Quality of work life among professionals and non-professionals: an exploratory study

Quality of Work Life (QWL) is one of the key areas of interest for both industrialists and academicians alike, as it encompasses all dimensions of work i.e. content and product, Psychological as well as physical. The present study is undertaken to explore the nature of QWL among professionals and non-professionals and also to understand the difference in various dimensions of QWL among professionals and Non-professionals. A sample of 100 professionals i.e. Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and Teachers (25 in each) and 100 non-professionals working in Govt. organizations in Northern Karnataka are selected for this study. The Quality of Work Life-Conditions and Feelings questionnaire by Marshall Sashkin and Langermann (1984) was administered and scrutinized. The data was subjected to statistical analyses using SPSS. The results of Descriptive analysis indicate the extent of QWL experience among the sample. When the dimensions of QWL-C&F were compared through t-test, significant difference is observed between professionals and non-professionals in the dimensions -Personal Growth Opportunity (t=4.25;P<0.01), Work complexity (t=3.59;P<0.01) and Overall QWL-Conditions (t=4.50;P<0.01). Implications are discussed and suggestions are made in the paper.