant relationship between good communication and cooperation with the faculty and university leadership and the job satisfaction of the professors, which means that increasing good communication and cooperation with the faculty and university leadership can cause the job satisfaction of the professors to increase.There is a significant relationship between colleagues' interaction and good work environment and professors' job satisfaction, which means that colleagues' interaction and good work environment can cause professors' job satisfaction.There is a significant relationship between providing job opportunities for family members and job satisfaction of professors, which means that providing job opportunities for family members can cause job satisfaction of professors.There is a significant relationship between the university's clear vision of the professor's future and professors' job satisfaction, which means that having a clear vision of the future can cause professors' job satisfaction.There is a significant relationship between the provision of academic courses and professors' job satisfaction, which means that the provision of scientific courses can cause professors' job satisfaction.

Valuation of variables
Based on the valuation that has been done, the following variables have the most or the least impact on professors' job satisfaction, respectively (Job security on job satisfaction with 30.8), which has the highest impact on professors' job satisfaction.
(Opportunity for promotions and scientific advancements on job satisfaction = 30.46),(providing the opportunity to study for professors on job satisfaction = 30.13),(colleagues and suitable work environment and job satisfaction = 29.6), ( Good communication and cooperation with the faculty and university leadership = 29.46),(Having a clear view by the university about the future of the professor on job satisfaction = 29), (Providing a separate and independent work environment, i.e. independent office = 28.93),( Cash rewards and bonuses increase job satisfaction = 28.46),(Providing scientific courses to strengthen their experiences on job satisfaction = 28.46),(Student performance and success on job satisfaction = 28.33),( Autonomy and freedom of action on job satisfaction = 28.13),(Opportunity for new ideas and theories on job satisfaction = 28.06),(The amount of salary on job satisfaction = 27.93),(The amount of academic obligation means the number Credit or teaching hours on job satisfaction = 27.6),(providing job opportunities for professors' family members on job satisfaction = 25.73), has the least impact on professors' job satisfaction.
Note: The second question (cash bonuses and supplements cause job satisfaction) and the fifteenth question (providing scientific courses to strengthen their scientific experiences with job satisfaction) have a joint or equal 28.46 impact on professors' job satisfaction.

Conclusion
As we know, job satisfaction is one of the most important factors in increasing efficiency, creating motivation, and fostering a positive attitude of workers towards their work, which ultimately creates loyalty and longevity of workers in institutions.Therefore, it is very important to identify the factors that increase job satisfaction.
Academic staff members are the main elements of any university; the motivation and job satisfaction of professors play a very important role in their performance, and not paying attention to it will cause relative stagnation in their performance.
In this research, the factors affecting the job satisfaction of the academic staff members of Takhar University have been examined.The current research is practical in terms of its purpose and the method of collecting field information or questionnaires.
The statistical community in this research was formed by the members of the academic staff of Takhar University, and an effort was made to select a sample through which the hypotheses could be tested.Cochran's statistical method was used, and the total statistical population is 170 professors, of which 36 are in master's and doctorate programs inside and outside the country.Sampling was done from the remaining 134.Based on Cochran's formula, 98 samples were obtained, and after distribution, 96 questionnaires were collected and analyzed.
In the current research, a mixed research method (library research and field) was used, and a Likert-type research questionnaire, which includes five options, was given to the professors before distribution in order to ensure the validity of the questionnaire and to obtain reassurance from this part.Their revised point of view has been considered and approved due to the reliability and reliability of the data obtained from the questionnaire.Cronbach's alpha coefficient method was performed using SPSS software,

VALUATION OF VARIABLES
Valuation of variables and in order to ensure the normality of the data, the Kolmogorov-Spirinov test was used.At the same time, for Analysis of descriptive statistics methods such as frequency tables, measurement index of central scales including mean and standard deviation, and chi-square test was used in the inferential statistics section.
In the analysis of descriptive statistics information, the majority of participants in the current research are in the age groups of 20-30 and 31-40, and the age group of 60-70 has the least number of participants.The number of participants depends on gender.88 are men, and 7 are women; 20 respondents have a bachelor's degree, 72 have a master's degree, and 4 have a doctorate.It has been a year.The highest number of participants in academic rank is 40 professors, and the lowest is 1 graduate; the highest number of participants in each faculty is 23 in the seven faculties of Sharia, and the lowest is 7 in law and political science.have given.
According to the information obtained from the Kolmogrof test, the hypothesis of non-normality of the data is confirmed because the probability value is estimated to be less than 0.05, so the conditions for using the chi-square method to test the main hypotheses of the research are favorable.Based on the results estimated by the chi-square method, all zero hypotheses of 15 main questions were rejected, and the opposite hypothesis of professors' job satisfaction was confirmed.
In the evaluation section of the variables using the Faridman method, the following variables have the most or the least impact on the job satisfaction of professors in the following order (job security with 30.8 on the job satisfaction of professors, which has the highest impact on job satisfaction) has, and providing job opportunities for professors' family members, which has 25.73 of the lowest impact on professors' job satisfaction.

Suggestions
Based on the results obtained from this research, it is suggested that universities pay more attention to the following areas.
Source: Research findings Based on the information in the table below, obtained from the research questionnaire, it shows that the participants have scientific experience between 5-1 years 14 people, 10-6 years 40 people, 11-15 years 23 people, 20-16 years 6 people, 4 people 25-21 years old, 2 people 26-30 years old, 1 person has between 30-35 years' experience.

Table ( 2
): number of participants in different age groups According to the information in the table below obtained from the research questionnaire, it is clear that the majority of the respondents of this research are men, 88 of them, and the remaining 7 of the participants are women.Based on the information obtained from the questionnaire, the table below shows that 85 tons of married people and 10 tons of participants are single people.The information obtained from the table below shows that the participants in the current research are 20 bachelors, 72 masters, and 4 doctoral students.