An Evaluation of the Quality of Work Life: A Study of the Faculty Members of Private Universities in Bangladesh

Abstract

In Bangladesh, Quality of Work Life (QWL) is still a new concept to emerge although four decades have passed since its inception. Very few initiatives have been taken to identify employee QWL in different sectors of Bangladesh (i.e. banking, hospitals, tobacco, schools, etc.) and the private higher education sector is still unexplored. Thus the current study aims to explore the perception of the faculty members of private universities in Bangladesh about their QWL. The study looks in detail at the prospects and problems of QWL and its related dimensions.

A quantitative survey of 72 full-time faculty members from 11 private universities is conducted based on a structured questionnaire designed with a 5-point Likert-scale. First, a

validity and reliability test is conducted. According to the factor mean values, three most positively perceived QWL dimensions are social relevance of work life, safe and healthy working condition, and social integration in the work organization. Correlational analysis reveals a significant relationship between QWL and its dimensions. Several nonparametric t-tests are conducted to explore whether the QWL of the faculty members vary due to the differences in gender, faculty/department, education, job position, experience, and marital status. The results reveal significant differences about the perception of QWL exist in terms of gender and faculty/department of the university. At the end step-wise regression analysis reveals, social relevance of work life, adequate and fair compensation, and constitutionalism, are three dimensions of QWL which work as predictor variables to determine the QWL of the faculty members in private universities.