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School Principals’ Work Participation in an Extended Working Life—Are They Able to, and Do They Want to? A Quantitative Study of the Work Situation

Nilsson, Kerstin LU orcid ; Oudin, Anna LU ; Arvidsson, Inger LU ; Håkansson, Carita LU orcid ; Österberg, Kai LU ; Leo, Ulf LU and Persson, Roger LU orcid (2022) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(7).
Abstract

The objective of this study is to increase the knowledge regarding school principals’ work situations by examining the associations between various factors and the school principals’ assessments of their ability or wish to work until 65 years of age or longer. The 1356 participating school principals in this study were aged between 50 and 64 years of age. Individual and work factors were evaluated in relation to two dichotomized outcomes: i.e., can work and want to work beyond 65 years of age, respectively. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models were used to specify bivariate and multivariate cross-sectional logistic regression models that accounted for repeated measurements. The results showed that, both in 2018 and 2019, about... (More)

The objective of this study is to increase the knowledge regarding school principals’ work situations by examining the associations between various factors and the school principals’ assessments of their ability or wish to work until 65 years of age or longer. The 1356 participating school principals in this study were aged between 50 and 64 years of age. Individual and work factors were evaluated in relation to two dichotomized outcomes: i.e., can work and want to work beyond 65 years of age, respectively. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models were used to specify bivariate and multivariate cross-sectional logistic regression models that accounted for repeated measurements. The results showed that, both in 2018 and 2019, about 83% of the school principals stated that they could work and about 50% stated that they wanted to work until 65 years of age and beyond. School principals’ exhaustion symptoms and experiences of an excessive burden were statistically significantly associated with whether they both could not and did not want to work beyond 65 years of age. Additionally, the school principals’ experiences of support from the executive management in the performance of their managerial duties was of primary importance for whether the school principals wanted to work until 65 years of age and beyond. To conclude, it is important that school principals receive sufficient support from the management to cope with their often very stressful leadership tasks so that they have the opportunity to be able and willing to continue working their entire working life. The study strengthens the robustness of the theoretical SwAge model regarding the investigated factors related to determinant factors for a sustainable working life and as a basis for developing practical tools for increased employability for people of older ages.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
burnout, health, mental, older workers, organisation, principals, psychosocial, senior employees, swage-model, work ability, work engagement, work environment
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
19
issue
7
article number
3983
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85127039408
  • pmid:35409666
ISSN
1661-7827
DOI
10.3390/ijerph19073983
project
Skolledares arbetsmiljö: Ett projekt om organisatoriska förutsättningar, stressrelaterad psykisk ohälsa, personalrörlighet och förbättringspotential
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by AFA Insurances Sweden, grant number 170094. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
id
951e972b-ee6b-41d6-b311-3edc18b166aa
date added to LUP
2022-04-11 20:56:41
date last changed
2024-06-15 20:54:29
@article{951e972b-ee6b-41d6-b311-3edc18b166aa,
  abstract     = {{<p>The objective of this study is to increase the knowledge regarding school principals’ work situations by examining the associations between various factors and the school principals’ assessments of their ability or wish to work until 65 years of age or longer. The 1356 participating school principals in this study were aged between 50 and 64 years of age. Individual and work factors were evaluated in relation to two dichotomized outcomes: i.e., can work and want to work beyond 65 years of age, respectively. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models were used to specify bivariate and multivariate cross-sectional logistic regression models that accounted for repeated measurements. The results showed that, both in 2018 and 2019, about 83% of the school principals stated that they could work and about 50% stated that they wanted to work until 65 years of age and beyond. School principals’ exhaustion symptoms and experiences of an excessive burden were statistically significantly associated with whether they both could not and did not want to work beyond 65 years of age. Additionally, the school principals’ experiences of support from the executive management in the performance of their managerial duties was of primary importance for whether the school principals wanted to work until 65 years of age and beyond. To conclude, it is important that school principals receive sufficient support from the management to cope with their often very stressful leadership tasks so that they have the opportunity to be able and willing to continue working their entire working life. The study strengthens the robustness of the theoretical SwAge model regarding the investigated factors related to determinant factors for a sustainable working life and as a basis for developing practical tools for increased employability for people of older ages.</p>}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Kerstin and Oudin, Anna and Arvidsson, Inger and Håkansson, Carita and Österberg, Kai and Leo, Ulf and Persson, Roger}},
  issn         = {{1661-7827}},
  keywords     = {{burnout; health; mental; older workers; organisation; principals; psychosocial; senior employees; swage-model; work ability; work engagement; work environment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{7}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{School Principals’ Work Participation in an Extended Working Life—Are They Able to, and Do They Want to? A Quantitative Study of the Work Situation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073983}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph19073983}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}