Abstract

Teacher attrition is a major concern of educational systems. Research has investigated causes of attrition but have primarily neglected the role of teachers' values. The aim of this study is to explore how teachers prioritize four different factors: salary, administrative support, medical benefits, and teaching difficulty. Teachers (448) responded to a survey that asked them to (a) order the four factors by importance, (b) decide between job offers that differed with regards to these factors (e.g., a job with better salary or better administrative support), and (c) report information about teachers' characteristics. Data analysis involved exploring how teachers with differing characteristics prioritized these factors. Additionally, two-step cluster analysis was used to create seven distinct profiles of how teachers ranked the four factors. Findings indicate that teachers in this sample tended to value salary over the other factors. Medical benefits and teaching difficulty were not seen to be very important to teachers. Despite these overall trends, results further suggest that there is a large amount of variation in how teachers rank these factors and that some characteristics, primarily those related to household situations, had a significant impact on teachers' values. Teachers who had less responsibilities for others (e.g., not a primary wage earner, higher household income, married) tended to prioritize other factors over salary.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Teacher Education

Rights

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