(The Mediator Role of Job Satisfaction in the Impact of Job Engagement on Intent to Leave: A Research on Private School Teachers)

Abstract

Purpose –In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of work engagement on the intention to leave and the mediating role of job satisfaction in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach – The relational survey model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used in the study. The data of the survey was provided by questionnaire from 203 teachers from different private schools. In the study, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-UWES developed by Schaufeli et al. (2002) for work engagement and The Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale developed by Weiss et al. (1967) was used for job satisfaction. In order to measure the intention to leave, the expressions obtained from the Michigan Organizational Evaluation Scale developed by Cammann et al. (1979) by adapting two items related to the subject into Turkish by Toy Aray (2008) were used. Structural equation modeling has been used in testing research hypotheses. Findings – The findings obtained in the study support Hypothesis 1, which indicates that work engagement has a significant effect on the intention to leave, and Hypothesis 2, which states that work engagement has a significant and positive effect on job satisfaction. In addition, the findings also support Hypothesis 3, which states that job satisfaction has a significant and negative effect on the intention to leave. In addition, Hypothesis 4, which states that job satisfaction has a mediating effect between work engagement and intention to leave, is also supported. Discussion – It has been observed that all the findings obtained in the study are consistent with previous studies in the literature. Teachers' work engagement affects their intention to leave negatively and their job satisfaction positively. Teachers' job satisfaction negatively affects their intention to leave. On the other hand, job satisfaction has been seen to play a full mediating role between work engagement and intention to leave. Especially private schools, which aim to retain their highly qualified and talented teachers, go through some regulations that increase the level of work engagement for their teachers, which will positively affect their job satisfaction and allow them to move away from the intention to leave. This study is among the pioneering studies in the literature in terms of investigating the mediating role of job satisfaction between work engagement and intention to leave.