FACTORS nfi'mzscxzco mouch STATE COLLEGE HOLE ECOl-IOIJICS GRADUAES FOR :03: YEARS 1935 THROUGH 1955 TO ESTER, TO LEAVE, OR TO RELAIZG IR n—zE TEACHING PROFESSION BY HELPS? LOP- “?A HOLLM‘TDSWORTH AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of Xichigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Department of Teacher Education Home Economics Education 1959 Helen Lorena Hollandsworth A3 ABSTRACT Puroose This study was undertaken to determine factors which seemed to influence home economics graduates from Kontana State College to enter, to leave, or to remain in the teaching profession. hethods The total number (598) of hontana State College home economics graduates for the years 1935 through 1955 were surveyed by question- naire. Data were obtained from 530, or 90.3 per cent, of the 598 possible respondents. Of the 5H0 graduates, 38M, or 71.1 per cent, had completed student teaching, 308, or 57.0 per cent, had entered teaching, and fifty-eight, or 10.8 per cent, were teaching at the time of the survey. Data were analyzed by use of the chi-square test and analysis of variance. Conclusions Objective factors common to the entire group were analyzed by chi-square to determine significant differences between those groups of graduates who had never taught, who had taught but were full time homemakers, who had taught but were employed in other work, and who were teaching. Factors which differentiated between these groups were: (1) college grade-point average, (2) income of husband, (3) marital status, (M) total number of children, (5) children under five years of age, (6) personal goals upon entering college, and (7) personal ‘ . 4:— II: goals at present, Factors which did not differentiate between the groups were: (1) age at graduation, (9) reasons for choosing teaching as a career, (3) time when graduate decided to teach, and (M) teachers in parental family, Objective factors common only to those graduates with teaching experience were also analyzed by chi-square to determine significant differences between those -raduates who had taught but were full time homemakers, had taught but were employed in other work, and who were teaching. Factors which differenti.ted between these groups were: (1) personal goals upon entering teaching, (2) size of community, (3) equipment in home economics department, (M) courses completed beyond bachelor's degree, (5) participation in other professional activities, and (6) present attitude of husband toward wife‘s teach- ing. Factors which did not differentiate between the groups were: (1) school provision for operating expense, (2) quality of supervision by state home economics education supervisor, and (3) quality of supervision by the college home economics teacher education person. Attitude factors were assigned scores which were combined into a total "satisfaction with teaching" score. Kean satisfaction scores were computed for graduates grouped into those (1) who graduated from 1935 through 19u1, (2) 1932 through 19kg, and (3) 19u9 through 1955. The mean scores for each of these groups, when tested by analysis of variance, were found not to be significantly different. However, there was a significant difference in teaching satisfaction of the graduates who (1) had taught but were full time homemakers, (2) had taught but were employed in other work, and (3) were teaching. The respondents who were teaching had the highest mean satisfaction score (73.0) while those who had taught but were full time homemakers or employed in other work had mean satisfaction scores of 69,U and 65.0. The mean satisfaction score for the total group of 308 reapondents was 69.5. FACTORS Il-IFLLEICCING liC‘ITTAZIA STATE COLLEGE H0123 FCOIIOLE CS GRADUATES FOR TEE YEARS 1935 THROUGH 1955 TO EITER, TO LEAVE, OR TO RELRII: Ii: TEE TEAORIRO- PROFESSION BY HELEH LOREXA HOLLAEDSWORTH A DISSERTATION submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of Kichigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Department of Teacher Education Home Economics Education 1959 ACKNOWLEDGIEHT The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Irma Gross, Dr. Buford Stefflre, and Dr. Alice Thorpe, members of her Guidance Committee, for their interest and advice. She is also greatly indebted to Montana State College administrators and graduates whose assistance made this study possible. A deep debt of gratitude is due Dr. William Eaten for his suggestions for statistical analysis, Dr. Bernard Corman for his helpful suggestions and careful reading of the manu- script, and Dr. nary Lee Hurt for her enduring patience and understanding which made the completion of this study possible. Thanks is also expressed to friends and family for their constant support and encouragement. CHAPTER I. II. ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N866. for Study 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 Statement of Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PMIEW OF SMCED LITE PJtTLRE o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 Personal Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Year in School That Decision Was hade to Enter Teaching Chief Reason Influencing Choice of Teaching As a Career Dates of Graduation and/or Age at Graduation . . . . . College Grade-Point Averag e . . . . . , , , Adequacy of Training in Subject latter and/or Lethods . Professional.Adequacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Educational Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Courses Completed.Beyond the Pachelor's Degree . . . . Other Types of Professional Activities . . . . , , , , Personal Goals Upon Entering College . . . . . . . . . Personal Goals Upon Entering Teaching . . . . . . . . . Immediate Personal Occupational Goals . . . . . . , . , Reasons for Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinions on the forth of Junior and Senior Hie h School Home Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , Availability of Alternative Occupations . . . . . . . . Home Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Teachers in Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitude of Family Toward Teaching as a Career . . . . Chances for Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marital Status and.Home ReSponsibilities . . . . . . . Present Attitude of Husband Toward Teaching . . . . . . Husband's Present Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community'Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Size of Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cultural Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Living Arrangements .1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Status of Teaching in the Community . . . . . . . . . . Restrictions on Personal Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . PA GE H KOKD-ll’ CHAPTER SChOOl FaCtors O O 0 O I O O O 0 O O O O I I O 0 Relationships with Administrators . . . . . . . Supervision by State and/or College Home Economics Education Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relationships with Non-Administrative School Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attitude of Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Financial Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . Teaching Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Equipment and Operating Expense . . . , . . . . $mmwy. ... ... ... ... ... ... .. III . HYPOTEESES O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O Hypothesis I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hypothesis II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hypothesis III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hypothesis IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV. GAMII q'G' DATA 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o 0 Development of Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . Description of Population . . . . . . . . . . . . Administration of Qruestionnaire . