Purpose: Knowledge of teachers' participative decision making (PDM) and job satisfaction (JS) is important, as teachers comprise most of a school's staff. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of teacher gender, nationality and school type on teachers' PDM and JS in Abu Dhabi's schools and to determine whether there any significant differences in PDM and teachers' JS among teachers of different genders, school types and nationalities. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was used to collect data for the study by measuring each responding teacher's involvement in making school decisions in both the instructional and managerial domains and JS. The questionnaire was distributed among teachers in 28 different schools around the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Findings: The primary results demonstrated that teachers' PDM differs by teacher gender, nationality and school type, whereas teacher's JS differs by teacher gender and nationality, with school type having in general no significant effect on teacher JS. Originality/value: This study contributes to literature on the UAE educational field, educational leadership and school management.