Date of Award

8-4-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Thomas Barrett

Abstract

This dissertation was designed to provide current information on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of those identifying as women of color working in offices of academic testing. Faced with systemic oppression due to race and gender, women of color have opted in to a profession that is viewed by some as a threat and barrier to the measurement of student success. Additionally, concepts such as the “glass ceiling” and the “glass cliff” have stalled the upward mobility of women of color in this field. Ironically, women of color report higher levels of both job satisfaction and organizational commitment than their male and female counterparts. Through the lens of Spector’s Theory of Job Satisfaction (Spector, 1985) and the Three Dimensions of Organizational Commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991), the researcher conducted a qualitative study to ascertain which, if any, of the factors listed served as antecedents to the organizational commitment of this population of skilled workers. (Meyer & Allen, 1991) The study sample consisted of nine persons identifying as women of color with either present or past experience working in an office of academic testing. Participants engaged in one-on-one discussions driven by a pre-scripted interview protocol containing 18 questions centering on the nine factors of job satisfaction, the three factors of organizational commitment, and their experiences as women of color in the field of testing. Data was analyzed using a thematic approach to determine what factors serve as job satisfiers that motivate women of color to remain committed to both their institution and their profession despite challenges. Analysis of the data revealed that this population exhibited high levels of both Normative and Affective commitment to their organizations (Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993). The factors of job satisfaction that serve as antecedents of commitment were Operating Procedures and the Nature of Work they perform which fostered their sense of duty to the students, their Coworkers, and their organization. Pay, Promotion, and relationships with their Supervisors proved to be dissatisfiers that adversely affected organizational commitment.

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