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v. Aer-LYSIS OF DATA - o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 Occupational Histories of Home Economics Graduates Objective Factors Common to Total Population . . Grade in School When Decision.Was Made to Become a TeaCher O I O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O 0 0 Chief Reason Influencing Choice of Teaching as a Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Age at Graduation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . College Grade-Point Average . . . . . . . . . . Teachers in Parental Family . . . . . . . . . . Marital Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Income of Husband. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Number of Children . . . . . . . . . Total Number of Children Under Five . , . . . . Personal Goals Upon Entering College , , , , , Personal Goals at Present , , , . . . . , . . . 80 9O 91 93 537 98 CO 100 102 10k 105 196 CHAPTER PAG Satisfaction in Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Objective Factors Common to Those Who Have Taught . . . . . 121 Personal Goals Upon Entering Teaching . . . , , , , , , , 122 Size of Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Equipment in Home Economics Department , , , , . , . . , 12h School Provision for Operating Expense . , , , , , , , , 125 Courses Completed.Beyond Bachelor's Degree , , , , , , 126 Other Types of Professional Activities , , , , , , , , . 127 Present Attitude of Husband Toward.Wife's Teaching , , , 123 Supervision of State Home Economics Supervisor , , , , , 13o Supervision of College Home Economics Teacher Education Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Smmmw. .... .... .... .... ... .... .. Ly VI . CUTLECLLTSIOIIS AITD I: PLI CATICIIIT o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a 1.35 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Occupational Histories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Hypothesis I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Hypothesis II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Hypothesis III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . 138 Hypothesis IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IMO BIBLIOGRAPEIY o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o n o o o o o o o o 0 1m EPEI‘IDIX O O O O C O C I O I O O O O O O O 0 O O O I O O O O O O o 150 Table XXXVI: Sources of Dissatisfaction Ranked by Differ- ence in Means for the Fifteen host Satisfied Teachers and the Fifteen Least Satisfied Teachers in a Group of Fifty Randomly Selected Questionnaires . . . . . . . . . . 151 Cover Letters and Questionnaire . II. III. IV. .3 VII. VIII. IX. XIII. LIST OF TABLES Home Economics Graduates in the ReSponse and Non-Response Groups by Years of Graduation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Home Economics Graduates in the Response and Non-Response Groups in Three Grade—Point Average Categories . . . . Home Economics Graduates in the Response and Non-Response Groups in two Marital Status Categories . . . . . . . . . Classification of Kontana Home Economics Graduates by Time of Graduation and Teaching Status . . . . . . . . . . . Employment Experience of Home Economics Graduates Since Grad‘dat ion 0 O O O I O I I O O O O O O I O O O O O O 0 Number of Times Home Economics Graduates Had Left Gainful Employment I O O O O I O O O O C O O I O O O O C I O 0 Number of Times Home Economics Graduates Had Left TeaChing . O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O I O O O 0 Per Cent of Possible Teaching Time During Which Home Economics Graduates Have Actually Taught . . . . . . , Completion of Student Teaching as Reported by Home Economics Graduates Grouped in Relation to Teaching Experiences 0 O O O O O I O I O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Present Occupations of Graduates Grouped.According to TeaChing meri ence O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Home Economics Graduates Grouped in Relation to Teaching Status and Time of Xaking Decision to Teach . . . . , . Reasons for Choosing Teaching As a Career as Expressed by Home Economics Graduates Grouped in Relation to TeaChj-ng Status 0 O O O O O O O O O O I O O O I O O O O Xiscellaneous Reasons for Becoming Teachers Given by Graduates Grouped in Relation to Teaching Status . . , F(1 23 ['J 78 81 53 81+ 85 88 \O [\J \O 4: \0 \JT XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XXVI. XXVII. ge at Graduation of Home Economics Graduates Grouped in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . . . . . . . . , College Grade-Point Average of Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . , . . , , , , , Teachers in the Parental Family of Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . . . . . , . , , Harital Status of Home Economics Graduates in Relation to TeaChing Status 0 O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Income of Husbands of Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Number of Children of Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . , . . , . , , , , , Total Number of Children Under Five of Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . . . . Personal Goals Upon Entering College Indicated by Home Economics Graduates Grouped in Relation to Teaching Status 0 o o o o o o o 0 so a o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 Present Personal Goals of Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Home Economics Graduates Grouped by Years of Graduation With the lean Satisfaction Score and Standard Deviation for EaCh Group 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 Analysis of Variance Testing Kean Satisfaction Scores of Graduates for Years 1935-Ml, 19h2-H8, and 19M9—55 . , . , Home Economics Graduates Grouped in Relation to Teaching Status With the Kean Satisfaction Score and Standard Deviation for Each Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysis of Variance Testing Kean Satisfaction Scores of Graduates Grouped in Relation to Teaching Status . . . , Personal Goals of Home Economics Graduates Upon Entering Teaching in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . , , , , vii PAGE \0 O\ 100 101 103 101; 105 107 110 111 112 113 122 1 7' T1 Tx‘aub XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XEXIII. XXXIV. H [HUS . POpulation of Community as Reported by Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . , , , Equipment in Home Economics Departments as Rated by Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . Home Economics Graduates' Ratings of Adequacy of School Provision for Operating n1 ense in Relation to Teaching S tatus O I O C O O O D I I O I O O O O I C I O O O C O O 0 Courses Completed Beyond Bachelor's Degree by Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . . , , Participation of Home Economics Graduates in Professional Activities Other Than Course Work in Relation to TeaChi-ng Status 0 o o o I O o o o o I I o o o o o O o o I o 128 Husband's Attitude Toward Wife's Teaching as Rated by Home Economics Graduates Grouped in Relation to Tea-Chintz; Status 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 129 Quality of Supervision by State Home Economics Supervisor as Reported by Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Tea-Chillg Status 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 yo 0 o o 130 Quality of Supervision by College Home Economics Teacher Education Person Reported by Home Economics Graduates in Relation to Teaching Status . . . . . . , . . , , , , , 132 Sources of Dissatisfaction Ranked by Difference in Keans for the Fifteen host Satisfied Teachers and the Fifteen Least Satisfied Teachers in a Group of Fifty Randomly Selected Questionnaires . . . . , , , , , . . . . . . . . . 