| This study focused on an important group people in the human service workforce, the direct care providers in mental health and mental retardation. In order to better understand factors controlling job tenure, job turnover, and job satisfaction, this study investigated direct care providers' satisfaction with their supervisors, which had not been adequately studied. The study collected data about race, educational level, gender, and age for 212 direct care providers working in two human services residential programs in New England, and used the Satisfaction With My Supervisor Scale developed by Scarpello and Vandenberg. The variables of race, age, and gender were not significant determinants of satisfaction with supervisor. However, educational level was significant in relation to direct care providers' satisfaction with their supervisors. The preferred explanation for the relationship between educational level and satisfaction with supervisors is that direct care providers value supervisors with training, education, and skills more advanced than their own. The importance of the educational level may be under-appreciated as a factor in the direct care providers' satisfaction with their supervisors. One recommendation from this study is that, in addition to practical experience in a human services setting, the promotion to supervisor should require formal education that includes the requisite knowledge and skills to perform the full range of tasks that any supervisor would be expected to complete. |
