51. Fitting in: Person-Organization, Person-Job, and Person-Group Fit as Drivers of Teacher Mobility. Working Paper #21
- Author
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Michigan State University, Education Policy Center, Grogan, Erin, and Youngs, Peter
- Abstract
For years, researchers studying organizations and management have been interested in how well individuals "fit" with their work environment (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005), finding strong relationships between increased fit and positive employment outcomes, including increased performance and retention (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005; Lauver & Kristof-Brown, 2001). Using two different datasets (Schools and Staffing Survey/Teacher Follow-up Survey and the Michigan-Indiana Early Career Teacher Study), we explore how teachers' perceptions of "fitting in" with organizational goals and values, job requirements, and close professional colleagues impact teacher mobility. We create a series of multinomial logistic regression models to explore how increased fit is related to teacher mobility. In doing so, we find evidence that the more teachers believe they fit in at their school, the less likely they are to move to a new school for the next academic year or exit teaching entirely. We also find that the more teachers believe they are a good fit for the requirements of teaching, the less likely they are to leave teaching. Finally, we find that, for early career teachers, fitting in with a group of close colleagues predicts lower rates of teacher turnover. Type of Fit Measured with Each Data Source is appended. (Contains 3 tables and 15 footnotes.)
- Published
- 2011