151 CHAPTER I AIALYSIS CF THE PROBLEM The United States has long been dedicated to the principle of F4) a fair educational opportunity for each child. Because 0 high birth rates in the lBHO decade, and for other reasons, increased enrollments in both the elementary and secondary schools are making a fair educa— tional Opportunity increasingly difficult to achieve. The swelling enrollments have made staffing of schools one of the most critical problems in education. The shortage of qualified teachers, which became acute during World War II, has remained during the post war years. In the fall of 1957, the Research Division of the National Education Ass ciation . . 1 estimated a shortage of 120,000 elementary and high school teachers. The continuing character of shortage of teachers was further emphasized in the Occupational Outlook Handbook: In order to staff the new classrooms that must be provided for the rising numbers of students, tens of thousands oi a dition- a1 teachers will be needed annually. horeover, still greater numbers will be required, particularly in elementary and high schools, to replace those who leave the profession. Although precise information is not available on the number leaving the field eac- year, it is conservatively estimated that at least eight percent of the elementary agd five percent of the high school teachers leave teaching annually. L. O I I I O O I '- aatlonal Education Assoc1ation, Research D1Vis10n, "The 1337 Teacher Supply and.Demand Reports," The Journal 9: Teacher Education, VIII (March, 1957), p. 3}. 2Bureau of Labor Statistics in COOperation with Veteran‘s Ad- ministration. U. S. Department of Labor, Qgpupational Outlook Handbook, 1957. Bulletin No. 1215, p. 57. 2 Several factors have contributed to the continuing shortage of teachers. (1) During the var years, teachers began to leave school rooms to go into industrial jobs connected with the war effort for both patriotic and financial reasons. The financial attraction of other employment has continued to draw teachers from the profession. (2) Techn010gical developments have created new jobs for which many teachers are well qualified. Teachers, especially women teachers, have probably never been faced with so many alternatives in job selec~ tion. Teaching is now only one of many careers open to the college graduate whose undergraduate training ras in professional education. (3) The increased numbers of children are flooding the schools at a time when the number of youth who are reaching adulthood is decreasing. The lowered birthrate during the depression years reduced the poten- ‘ ‘te f\ tial supply of new teachers during the ten years, 19h5-§5, at the r of 100,000 per year.3 There are doubtless many additional factors affecting the supply nt i4. of teachers but the discussion thus far is perhaps sufficient to *a 0 out that staffing the nation's schools is a problem which for the foreseeable period ahead must receive increased attention. It is not a problem f numbers alone. Here increased numbers of teachers will not, in itself, solve the basic problem since the re‘uirement of a fair educational opportunity demands concern for the quality as well as quantity of teachers. The quality of education provided for the National Education Association, 22. cit., p. 18. nation's yo11 th can be no better than the quality of school personnel. The quality of education provided in our schools is, however, directly affected by the rersisting shortage of teachers. For not only has it become difficult in many areas to obtain teachers, but +he turnover problem has increased as well. Increased turnover has been shown to have an important effect on the quality of terching. ’10 Thus, Arny, who studied the problem in the ho: e economics area en a: The importance of reducing tracher W1r over was shown by the fact that in each of the schools where mt1dents showed hirh achievement inh the tests administered in th 1e spring of 19L7, the same teachers ad been in athe schools for three or more year or there had been only one change during that period. \ One answer to the problem of staffing our schools and reducing turnover is that of replacing women with men.5 It is true that women leave the teaching profession in larg n mbers for marriage and home responsibilities and recruiting more men teachers would, no doubt, help to stabilize the prof ssion. It, however, seems impossible at the present time to recruit men in s1.ff ic ient numbers to solve the teacher shortage. The teacher shortage reflects a sir ilar personnel oblem in many sectors of our econor"1r and the Yationel Xenpower Council has indicated that women are an es sential part of our manpower resources. Tomen are not only accepted in the labor force today but ‘Clara.Brown Arny, The Effectiveness of the TTien School Program '. Home 3conom'cs—-i ;§:_;3 of a Five— Year Stugy_g: Twenty Qinnesota Schools (Xinneapolim University of Linnesota Press, 1352), p. M7. “Howard Cuion Andrus, "The Ex- ‘ 4. Secondary School Teachers in few York S 19hS-M9" Unpublis hed Ph.3. dissertation, K O"Tational Hanpower Council, Tomanpower, (Y ew Yorcz Columbm Inivers1t ' Press, 1937), p. 3. ent and Causes of Turnover Among t Central Schools for the Year ornell University, l9;l),_p.22o. are deemed necessary in providing many of the educational, health, and social services as well as in producing and distributing goods, Xoreover, in our nation's history women have Ion“ elayed a major \J L ’Jo :3 role in education. Of the nation's 1.1 million tee lGTS reported the 1950 census only twenty-five per cent were men. Although the trend in the proportion of men teachers is upwnrd the rate of chenre is too slow to have any appreciable effect on tie shortage in the eriod ahead. It seems clear that women will continue to play a vital m: and major part in the staffing of our educational institutions, The substitution of w men teachers by men tercters in lar e C) numbers seems inpractical. A more realistic step toward solving the (D problem of staffing th nation's schools would seen to involve :ekin: (; more effective use of wonanpower. If womanjorer is to be used ffec- tirely in educating the nation's children, a better understandir; of women teachers is needed. Especially we need to know the answers to such questions as the following: At which points in their lives do they teach? Why do they teach? any do they leave teaching? Why do thev re-enter teaching, if they do? ‘0 IEED PCP. Sm'rmv Home economics ‘epartments at the elementary, secondary, and college levels are staffed almost entirely by women. Increased knowledge of women workers, therefore, is more urgently needed in this N H 3‘ Ho {1.