Date of Award

8-2002

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Teaching, Learning, and Leadership

Abstract

Given the magnitude of importance in the role of the school principal, it is important to understand some of the job satisfaction factors related to the retention of current school principals particularly as it relates to leadership style. This study focuses on the retention of current principals by analyzing the job satisfaction of Michigan high school principals and examining its relationship with the principal’s leadership style. This study incorporates correlation research methods and survey procedures which include a self-administered questionnaire by the principal. The subjects for this study were randomly selected from the target population of all Michigan public high school principals who were employed during the 2001- 2002 school year. From a random sample, a total of 403 Michigan high school principals received the surveys with 173 principals responding. First, in regard to job satisfaction, the study reveals that male high school principals tended to be more satisfied with their promotion ability than female principals, and principals in Class A schools had a higher satisfaction with promotion than those in smaller schools. Overall, male principals in class B high schools had greater job satisfaction than principals in class C high schools and the relationship between job satisfaction with pay and with work suggested that those principals who were paid more also were more satisfied with their work. Second, in regard to leadership style, the study reveals that principals in class A high schools scored significantly higher in transformational leadership than principals in class C high schools. Likewise, principals between the ages o f 46 to 55 as well as between the ages of 56 to 65 had a greater Individualized consideration for others than those between the ages of 36 to 45. Third, in regard to the relationship between job satisfaction and leadership style, the study reveals that a principal’s job satisfaction increased when the principal’s leadership style was high in Inspirational Motivation (IM), Individualized Consideration (IC), Idealized Influence (IC), and Intellectual Stimulation (IS) (the transformational leadership styles) and low in Management by Exception (MBE) and Laizze-Faire (LF) (the transactional leadership styles).

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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