Personality and Communication Skills Expectations of K–12 Educators: A Content Analysis of 21,805 Online Job Advertisements

Abstract

A wide range of skills are required of K–12 (kindergarten through Grade 12) teachers and staff in order to facilitate effective education. Although employer surveys, expert ratings, and empirical research such as predictive validity studies provide valuable insights into these skills, online job advertisements may offer additional critical data. These advertisements reflect a school or district’s priorities and values and allow job candidates an opportunity to evaluate whether they are an appropriate fit for a position or if they should pursue any supplementary training. The authors analyzed 21,805 online job advertisements from the United States to examine the expectations for K–12 teachers and staff across an understudied group of skills, namely, transferable skills. Based on our results, communication skills were highly valued for teachers, paraeducators, principals, and administrative assistants, but the relative importance of other constructs (e.g., personality) varied considerably across these groups. The authors discuss the practical implications of these findings for training, assessing, and recruiting K–12 teachers and staff.