- O\ O O U *(3 I area than in man* of the other teechin3 fields, and should in addi— tion, provide information 2331i: zble to t 93-0 ’D ' .5 a O J ..J (D 3 mnches of the tez c? in3 profession Home economics te -chers seen especially arrrooriate for strtv since the turnover rate is so hi3h anong this group. Andrus pointed ont that home economics was the only h apjeared consistently a: on3 areas hev vin highest turnovers. Re-enforcin3 5.5 as's conclusion, a study by the Bureau of labor Statistics regorted as follows: mhe shortage of home economists in the hi3h school teachin~ f eld is especially critical. Che-third to one—fourth of all ndarv teaching jositions becone vcccnt yearly, and it is II C timated that as menya as 5,0CO home econonics 3raduates are ne annuallv for renle .cenent purposes. In a d r ed in schools that are expanding their hon or are installing such depar rtments for t‘ t teachers are needed also to :ke c: .re of exnanding enrollment second ery schools Since 135* 9, the nunber of colle: e 3rednateg with home economics majors tho have frepared to teach has increased onlv slightly, from 2,836 to 3,1?M; moreover, sone of the hon economics 3raduates who prepare to teach do not, in lect, become classroom teachers,« {[1 This general shortage of home econoziics tezcner_ was ennhasized by the followin3 discussion of data collected in the Central Region of the United States in 13M9: ... one out of every five girls prepared to teach homenak n3 did not take a teaching job (two-thirds of these 3ir1s 3ave mer— riege as their reason for not tea .chin J.... althou3h ther re ”0 e variation by states, it was found that appro: {imatelLJ 30 ‘3 V798 8 o / Andrus, 92, c1t,, pp. 105—107, 0 I “Eur as u of Labor Statis r t Administ tion, 22, ci 6 per cent of the homemaking teachers taught leis than two years and another 30 per cent less than four years. In a related finding Arny reported that in an investigation covering s.period of five years that only 7 to 28 per cent of the home economics teachers remained in the groups of Minnesota schools being studied.11 .L typical problem of staffing elementary and.high school home economics departments was found in Montana. The Montana State Super- visor of Home Economics Education supplied the following pertinent information for—the years 1953-514 through 1957-58: (a) Eighteen home- making departments Opened end remained open; eleven opened for one year only; three for two years only; one for three years only; one for four years only; and three opened and closed.intermittent1y (total thirty-seven while thirteen other departments closed.permanent1y. (b) Of the 126 home economics departments operating continuously during these five years, only twenty-two had no teacher change, eighteen had one change, twenty-nine had two changes, thirtyaone had three changes, eighteen had four changes, and eight had five changes. (c) Of the 386 teachers employed during the five years, 197 taught one year only, ninety taught two years, thirty-nine taught three years, twenty-six taught four years, and thirtyafour taught the full five years. (d) Thirty-four teachers married and.continued to teach during this five 1OlBeulah I. Coon, ”Trends in Home Economics Enrollments," Jour- ngfiome Economics, XLIV (May, 1952), p. 337. 11 Amy, 1.29. cit. 7 year period while eighty women with families came back to the teaching profession.12 The turnover described above needs to be explained if womanpower is to be used effectively in the teaching profession. It is generally assumed that vocational satisfaction results in workers remaining in that vocation. In home economics, the relationship of job satisfac- tion and teacher supply has not been systematically explored. While studies have been made to determine satisfactions and dissatisfactions of teachers of home economics, these have not been followed.by studies to determine if these dissatisfactions do actually cause teachers to leave their positions. Definite benefits would result from studies determining what factors, including Job satisfaction, may be useful in predicting whether or not a teacher will enter or remain in the profession. Knowledge of such factors should: (1) help in the selection of teacher education students, (2) suggest to administrators, school board members, and communities positive steps that might be taken to correct situations which cause teacher dissatisfaction and turnover, (3) make possible the development of pregrams to encourage qualified women teachers to enter or re-enter the teaching profession, and (h) help to educate women more effectively for the dual role of homemaker and teacher. Since the present study emphasizes especially an exploration 12Floraldartin, State Supervisor of Home Economics Education, Department of Vocational Education, State Department of’Public Instruc- tion, Helena, Montana. Personal interview. of factors which influence home economics graduates to enter, to remain in, or to leave the teaching profession, the third of the above possible benefits will be further developed.here. There are many qualified home economics teachers who either have never entered the profession or have left. In fact, Laxson reported that more than one-third of the 2,762 home economics education majors who graduated from l9u7-5O did not take a teaching ,job.13 Home economics education graduates were necessarily included in the following discussion by the.Research Division of the National Education Association: (a) That the general papulation contains some tens of thousands of college graduates who can fully meet the standard requirements for the teaching certificate without further effort on their part; (b) personal circumstances in every case have deterred each of these individuals from entering or continuing in teaching: (c) only a change in the personal situation of the individual is likely to reshape his occupational choice; (d) since the individual did not choose to remain in teaching, although he is qualified to do so, it is not likely that teaching will now attract him unless the remuneration anfi general conditions now have a stronger pull than heretofore.l If this potential supply of home economics teachers in the general papulation is to be utilized, additional knowledge of factors which would influence them to teach must be made available. If an individ- ual has made a decision not to enter or to leave teaching, it seems unlikely that he will reverse that decision unless some of the factors considered in the original decision are known and changed. 13Mary Laxson, "A.Look at the Homemaking Teacher Supply," Journal g£_Home Economics, XLV (May, 1953), pp. 308-310. 1"National Education Association, gp, 213., p. 23. STA'IEL'CEIT OF PROBLEM This study sought to determine factors influencing home economists to enter, to remain in, or to leave the teaching profession. An inten- sive study of home economists trained by Montana State College was made, but the analysis should have implications for the more general problem of teacher retention. Specifically, the following questions were investigated: (1) What factors are associated with the decisions of Montana State College home economics graduates to enter, to remain in, or to leave teaching?15 (2) How is satisfaction with teaching related to decisions of Montana State College home economics graduates to remain in or to leave teaching? (3) What specific factors are associated with teaching satis- faction? Specific hypotheses to provide answers to these general inquiries are set forth in Chapter III. Chapter II deve10ps the rationale upon which these hypotheses are based. OVEBNIEW OF THE STUDY The present chapter presented the problem and the need for the 15Home economics graduates as used in this study refer to those people completing the undergraduate professional curriculum in home economics to earn a.Bachelor of Science Degree. 