What Factors Influence American STEM Teachers' Job Satisfaction? A Quantitative Investigation Using the Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018 Dataset

• In Event: Organizational Effects Influencing Teachers and Student Outcomes

Abstract

The teacher shortage is confining STEM education advancement in the United States. Improving teachers’ job satisfaction is a reasonable approach to handle this issue. In this study, we applied Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory to investigate the factors influencing American STEM teachers’ job satisfaction based on the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 dataset. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was employed for data analysis. The results show that: 1) at the teacher level, teacher self-efficacy and teacher cooperation are significantly positive predictors to teacher job satisfaction. 2) at the school level, schools with a better ability to manage academic pressure can significantly boost teachers’ job satisfaction 3) no significant predictive effect of school leadership on teachers’ job satisfaction was found.

Authors

• Yu Xiao, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Yeping Li, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Ke Wang, Nicholls State University