An Evaluation of the Relationship Between Professional Self-Esteem and Job Satisfaction Levels of Audiologists According to Their Workplace Types.

Background: The concept of occupational self-esteem is the value judgment developed towards the chosen profession, while job satisfaction includes positive emotional attitudes towards the job. Professional self-esteem and job satisfaction levels of audiologists are a matter of curiosity.

Purpose: To determine the effect of the workplace types of audiologists in Turkey on their professional self-esteem and job satisfaction levels.

Study sample: The study included 307 audiologists working in various types of workplace. Participation in the study was voluntary.

Data collection: A Personal Information Form, Arıcak's Occupational Self-Esteem Scale, and the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale were administered in all individuals via Google forms and the scale scores were compared according to the workplace types.

Results: A statistically significant relationship was found between professional self-esteem and job satisfaction, age, satisfaction with workplace, satisfaction with working conditions, effect of workplace on professional development, and income satisfaction (p<0.05). However, no statistically significant relationship was found between professional self-esteem and professional tenure and tenure in the current organization (p>0.05). There was a strong positive statistically significant relationship between job satisfaction and professional self-esteem of audiologists working at state hospitals, hearing aid centers, university hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and cochlear implant centers and academics (p<0.05).

Conclusions: According to the present results, although the professional self-esteem of audiologists in Turkey showed a small difference according to the type of workplace, their mean score was high. This shows that audiologists enjoy their profession. Job satisfaction levels were lower especially in rehabilitation centers and private hospitals. We think that improving the working conditions of audiologists in private institutions will be effective in improving the services provided to patients by leading to better job satisfaction.