10 study. Chapter II will review the literature from a selected biblio- graphy concerning teacher turnover and satisfaction as related to personal, home, community, and school factors. Chapter III will formulate the specific hypotheses tested and Chapter IV will detail methods and.procedures by which data.were obtained to test these hypotheses. Chapter V will report detailed analyses of the data obtained and Chapter VI will present conclusions and recommendations. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE Chapter I presented the need for determining factors which affect teacher retention and/or satisfaction and stated the problem. The present chapter reviews research pertinent to the probable reasons for the current lack of qualified teachers and will develop a rationale to serve as a basis for further study of these factors. Even though the present study was limited to women, studies concerning the reasons for retention and/or satisfaction of men teach- ers were included in this analysis. The importance for employment of sex differences was clear cut and well established on certain factors such as marriage and child rearing, but these differences were not conclusive in relation to the majority of the factors considered in the present study. Men and women differed somewhat on many factors, but these differences were relative rather than absolute. For example, many studies showed that salary was more important to men than to women, but it was also a factor of some importance to women. Therefore, studies concerning both men and women were included in this review. It is common knowledge that women teachers are an unstable group in terms of turnover rate and actual withdrawal from the pro- fession. Since womanpower must be utilized effectively to staff the nation's schools, reasons for the high rates of turnover and.withdrawal must be sought. It seems reasonable to assume that people may change jobs because of (1) objective factors concerning the person, the home, 12 the community, or the work situation, and/or (2) the attitudes which one holds concerning these same categories. Any study dealing with factors influencing job changes and withdrawals will need to consider both objective and attitude factors. Objective factors are considered here as those for which actual factual information is obtainable. For example, in studying the role of salary in teacher retention, two types of data could be secured. First, one could collect objective data on the actual salaries received. One could also secure attitude data on the ways in which these salaries are perceived. To one person $5,000 might seem very adequate as an income while to another it would seem only a pittance. In the case of women leaving teaching, objective factors such as actual family responsibilities seem to be the reasons most frequently given for withdrawal while moving to a better Job seems to be an accepted reason for turnover. Less frequently mentioned, but probably definitely affecting the decisions of women teachers to leave or remain in teach- ing, are the attitudinal factors involved in Job satisfaction. Data on objective factors are relatively easy to collect, to tabulate, and to understand. It will be necessary to analyze further, however, the factors of Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was defined by Hoppock as any combination of psychological, physiological, and environmental circumstances that causes a person truthfully to say, “I am satisfied.with my job."1 1Robert Hoppock, Job Satisfaction (New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1935), p. 1*7. 13 Hoppock recognized that there is probably no single variable of job satisfaction which operates independent of the other satisfactions in one's life. He recognized that factors such as social status, health, 2 and family relationships may be as important as the job itself. Moreover, the degree of Job satisfaction probably varies from day to day or even within the same day. And very often overt satisfaction may express a rationalization of a situation which cannot be changed. Admitting these difficulties and fluctuations, Hoppock defended the construct as worthy of study as a generalized trait: A,person may never be wholly satisfied. And yet there are persons in the world.who are contented enough to remain in one job year after year, making no particular effort to change; while others are so unhappy that they move from job to Job, worry over their discontent, seek the help of friends in effecting read”ust- ments, and in various other ways manifest a state of unrest. If one accepts Hoppock's definition of Job satisfaction, then one will also have to accept the fact that the total and enduring satisfaction one receives from one's job results as much from the attitudes one develoPs about the various components making up that job as from the actual circumstances of the Job. Krech and Crutchfield said: A human.psych010gical existence without beliefs is virtually inconceivable, for it would be an existence without continuity. One of the major roles that beliefs play in the individual's personality is in providing structure and continuity for his psychological world. Beliefs can be seen as the building blocks 2 Bil-9." P- 5- 31bid. {2‘ Mn *1 (.1 '(_' I“) 114 of his world; and for all practical purposes, the pattern of his beliefs and attitudes may be taken as equivalent to the pattern of his psychological world. The continuity from one psychological situation to the next is given primarily by the enduring pattern of his beliefs and attitudes (among which are the very important beliefs and attitudes that he holds about himself). In the absence of such enduring structures, the individual would be a "new" in- dividual in each situation; his behavior would tend to be organized only in terms of the immediate pattern of concomitant stimuli and his momentary needs.“ Industry first recognized the importance of attitudes in job satisfaction to both employees and employers and has been extremely active in conducting job satisfaction research. McGregor and Arsen- berg studied attitudes toward management among. a group of research engineers in an electrical manufacturing company . They found that: The important common attitudes of the group toward company policy and toward management were found to be directly associated with conflicts arising out of inconsistencies between the two groups of factors listed above. These attitudes included: (1) the demand for greater participation in management, (2) resentment of increased restrictions upon the freedom of action of the engineer which were normal accompaniments of the development of the company, and (3) criticisms symptomatic of the need for greater consistency and predictability with respect to the behavior of the management group . Tiffin supported the theory that attitudes are important in job satisfaction. He also made the point that it is very difficult, if not impossible, for an individual to understand clearly his own atti- tudes and why he holds them: lJ’David Krech and Richard S. Crutchfield, Theory and Problems 2: Social 8 cholo (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.), p. 153. 5Douglas McGregor and Conrad Arsenberg, " The Gensis of Attitudes Toward Management,“ Abstracted in Ps cholo ical W, DQ'VII (July. 19%) . 1). 1+3“. 