Factors associated with teacher attrition: longitudinal findings from the CONSTANCES cohort

Abstract Background While teacher attrition is a growing concern worldwide, data on its risk factors are limited by cross-sectional designs, focusing on intent rather than actual departure, failing to distinguish between leaving the sector and changing job within in, and overlooking the interplay of work, personal, social, and health factors. We aimed to fill the gap in studying, among teachers, factors prospectively associated with respectively: 1/changing jobs while remaining in education (switching) and 2/leaving teaching to work in another sector (leaving). Methods Longitudinal analysis of 15,185 teachers enrolled from 2012 in the French population-based CONSTANCES cohort. Using Cox proportional hazards models, we estimated the risk up to 2022 of switching/leaving in association with various socio-demographic, health, socio-economic, and psychosocial risk factors. Results During follow-up, 275 teachers switched and 286 left. Males were more likely than women to both switch and leave. Factors associated with switching included age≥35, teaching in primary school, low depressive symptoms, full-time work, frequent (not constant) strained relationships at work, past financial difficulties, and organizational constraints. Factors associated with leaving included age<35, living alone without children, presence of depressive symptoms, part-time work, constant strained relationships at work, and current financial difficulties. Effort-reward imbalance, perceived health, and commute time were not significantly associated with either outcome in multivariate analyses. Conclusions Switching and leaving are prospectively related to quite different sets of risk factors, supporting distinct subjacent contexts and motivations, namely: switching as career progression, leaving due to adverse conditions. Preventing strained relationships at school, addressing teachers’ economic realities, and providing mental health support represent promising avenues to limit job attrition among teachers. Key messages • Two different processes, switching and leaving, contributes to teacher attrition. • To limit it, promising avenues include mental health support, school violence prevention and financial enhancement.