Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this replication study was to understand job satisfaction factors (work, pay, supervision, people, opportunities for promotion, and job in general) as measured by the abridged Job Descriptive Index (aJDI) and the abridged Job in General (aJIG) scale for information technology (IT) professionals working in California community colleges. In addition, this study examined the importance of job satisfaction factors as perceived by IT professionals working in California community colleges based on their length of time as an IT professional in the California community college workforce. Methodology. The participants in the present study were 198 IT professionals from 14 community college districts in California. The participants responded to an online survey instrument assessing their perception of 5 job satisfaction facets and their job in general. The results were then compared to the study being replicated to identify the similarities and differences in the data. Findings. Examination of the quantitative data from the respondents indicated that IT professionals at California community colleges perceived their coworkers to be the main contributor to their satisfaction and motivation at work followed closely by the nature of the work itself. Second, perceived opportunities for promotion contributed the least to their level of satisfaction with their job. Third, analyzing the data based on the participant's years of experience produced no significant difference in the results. Finally, the comparison of results between the studies showed similarities in perceived satisfaction for the individual facets and in the overall assessment of job satisfaction. Conclusions. The data from the study support the conclusion that IT professionals in California community colleges perceive their coworkers and the nature of the work as the main factors in their job satisfaction and motivation regardless of their years of experience as an IT professional. Recommendations. Focusing efforts on improving job satisfaction should be emphasized by leaders of IT professionals in California community colleges. Relationships with coworkers and the intrinsic rewards of the work itself are perceived to be the main contributors to overall satisfaction with extrinsic rewards of pay and opportunities for promotion perceived to contribute to their dissatisfaction. Leaders should foster satisfaction and retention of IT professionals through reinforcing existing job satisfiers and improving factors perceived based on this study to be dissatisfiers.