15 Many employees are themselves unaware of what is needed to make them satisfied with their jobs. This does not mean that the employees are unintelligent or that they have any special dis- ability to analyze their true motives. It simply illustrates a well-established principle of normal human behavior, namely, that it is difficult for anyone to identify in clear and unmistakable terms the forces that underlie his feelings and actions. Everyone has observed the employee who, under one supervisor, continually sulks on the Job because "the company doesn't pay him what he is worth," and, under another supervisor, works in a contented and industrious manner for exactly the same wage. It is not unusual to watch a man's attitude shift from one of chronic discontent to one of complete satisfaction following a shift from a Job of low status to one of higher in this intangible quality even tgough the change in Jobs involved no appreciable increase in wages. Brayfield, Wells and Strate attempted to find interrelationships among measures of Job satisfaction and general satisfaction. Of inter— est in this study was the finding of no statistically significant relap tionships between job satisfaction and general satisfaction among the female employees. An attempt was made to explain this finding with the hypothesis that work was a less important factor in the lives of these women than in the lives of the men. The following peripheral evidence was offered as support: The women were somewhat more likely than were the men to say that their Job did not give them a chance to work off their emotions, that it was not exciting, that it was nothing more than a way of making a living, and that they did not have to work for a living. Also they tended to be somewhat more certain that they were doing as well in their Jobs as their family expected, and that their family would not like for them to change jobs; they were more satisfie with the prestige which their jobs gave them with their friends. éJoseph Tiffin, Industrial Psychology (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 19MB). Pa 31“. 7Arthur Brayfield, Richard v. Wells, and Marvin w. Strate, "Interrelationships.Among Measures of Job Satisfaction and General Satis- faction," Journal 2f.Applied.Psych010gy, XLI (August, 1957), p. 20h. 16 In contrast, a study of the dissatisfactions in work as reported by 122 male youth showed a rather wide range of sources of dissatis- faction. Eorty-four per cent disliked the nature of the work, 2% per cent attributed dissatisfaction to deficiencies in their personality and social attitudes, 9 per cent each mentioned lack of education, uncongenial work conditions, no opportunity for promotion, and.5 per 8 cent mentioned.monotony of tasks, long hours and insufficient salary. The above discussion has attempted to point out that job satis— faction results from a variety of circumstances and that attitudes toward these circumstances are probably as important as the actual situations. Hoppock discussed the importance of studying job satis- faction: Whether or not one finds his employment sufficiently satis- factory to continue in it, either permanently or until he has prepared himself for greater responsibilities, is a matter of importance to employer and employee. To state the problem is no less significant: Subject any group of normal persons to intoler- able working conditions and revolt is inevitable; first in strikes; if they fail, in riots; finally, if necessary, in political or social revolution. Rec0gnition of this fact has been one of the principal justifications of occupational education, guidance, and personnel work in secondary school, college, and industry; and some idea as to the extent of dissatisfaction is basic to intelligent consideration of many questions in these and other fields. Job satisfaction seems basic if an individual is going to perform efficiently and happily in his position. It is not meant that each worker should reach a state of complete satisfaction since this might 8Goodwin Watson and Jerome M. Seidman, "Dissatisfactions in Work," Journal g£_Social Psychology, XIII (February, l9hl), p. 186. 9Hoppock. 19.6..- sli- 17 result in being content with things as they are. PrOgress is probably made at times because of the dissatisfaction experienced by workers. The desirable situation may well be one where some dissatisfaction is experienced.but not to a degree that is so intense and.painful that both the individual and society may be injured. Probably industry has made the most progress in studying and understanding job satisfaction. Education has been slower to rec0g— nize that teacher satisfaction or dissatisfaction may be one of the determinants of the quality of education and actually of the supply of teachers. With the recognition of the importance of job satisfac- tion for teachers has come attempts to study satisfaction in teaching. Many of these studies supported the theory that job satisfaction is an important factor in the decisions made by teachers to leave or to remain in the teaching profession. There was also support for the idea that much of the turnover within the profession resulted from dissatisfaction. The following discussion of research supports the theory that job satisfaction as we have defined it above is an impor- tant and.pertinent factor in teacher retention. Derthick reported that "working conditions" and "dissatisfac- tions with the teaching profession" were rated second and third in importance as reasons why teachers left the profession. Items included in ”working conditions" were factors in the teaching environment such as crowded classrooms, inadequate facilities, insufficient teaching materials, extra duties, heavy schedules, night work, pressures of overwork, lack of communication with others, and low morale. Included ll- 18 under "dissatisfaction with the teaching profession" were reasons such as routine and monotony of teaching, lack of prestige, and dis- . , . lO appointment With conduct and training of fellow teachers. In the U) study, Factors nff,cting the n .' I‘,‘ &-' 9 I...“ atiSi-(nColOT‘S 0. Elk) . K the data offered further support for the relat fl .4 U I a COAAsrA’LlC (D t 3 (D m 0 i l-J 0 L5 ship of job satis— faction to decisions of teachers to remain in or leave the profession: Of the 971 teachers, 65 per cent planned to teach the following year, 27 per cent were uncertain, and 8 per cent had decided to leave the profession. The mean job satisfaction scores for the three groups were 52.u7, L5.63 and “5.39 respectively. Teachers expecting to teach next year tended to have significantly higher general job satis:action scores than those not expecting to teach. Sources of irritation must have prevailed about equally for those who were uncertain and for those who were leaving the profession. It does not seen unreasonable to assume that many of these teach- ers would remain in teaching if conditions were such as to make them sufficiently satisfied with the job.... This study confirms the belief that teacher satisfaction is influenced by a variety of faCtors 11 Moreover, Pepper, in a study of 201 ex-teachers, reported that their dislikes for teaching were very similar to their reasons given for 12 leaving teaching. However, Andrus showed that the evidence was not conclusive 10Lawrence Derthick, Jr., "Factors Involved in Teachers Leaving the Education Profession" (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University A -— -. C of Tennessee, 1937), pp. 137, 3c. 1 . , . . . . r , American Vocational ass001ation, Inc., Connittee on hesear n and Publications, Factors Affecting §h§_Satisfgctions of Home Economics Teachers, AVA Research Bulletin, No. 3 (Hashington: The american Vocational Association, ljhé), p. M. 12 V "a _ . . a . James L. Pepper, rectors Involved in the necruitment and Retention of Teachers in Lichigen" (unpublished 3d.E, dissertation, ’YIaj'ne University, 135.1; , o 113. 