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

Inger Arvidsson, Ulf Leo, Anna Oudin, Kerstin Nilsson, Carita Håkansson, Kai Österberg and Roger Persson
Additional contact information
Inger Arvidsson: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, SE-223 81 Lund, Sweden
Ulf Leo: Centre for Principal Development, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Anna Oudin: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, SE-223 81 Lund, Sweden
Kerstin Nilsson: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, SE-223 81 Lund, Sweden
Carita Håkansson: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, SE-223 81 Lund, Sweden
Kai Österberg: Department of Psychology, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
Roger Persson: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, SE-223 81 Lund, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-20

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.

Keywords: psychosocial working conditions; mental health; school leader (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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