Job Achievement and Job Satisfaction of Dietitian in Elementary School

Park, Eun Jeong; Kim, Ki Nam

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to gather basic data on dietitian's general characteristics, working conditions, job achievement and job satisfaction. Thereby, a formulation can be worked out to improve dietitian's job achievement and satisfaction. The study was conducted during one week period, spanning July 23 to July 30, 1998. The method of the study was to distribute 560 questionnaires to the primary school dieticians working in the city of Tae Jun, located in Choong-Cheong Province. Out of 560 questionnaires that was distributed, 327 were returned. Moreover, 318 out of 327 questionnaires that was returned was valid enough to be processed by the SAS Program. About sixty percent of the respondents(61.1%) indicated that they were between 26 to 30 years old. Moreover, approximately half of the respondents(48.8%) were unmarried. In terms of the level of education, the bachelor's degree was reported as the most common education level(56.3%), while 3.8% of the participants reported achieving graduate degrees. The number of years in working in the profession ranged from 2 to 5 years. Furthermore, approximately 74% of the respondents indicated that, on average, they earned over 800,000(Won) per month. In terms of the type of the school setting, 52.8% of the respondents worked in the urban setting, whereas, 60.0% worked in the rural school setting. Of these schools, about thirty eight percent(38.7%) of the schools were relatively small sized schools(400 students or less ). In terms of dietitian's sense of job satisfaction, the areas that showed relatively high level of satisfaction was in the menu control work(3.90) and purchase control work(3.90). However, appallingly low job satisfaction was indicated in the areas of personnel management (2.96%), and nutritional education and counsel(2.73%). Furthermore, job satisfaction varied greatly depending on age, wage, type of the food service, and type of school. The highest satisfaction was indicated in the areas of supervisory position(3.42), work itself(3.31%), co-workers(3.11). Other facets that led to job satisfaction were periodic wage increase(2.19%) and promotion opportunities(2.79%). In conclusion dietitian's job achievement showed significant correlation with job satisfaction. The study suggests that, in order to improve the overall job satisfaction of the dieticians, it is necessary to improve the working conditions of dieticians in primary schools. Secondly, there is a necessity for improving the status of the dieticians by raising the salary and treating the dieticians with the same level of respect in comparison with teachers or executive officials. Finally, another way of raising the job satisfaction of the dieticians is to provide opportunity for continuing education. So that, they can further their career in their chosen field.