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Should I Stay or Should I Go? Associations between Occupational Factors, Signs of Exhaustion, and the Intention to Change Workplace among Swedish Principals

Arvidsson, Inger LU ; Leo, Ulf LU ; Oudin, Anna LU ; Nilsson, Kerstin LU orcid ; Håkansson, Carita LU orcid ; Österberg, Kai LU and Persson, Roger LU orcid (2021) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(10).
Abstract
A high turnover among principals may disrupt the continuity of leadership and negatively affect teachers and, by extension, the students. The aim was to investigate to what extent various work environment factors and signs of exhaustion were associated with reported intentions to change workplace among principals working in compulsory schools. A web-based questionnaire was administered twice, in 2018 and in 2019. Part I of the study involved cross-sectional analyses of the associations 2018 (n = 984) and 2019 (n = 884) between occupational factors, signs of exhaustion, and the intention to change workplace, using Generalized Estimating Equations models. Part II involved 631 principals who participated in both surveys. The patterns of... (More)
A high turnover among principals may disrupt the continuity of leadership and negatively affect teachers and, by extension, the students. The aim was to investigate to what extent various work environment factors and signs of exhaustion were associated with reported intentions to change workplace among principals working in compulsory schools. A web-based questionnaire was administered twice, in 2018 and in 2019. Part I of the study involved cross-sectional analyses of the associations 2018 (n = 984) and 2019 (n = 884) between occupational factors, signs of exhaustion, and the intention to change workplace, using Generalized Estimating Equations models. Part II involved 631 principals who participated in both surveys. The patterns of intended and actual changes of workplace across two years were described, together with associated changes of occupational factors and signs of exhaustion. Supportive management was associated with an intention to stay, while demanding role conflicts and the feeling of being squeezed between management and co-workers (buffer-function) were associated with the intention to change workplace. The principals who intended to change their workplace reported more signs of exhaustion. To increase retention among principals, systematic efforts are probably needed at the national, municipal, and local level, in order to improve their working conditions. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
18
issue
10
article number
5376
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85105890562
  • pmid:34070059
ISSN
1660-4601
DOI
10.3390/ijerph18105376
project
Skolledares arbetsmiljö: Ett projekt om organisatoriska förutsättningar, stressrelaterad psykisk ohälsa, personalrörlighet och förbättringspotential
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e7f8b93b-fdd9-403b-a988-434f9f1343d5
date added to LUP
2021-05-21 18:38:52
date last changed
2022-12-01 08:23:15
@article{e7f8b93b-fdd9-403b-a988-434f9f1343d5,
  abstract     = {{A high turnover among principals may disrupt the continuity of leadership and negatively affect teachers and, by extension, the students. The aim was to investigate to what extent various work environment factors and signs of exhaustion were associated with reported intentions to change workplace among principals working in compulsory schools. A web-based questionnaire was administered twice, in 2018 and in 2019. Part I of the study involved cross-sectional analyses of the associations 2018 (n = 984) and 2019 (n = 884) between occupational factors, signs of exhaustion, and the intention to change workplace, using Generalized Estimating Equations models. Part II involved 631 principals who participated in both surveys. The patterns of intended and actual changes of workplace across two years were described, together with associated changes of occupational factors and signs of exhaustion. Supportive management was associated with an intention to stay, while demanding role conflicts and the feeling of being squeezed between management and co-workers (buffer-function) were associated with the intention to change workplace. The principals who intended to change their workplace reported more signs of exhaustion. To increase retention among principals, systematic efforts are probably needed at the national, municipal, and local level, in order to improve their working conditions.}},
  author       = {{Arvidsson, Inger and Leo, Ulf and Oudin, Anna and Nilsson, Kerstin and Håkansson, Carita and Österberg, Kai and Persson, Roger}},
  issn         = {{1660-4601}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{Should I Stay or Should I Go? Associations between Occupational Factors, Signs of Exhaustion, and the Intention to Change Workplace among Swedish Principals}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105376}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph18105376}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}