Teaching is a demanding job and research suggests that prolonged exposure to stress can affect physical health. While some studies have found that teachers do indeed report relatively poor physical health, the existing literature has important methodological limitations. In particular, no research exists comparing teachers to other occupations…

Many school systems face recurring shortages of qualified teachers. Research suggests that improving teachers' working environment is one way of improving teachers' job satisfaction and retention in the profession. However, working environment is inconsistently measured in the literature, hampering cumulation of knowledge. This article develops…

England currently faces a shortage of teachers, in part due to declining retention. Research suggests that one important influence on teachers' decisions about whether to leave teaching is the quality of working conditions in their school. Understanding which specific aspects of working conditions have the strongest relationship with retention…

Teacher shortages are a recurring problem in publicly funded schools, in part because of poor retention. Working conditions in schools are an important predictor of teacher job satisfaction and retention, yet research has so far made limited headway in identifying the specific aspects of the working environment which matter. This research uses…

This paper presents the first empirical evidence on long-run trends in teacher mental health and wellbeing in England. We find that, although there has been a recent rise in mental health problems reported by teachers in England, this is mirrored by workers in other professions -- with little evidence of a simultaneous change in levels of personal…

High teacher turnover in schools is associated with reduced pupil attainment. High turnover also has an effect on equity, since it tends to be concentrated in schools with deprived intakes. A good deal of research has attributed higher levels of teacher turnover in such schools to the challenges involved in teaching disadvantaged pupils. However,…