Quality of work life (QoWL) of faculty members in Saudi higher education institutions A comparison between undergraduate medical and engineering program

Purpose Higher education institutions understand the importance of the quality of work life (QoWL) since it directly impacts faculty members' involvement in providing high-quality teaching. The purpose of this paper is to compare the QoWL of faculty members in undergraduate medical and undergraduate engineering programs offered at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory study design was adopted and 100 faculty members from each program were selected. A pretested QoWL questionnaire was distributed among faculty members using the Questionpro online survey portal. Findings Results showed that there is no significant difference between the two programs with regard to the overall QoWL (p>0.05). However, a significant difference was observed with respect to dimensions such as "working condition/environment," "psychosocial factors at work place" and "job satisfaction and job security." Also, there is a positive relationship observed between all the dimensions of QoWL (p<0.05). Originality/value This study will help educational policy planners to understand the differences in QoWL of faculty members in different programs so as to develop appropriate strategies for its improvement.