The job satisfaction of 4-H agents in the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service

Numerous studies have investigated the job satisfaction of persons working in other sectors of our society. The primary purpose of this study was to describe the relationships between selected factors of job satisfaction (achievement, advancement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself) and job dissatisfaction factors (interpersonal relations, policy and administration, salary, supervision-technical, working conditions) of the 4-H agents in the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service. A three-part mailed questionnaire was used to collect data from a population of 128 county level Extension educators whose program assignments included 4-H. Part 1 was an adaptation of the job satisfaction/ dissatisfaction scale developed by Orlin Wood (1973). Part II was an modified version of the Brayfield-Rothe job satisfaction questionnaire and Part III collected demographic data. A pilot test was conducted with a random sample of 40 4-H agents. The response rate for this study was 96%. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, an analysis of variance, t-test, and regression analysis were used to in analyzing the data. 4-H agents were found to be moderately satisfied when all aspects of the job were considered. The factor showing the strongest relationship with job satisfaction was "the work itself" and the weakest was "advancement". "Working conditions" had the strongest relationship related to dissatisfaction and the weakest was "salary". The regression analysis showed that factors of job satisfaction explained more of the variance in job satisfaction scores than did the job dissatisfaction factors. Low significant relationships were found between job satisfaction and the demographic variables of age, years of service and income level. Researcher concludes however, that there may be other variables and/or organizational factors which have a greater impact on the turnover of 4-H agents. Further research and evaluation was recommended.