Teacher attrition: Human capital and terms of employment – Do they matter?

Addressing Sorensen and Tuma's resource–reward theory, we explored teacher attrition from an economic perspective. The study aimed to explore the extent to which teachers' resources and terms of employment correlate with attrition behavior. In a sample of 10,340 Israeli K-12 teachers it was found that many beginning teachers who left the profession were relatively highly educated. Although the literature stresses teachers’ intrinsic motivation for choosing their career, the findings, in line with earlier empirical studies, suggest that job rewards do play an important role in teachers' career decisions. Moreover, the current findings suggest that at lower salary levels, the rewards-attrition association differs by teacher higher-education level. That is, the attrition rates of highly-educated teachers drop more sharply as salary increases, as expected by the theory. Some explanations and policy recommendations are made.

Discrimination in Work and Organizations

Discrimination is behaving differently toward people from different social identity groups, such as those based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or some other category that is not related to the qualifications, contributions, or performance of the target group members. It is usually thought of as unfair and is often illegal. Discrimination has been the subject of substantial research in the social and behavioral sciences. It can entail acting more favorably toward those who have not earned it or less favorably toward those who have, although most of the research focuses on the negative behavior toward less favored groups rather than on the positive behavior toward more favored groups. Although discrimination can occur in many domains, this paper focuses primarily on discrimination in work and organizations. Research on labor market discrimination spans disciplines with most research being done in economics, sociology, psychology, and law, as well as in business or management. Such research has examined differences in access to jobs or employment including hiring and promotion, job rewards such as income and wages, evaluation of performance, treatment on the job from supervisors and coworkers, and unemployment or underemployment. Discrimination may be explicit or overt, but increasingly research has focused on more subtle forms of discrimination that reflect unconscious or implicit biases. Research also considers perceived discrimination. Research on discrimination has examined trends in discriminatory behavior or outcomes for various groups, comparisons across groups in terms of the extent or experience of discrimination, antecedents and the consequences of discrimination, as well as mediators and moderators of discriminatory behavior. Most research on discrimination has found that those from lower status or subordinate groups within any society are more likely to experience negative discrimination, while dominant group members almost always receive more favorable treatment. Although there are variations in terms of circumstance and context, native-born, heterosexual men from higher social classes and from dominant racial or ethnic groups are disproportionately found in the best jobs, with the most authority, and with the highest incomes, while women, racial or ethnic minorities, immigrants, those from working or lower classes, and those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are more likely to suffer adverse discrimination. An increasing emphasis on the intersectionality of social identity recognizes that the labor market experiences of particular people reflect the combination of their multiple identities. Discrimination can be interpersonal, intergroup, organizational, and it can be embedded in structures and institutions.

Reducing work-related burnout among police officers: The impact of job rewards and health-oriented leadership

The aim of the present study was to examine if work effort is associated with burnout among police officers and if job rewards and healthoriented leadership can mitigate the potential adverse effects of high work effort on officers’ mental health. Data were collected in a German police department (n = 573). The results indicated that high work effort was associated with higher levels of burnout while job rewards and health-oriented leadership were associated with lower levels of burnout. Additionally, health-oriented leadership buffered the effects of work effort on police officers’ burnout levels while job rewards showed no buffering effect. The results emphasize the importance of leadership for health promotion in policing.

Gender as a moderator of the relationship between job demand and quality of work-life of police personnel in Lagos, Nigeria

Previous studies have linked quality of work-life with functional job behaviours which may enhance the quality of services rendered by police personnel. However, there is a need to investigate how gender may moderate the connection between job demand and quality of work-life, especially among female police personnel who are often faced with challenges of balancing family and work responsibilities. Against this background, this study tested the level at which gender moderates the relationship between job demand and police personnel’s quality of work-life. Participants were 944 police personnel (429 females; 515 males) whose ages ranged from 24 to 60 years (M = 38.66 years, SD = 8.43). The study hypotheses were tested with 3-step hierarchical multiple regression. The results showed that job demand led to a significant decrease in quality of work-life of police personnel. Gender significantly moderated the relationship between job demand and quality of work-life, in such a way that female police personnel had better quality of work-life than their male counterparts. The findings of this study indicated that gender is an important factor in police personnel’s quality of work-life. In order to improve the quality of work-life of police personnel in Nigeria, police personnel should be exposed to adequate job rewards, which may balance out the adverse effects of job demand. Also, Ministry of Police Affairs in Nigeria should provide support to police personnel especially the males in order to improve their quality of work-life.

Work Values and Political Participation: A Cross-National Analysis

This study examines to what extent extrinsic and intrinsic work values are associated with nonelectoral political participation, such as signing a petition and taking part in a public demonstration. We examine whether individualism and economic factors at the country level moderate the relation between work values and political participation. Using data from two rounds of the European Social Survey covering thirty-one countries ( N = 55,927), results show that people who are extrinsically motivated are less politically active, while people who are intrinsically motivated are more politically active. Comparatively low national wealth weakens these relations. Findings also reveal that people who highly value extrinsic job rewards are even less politically active in individualist countries, whereas people who highly value intrinsic job aspects are more politically engaged in those countries. Overall, this study adds to understanding who is politically active and under which conditions.

Characteristics and Predictors of Occupational Injury Among Career Firefighters

The purpose of this study was to assess occupational injury characteristics and predictors among career firefighters. A total of 249 firefighters from central Texas and northern California participated in this Internet-based survey. Approximately 27% of firefighters had reported an occupational injury within the previous 12 months. The majority of injuries occurred on the scene of a non-fire call while performing an activity that required lifting, pushing, or pulling. Firefighters’ backs were most frequently injured. Of the reported injuries, approximately 18% returned to work on modified duty, but 46% were not allowed to work due to their occupational injuries. Firefighters who reported occupational injuries were more likely to be older and experiencing occupational stress compared with their coworkers who did not report occupational injuries. Injured firefighters were also more likely to report fewer job rewards (money/salary), overcommitment, less esteem (respect and support), and fewer promotional prospects. These injury factors should be incorporated into interventions to reduce or prevent workplace injuries.

Time and Job Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study of the Differential Roles of Age and Tenure

The relationship between job satisfaction and time is a fundamental question in organizational behavior. Yet given inconsistent results in the literature, the nature of this relationship has remained unresolved. Scholars’ understanding of this relationship has been limited because studies have generally not simultaneously considered the two primary time metrics in job satisfaction research—age and tenure—and have instead relied on cross-sectional research designs. In this study, we develop and test an empirical model to provide a more definitive answer to the question of how age and tenure relate to job satisfaction. Our analyses draw on longitudinal data from 21,670 participants spanning a total of 34 waves of data collection across 40 years in two nationally representative samples. Multilevel analyses indicate that people became less satisfied as their tenure within a given organization increased, yet as people aged—and transitioned from organization to organization—their satisfaction increased. We also found that job rewards, as exemplified by pay, mediated these relationships. We discuss empirical, theoretical, and practical implications of our findings.