19 rega rding the importance of teaching satisfaction as a factor in teach— er withdrawa . He reported that 23 per cent of the teaclzers he studied indicated they were moving to better positions, #2.} per cent resigned because of dissatisfaction and M8.§ per cent vere lea vin” the profes- sion. Only 12.9 per cent were dismissed. He further stated that two- thirds of the group who moved to better uositions were also di satis— -s fied with their previous positions. It was siLnificant hat few of tr e teachers res ”i ninp because of dissatisfaction actually v.ithdrew from the profession. Andrus indiCated that causes for withdrawal must be associated vith teachers' personal lives outside the profession. He also concl used that "regardless of Lather the causes of di ssa tis- faction were actually true, that if the teacher sincerely believed these causes to be Operative then they were, in effect, actually 13 pillon also concluded that operative from the teNC1er's view:oint." the data did not forn conclusive evidence that sources of dis ssa tis- faction were causative agents in the exod s fr011 the teaching profession. It was found, however, that some teachers were experie ncing disappoint- ....1u.,_ nent in everya ea covered 1n the study. nnox, too, concluded t1at teacher turnover in contrast to withdrawal from teachin was influenced Hovard Guion Andrus, "The Extent and Causes of Turnover Among Seconda y—School Tea.chers in let York State Central Schools for the Year 19h8-u9" (unpublished.Ph.D. dissertation, Co1mell Jniversity, 1951). pp. 157—158. 11+. .- . . 1. . ,1 harvin 1. Lillon, "appraisals by Teacners ano.rormer Teachers of Some Sources of Dissatisfaction in Secondary Te 5" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Tenver, 195-), p. 9 20 11 sugported the conclusion of .-_4 1'9 (N by job satis s: action, and this fin Andrus in the study reported above, In a stu‘r involving hose econo ics teachers, Paolucci reported: The beginning teachers in this group vere ;en 1ere.lly satisfied .ith teaching. All of the teachers indicated that the" liked teaching. Twenty of the twenty—four indicated that they felt satisfied with teaching most of the tine;f01r stated that they felt satisfied with teaching coouth elf of the time. Ihirteen of the group indicated that they did not gnow of any job for which thev were qua.lified that would induce then to leave teaching, Eleven of the twenty—four said that they were not eager to leave teachin; out would do so if the;. could ;et a better job. Seven- teen said that the3 lined teaching about as well as most peonle 1i: their jobs; while seven said that they liked teacLing better than most geogle line their Jobs,l° Even though the twenty-four home economics teachers in the above study were satisfied, eleven reported that they wou.ld le ea ve teaching for a better job, In contrast, Haas disc;ssed persistence of home economics graduates in vocational roles: The findin¢s indicate clear evidence that favorableness of attitude toward a vocation and presence in the vocation are direct- 1y related. For exanole, those individuals whose current vocation is prirari ily h “encn1n- have a hi her : ean score on the homenahing attitude scale than on the hiLh scho ol teach in scale . . . the mean differences in attitude scores for these two groups of indivi— duals are significant at the two per cent level of confidence, l,- ', 'I’I' - o o 1 v 1 o A o DCarl Larner nnox, "an Investigation of the too Satiszection of Recent Graduates of The University of Illinois Low Enaa1; ed in School leaching and Administration" (unpublished Ph.? . dissertation, University of Illinois,l 333) Universitv ;icrofiln Dis :tatio:1 *bst1acts, XIII, p. 10h} laBeatrice Paolucci, "Deci sion -.e;: n in Classes of Ho: 8 Econo:1ics 0v noJ1nn1nL 2 dissertation, hichigan State Unive ersit", l3 .— in b elation to T .clers" (unpuolis ‘ 13. #5. C" o 9 r: J10 C /. 7‘ U 17Larv IIelen Haas, "A Study of Certain Factors Related to the ‘.'ocational Activity of Home Econo .ics-Education Gre.d1ates" (unpublished Ph,D, dissertation, University of innesota, 1337), p. 131. 21 Haas further discussed the variables which she believed were related to the choice of vocational role made by the home economics graduate: The theory tested in this study suggests that the choice between two alternate vocations for these home economics education graduates will be determined by several variables: attitude toward each vocation, the commitments one has to the vocation now being perform- ed, the perceived adequacy of the income provided by the current role, and the vocational satisfaction experienced by the person in her present occupation.... These variables are thought to explain, at least in part, whether or not a homemaker will change to high school home economics teaching and whether a hi school home economics teacher is likely to shift to homemaking. O'Donnell emphasized the importance of considering the satis- faction of the home economics teacher when she said: In a day when there is such a shortage of home economics teach— ers and when the supply of prospective teachers is limited, the prdblem of professional morale and job satisfaction has strategic importance for program deve10pment, for recruitment and for con- tinued service of all professional leaders in home economics edup cation, whether they are employed at the secondary, college level and/or in supervision. Investigators generally seemed to be in agreement that job satisfaction does not come from any one source, Manning's study indicated that Job satisfaction was not dependent upon salary alone 20 but rather upon one's reaction to the over-all job and its location. 1 19 Beatrice Olson O'Donnell, “Discrepancies Between Beliefs of Leaders in Homemaking Education in Michigan and.Practices in Local Homemaking Programs" (unpublished Ph,D. dissertation, Michigan State College, 195”), p. 221, mm, 1). 132. 20Walton Manning, "A.Comparative Study of Job Satisfaction of Selected Teachers in Favored Urban and.Less Favored Rural Teaching Positions" (unpublished.Ed,D. dissertation, Indiana.University, l95h) Quiversitx Micggfilm Dissertation Abstracts, XIV, p. 1586. 