Retaining teachers: A discrete choice experiment of factors affecting teachers’ retention-decision and their alignment with national reforms.

Despite national reforms and measures to attract and retain teachers, a shortage of ~12 000 teachers in Sweden, is prognosed by 2035.

The project will provide insights into the factors that impact teacher retention and inform policies aimed at improving teacher job satisfaction and reducing turnover rates.

The purpose is to examine teachers’ perceptions concerning the relative importance of different personal and work factors for their retention and to examine how existing national reforms and measures to attract, recruit and retain teachers align with teacher preferences, e.g., teacher salary structure, the introduction of support staff.

The multidisciplinary group has experience with the methodology, and with conducting research in schools.

The 3-year project consists of three consecutive studies combining a Delphi-method (n=30 teachers), a discrete choice experiment (DCE) conducted through a quantitative survey (n=1500 teachers), and a qualitative study using focus-group interviews.

The Delphi-method and DCE allow for the quantification of the relative importance of teachers' work characteristics and the trade-offs they are willing to make.

The interviews allow for situational context to be explored and influential ‘hidden’ variables to be elucidated and will provide a more nuanced understanding of the preferences identified and whether national reforms match teacher’s preferences.