Influence of job satisfaction, social support system and work-life balance on Malaysian women engineers’ professional commitment

Abstract

A limited number of studies have explored the factors related to professional commitment of women engineers in the Malaysian context. The decreasing presence of female representation in the engineering sector in Malaysia could contribute to a significant brain drain and impairs growth of Malaysia’s economy. This study investigated the influence of job satisfaction, social support system and work-life balance on the professional commitment of Malaysian women engineers. Data were gathered from women engineers across Klang Valley in the form of survey questionnaires. Through this cross-sectional study, relationship and influence of these human resource factors to the professional commitment of Malaysian women engineers were determined. This study implied that there exist moderate level of jobs satisfaction, social support, work-life balance and professional commitment amongst Malaysian women engineers. Jobs satisfaction and work-life balance has been found to have moderate relationship with their professional commitment. Furthermore, job satisfaction emerged as the biggest factor that influences professional commitment amongst Malaysian women engineers. Results from this study could help organizations and policy makers in implementing strategies that can strengthens professional commitment of women engineers and in return increases their intention to stay in their profession.