The Association Between Work as a Calling and Turnover Among Early Childhood Education Professionals

Abstract

Turnover of early childhood education (ECE) professionals negatively impacts program costs, staff morale, and relationships with children. We determined whether the presence of work as a calling was associated with less intention to leave the ECE field. From an online survey administered to 265 ECE professionals in Pennsylvania, a calling score based on the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire was used to create sample-defined tertiles of low (< 38), medium (38–44), and high (> 44) presence of calling. Those intending to leave the ECE field reported that, given the option, they would most likely “find a position or get training in a completely different field,” or “stop work, stay home, or retire.” Analysis was restricted to 194 respondents currently employed in ECE and under age 60, of whom 94.8% were female and 53.9% were non-Hispanic White. After adjusting for race/ethnicity and workplace stress, the prevalence (95% CI) of intention to leave decreased as calling increased, from low (28.6% [17.8%, 38.4%]) to medium (12.2% [4.3%, 20.1%]) to high (9.1% [1.5%, 16.6%]). The presence of call was associated with less intention to leave the ECE field. Identifying, building, and sustaining call among ECE professionals may decrease turnover.

Psychological and physiological stress and stressors in early childhood educators: An observational pilot study

“…A bachelor's degree may also mean more promotional opportunities compared to those with lower education, representing career mobility opportunities. The assurance that one has these resources could help buffer against stress from being in a demanding, low-paying field that drew many for its "calling" (Herman et al, 2023).…”

Structural Relationships between Counselors’ Sense of Calling, Meaning of Work, Living a Calling, and Psychological Burnout

“…Recent studies have focused on living a calling as a variable impacting the resolution of psychological issues among counselors [24]. Living a calling is associated with higher levels of job engagement and job satisfaction, lower absenteeism related to job stress, and fewer somatic symptoms [25]. Counselors with a high level of living a calling tend to link their calling with their job performance and counseling tasks to avoid psychological issues or job stress in the workplace [1,11].…”

“…However, research examining the causal relationships between a sense of calling, the meaningfulness of work, and living a calling has been scarce [30]. For instance, Herman et al [25] pointed out that while a sense of calling, the meaningfulness of work, and living out a calling all show high relevance, the structural relationship between them has not been validated. In response, this study aims to establish a sequential mediation model in which the enhanced sense of work meaningfulness activates living a calling, ultimately leading to decreased emotional burnout.…”

Examining the interplay of teacher well-being, executive function, and adaptability in virtual instruction during COVID-19 disruptions

“…Poor psychological well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms, burnout) of early childhood teachers has received an increasing attention as a global public health concern (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2020). Simultaneously, a growing body of research highlights the ECE workforce's reported low overall well-being attributable to various factors, including challenging working conditions (Eadie et al, 2021;Ford et al, 2021;Berger et al, 2022;Kwon et al, 2022), inadequate compensation (Herman et al, 2023), heightened levels of stress, and high staff turnover rates (McMullen et al, 2020;Bassok et al, 2021). The field is also generally undervalued as a profession (Rouse, 2012) and has become less competitive in attracting personnel compared to other occupations (Khattar and Coffey, 2023).…”