Teachers’ dissatisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic: Factors contributing to a desire to leave the profession

Abstract

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic required more responsibilities from teachers, including implementing prevention strategies, changes in school policies, and managing their own mental health, which yielded higher dissatisfaction in the field.MethodsA cross-sectional web survey was conducted among educators to collect information on their experiences teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the 2020–2021 academic year. Qualtrics, an online survey platform, fielded the survey from May 6 to June 8, 2021 to a national, convenience sample of 1,807 respondents.ResultsFindings revealed that overall, 43% of K-12 teachers reported a greater intention to leave the profession than previously recalled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Intention to leave was multi-level, and associated with socio-demographic factors (e.g., age: AOR = 1.87, p < 0.05), individual factors (e.g., perceived COVID risks: AOR = 1.44, p < 0.05), and teachers’ agency (e.g., dissatisfaction with school/district communications and decisions: AOR = 1.34, p < 0.05). We also found demographic disparities with respect to race and gender (e.g., female teachers: AOR: 1.78, p < 0.05) around teachers’ ability to provide feedback to schools on opening/closing and overall dissatisfaction with school/district COVID-19 prevention strategies implementation and policies.ConclusionThese findings are consistent with the Job-Demand and Resources Model (JD-R), which posits that lack of organizational support can exacerbate job stressors, leading to burnout. Specifically, dissatisfaction with the way school policies were implemented took a toll on teachers’ mental health, leading to a desire to leave the profession. These findings are also consistent with research conducted once in-person teaching resumed in 2020–2021, specifically that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated preexisting teacher shortages that led to self-reported issues of stress, burnout, and retention.ImplicationsFurther research is necessary to understand the resources that may be most useful to reduce the demands of teaching in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some teachers are more likely to leave the field, and educational agencies may wish to target their teacher-retention efforts with emphasis on strong employee wellness programs that help educators to manage and reduce their stress. Education agency staff may wish to review policies and practices to provide meaningful opportunities to give input to school/district decisions and enable proactive communication channels.

Changes in Teachers’ Perceptions of School Quality During COVID-19

“…In Hypothesis 1, we assumed COVID-19-related losses in the school climate. Based on previous COVID-19 studies reporting increased teacher stress associated with lower perceived school climate (e.g., Brion & Kiral, 2022; Gillani et al, 2022; Trinidad, 2021), limited adaptive teaching (e.g., Letzel et al, 2020), lower school satisfaction (e.g., Haller & Novita, 2021; Kirsch et al, 2021), and decreased extracurricular activities (e.g., Finnerty et al, 2021; Ilari et al, 2022; LaForge-MacKenzie et al, 2022), a loss in teachers’ school climate ratings is plausible. However, we did not observe this in our study, and one possible explanation could be the way in which school climate was measured, at least in terms of the two dimensions of satisfaction with school quality (SSQ) and school as a living space (SLS).…”

Supporting School Staff: Insights From Employee Health and Well‐Being Programs

“…This systematic review also revealed a lack of assessment of organizational culture and supports; both play a key role in promoting health in the workplace, and a lack of organizational support can increase job stressors, leading to burnout 61 . Teacher retention efforts might include employee wellness programs to help educators manage and reduce their stress, which is inextricably linked to mental health.…”

“…60 This systematic review also revealed a lack of assessment of organizational culture and supports; both play a key role in promoting health in the workplace, and a lack of organizational support can increase job stressors, leading to burnout. 61 Teacher retention efforts might include employee wellness programs to help educators manage and reduce their stress, which is inextricably linked to mental health. Based on this review, few studies have examined the mental health outcomes of employee health and well-being programs; yet staff that perceive their workplace as being supportive of health and wellbeing tend to have better mental and physical health outcomes than those that do not feel a similar level of support.…”

Transforming Evidence Into Action: A Commentary on School‐Based Physical Activity and Nutrition Intervention Research

“…Assessing the effectiveness of employee health and well‐being programs in school settings is critically important, particularly given the latest trends of teacher and staff burnout and desire to leave the profession 53 . Only 4 school‐based studies were identified for inclusion in the employee health and well‐being review in this special issue 21 .…”