Flexibility also matters \u2013 quite a lot<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nWe found that teachers and non-teachers alike are highly sensitive to pay. Strikingly, one study found that teachers\u2019 job choices are five times more sensitive to a 10- per cent increase in pay now than a 10-per cent increase in pay upon retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This suggests that shifting some of teachers\u2019 pay earlier in the lifecycle (from pensions to salary) could have a sizable effect on shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paid time off is another draw. Our results suggest an extra ten days of paid leave per year be can worth as much as a 7-per cent pay rise. This could be pertinent to schools considering a nine-day working fortnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unsurprisingly, workload also emerged as important. In one study with non-teachers, a 20-per cent reduction in workload was valued as much as a 10-per cent increase in wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Put another way, cutting workload by 10 per cent could boost the attractiveness of teaching by about same as the official 5.5-per cent pay rise the government awarded last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also found that both teachers and non-teachers are more likely to choose a job if it comes with ongoing professional development. Indeed, in one study, having job-specific training affected choices by the same amount as a modest increase in salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is noteworthy: people are willing to choose a job with lower pay if they know they will be supported to develop professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flexibility also matters \u2013 quite a lot. Each extra day that someone has to work from the office (as opposed to home) is associated with a four-percentage point change in their probability of choosing a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No wonder many schools are experimenting with off-site PPA. The same study suggests that people would need to be paid \u00a32,000 per year extra to compensate them for the lack of work-from-home opportunities in teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding the actual effect of the above reforms on real job choices will require patient evaluations of reforms over the coming years. But the findings from job choice studies allow us a glimpse of the likely effects before implementation has even happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One theme among the findings is the importance of extrinsic rewards. Adverts to attract new teachers have historically tended to focus on the vocational aspect of the job, and with good reason. People become teachers to make a difference in the lives of children and this motivator will always be at the heart of the profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean we can ignore other factors that can offer teachers more balanced lives and make them feel rewarded for demanding work that they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read the full Ambition Institute report here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new Ambition Institute report sheds light on how teachers and non-teachers decide whether the profession is (still) for them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311124,"featured_media":235623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3734],"tags":[],"post-theme":[3730],"class_list":["post-235675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-the-leader","post-theme-the-research-leader"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t