22 Kline, in a stuQ ' of satisfect ions and annoyances in teachin , also concluded tnat the ere was no one possible source of satisfaction or annoyance in teaching and that possible sources of €-nnoy2nce arose more out of wh at teachers thought Wc' s expected of them. Satisfactions 21 and annoyances grew from both situations and persons, We may conclude fro; the aoove discus ssion that both objective factors, the situation as it actually exists, and attitude factors, the sit"'tion 8.3 it is perceived by tne teach r, 35v be deterrfi nants " . . napter, in teacher turnover and withdrawal, In the remainder of this 0 factors, both objective and attitude, will be discussed in relation to teacher retention and/or satisfaction. T? is discussion W1 '11 be organized der four main ceteg ories: (l) oersonal factors, (2) home .5 factors, (3) community factors, and (4) school factors PEnSOIAL FaCICnS The personal factors category will include: (a) year in school that decision was made to enter teachinr, (b) or ief reason influencing choice of teaching as a career, (0) dates of g*aduation and/or age at q graduation, (d) college grade-point average, (e) adeq_u"C" of training in subject matter and/or teaching methods, (f) professional adequacy, ( 3) educational oxilosoo y, (b) courses completed beyond the bachelor's degree, (i) other types of professional activities, (3) personal goals l , . . . . . . Frances Florence Kline, "Satisfactions and AnnO‘ances 1n Te aching," Journal of Lugerlveut l halcctlon, XVIII (Deceznber,19M9), 5.7"." C” pp , 00-9 23 upon entering college, (k) personal goals upon entering eaching, (l) immediate personal occupational goals, (n) reasons for teaching, (n) pinions of worth of junior and senior hiph school home economics, and (o) availability of " ternetive occupations. These factors will be discussed in the order listed. ‘-‘ ‘ mi" 5 A . ‘- ‘ 'Y' t" ‘ r‘~ I. m L - [‘1 _u- ‘4 . - -. ear In School inat Bec1s-on Jcs “use - inter lencn1ng ’4 Only two studies included in this review attempted to relate time of career choice to either teacher retention or satisfaction, A third study investigated decisions to enroll in home economics but not in teaching specifically, Of the 213 ex—teachers surveyed by Pepper, three-fourths of the men teachers and two-thirds of all teach- ers stated that they received their information about teaching during their college careers. Relatively few said they received assistance 22 _ during or before high school years. Knox found that the most satis- fied group of teachers chose educational work earlier than the least . 23 satisfied grouo Wright and Corbin reported that over 50 per cent 1 of the home economics students inc uded in their study made their final decision to enroll in college ‘uring the senior year in high school, 1h per cent during the Junior year, and about 23 per cent after gradu- 214 ation from high school, ('1 C . IPepper, 03, c1 ., p. 81. ’JO 2 V 3Knox, loo. 0 t Eufi o * 1 Yvr Y ' a“ Blizaoetn nansen . 1v L , of Home Economics," Journal of Home Ec .oti a, XLIV (Apr 1, 195- 2h Although the data were inconclusive they seemed to indicate a relationship between time of occupational choice and persistency in that choice. It seemed reasonable that a.person who made an occupap tional choice early would.have an opportunity to test his decision. Thus, if he was a.potential drop-out, he might drop out early in the training period. This factor definitely seemed worthy of further investigation. M 39.55.92 Influencing §_hp_i_c_e_ 9;; Teaching _A__s_ é _Q_a_r_e§_1; Each person is faced, at some point in his life, with the neces— sity of choosing a vocational role. An intelligent decision in this respect might well be a factor in later persistence in the chosen role. Knowledge of whom or what influenced.home economics graduates to choose teaching as a career in relation to their persistence and/or satisfac- tion in teaching might be very useful both in recruiting and retaining teachers. Only a few studies have investigated this factor and only one related it to withdrawal from teaching. Irland reported that both current majors in and drap-outs from the home economics education curriculum indicated that both.parents and.homemak1ng teachers had been inspirations for majoring in home econom:l.cs.25 Wright and Corbin, although they attempted to find rea- sons for enrolling in home economics with no mention of teaching, supported Irland.with the finding that mothers ranked first and.home— 2SMarq‘uita.L. Irland, ”An Analysis of the Home Economics Teacher Education Program in Three Michigan Colleges" (unpublished.Ed.D. dis- sertation, Wayne University, 1956), p. 88. 25 making teachers ranked second.26 Paolucci, in a study of twenty-four beginning home economics teachers, reported very different reasons for choosing teaching. Sixteen gave enjoyment of the subject matter taught in home economics as the reason for choosing teaching, five said they liked to work with peeple in helping them become better family members, and three said that teaching combined easily with marriage.27 Pepper, in a study of ex-teachers, found that although low salary was the top reason for leaving teaching very few said that they became teachers for financial reasons. Over half of the ex- teachers reported entering teaching because they enjoyed working with children and other people,28 ‘ The research reviewed was tangential and inconclusive regarding the importance of this factor, The theory arguing for its inclusion in the present study was that a rational decision made upon a sound basis would seem to lead both to persistence and satisfaction with that decision. Dates g; Graduation And/Q; égg 53 Graduation There appeared to be conflicting evidence with regard to the importance of age and employment status. Clark, in conparing a group of teachers who left and a group of teachers who remained in the field 26Wright and Corbin, £99, 93;, 27Paolucci, 22. 9311.. p. ”:14. agPepper. 22. all" P. 110. 26 of vocational agriculture, found that ages at the time of matricup lation and graduation were statistically significant. Those teachers who were older at matriculation and graduation tended to remain in the teachingprofession,29 Clark's findings are supported by several other studies. For example, Hill found that youth was a strong factor in the decisions of teachers to leave the profession 30 permanently, In a study of first-year teachers, the Research Div- ision of the National Education Association found that up to age forty, the older a.person was when he began to teach, the more likely it was that he was satisfied. After the age of forty, the likelihood of finding teaching satisfaction decreased sharply,31 LaBue, in a study of female students, reported that those women who persisted in prepar- ing for teaching were older than those who did not complete training.32 Lehman found a slightly different relationship between age and the 29RaymondlicCallum Clark, "Factors Associated.With Decisions of Michigan Teachers to Remain in or to Leave the Field of Teaching Vocational.Agriculture" (unpublished Ed.D, dissertation, Michigan State University, 1950), p, 75. 3QWayne Walter Hill, "Factors Contributing to the Problem of Teachers in the Secondary Schools of Maryland Leaving the Profession from 1950 to 1955" (unpublished Ph,D. dissertation, University of Pittsburg, 1956) University Microfilm Dissertation Abstracts, XVII, p. 76. 31National Education Association, Research Division, "First- Year Teachers in 195u.55," National Education Research Bulletin, XXXIV (February! 1956>s P0 39- 3gAnthony Charles LaBue, "An Analysis of Some Factors Associated With.Persistence of Interest in Teaching as a.Vocational Choice" (unp published no.1). dissertation, Syracuse University, 1951+), p, 166. 27 employment of married home economics women. She stated that: The graduates showing the highest employment rate were those of the five years immediately preceding the study and those of twenty to thirty years earlier. In each case at least a third of the married women reporting from these classes were employed. The early years of marriage before the children began to arrive and the later years when the children had grown up were, logical- 1y enough, the times of highest employment. It does seem 10gical, considering the life cycle of women, that time for child bearing and rearing will be taken during the middle of their possible working years. It also follows that many women will work until the first pregnancy and again when children leave home, Other women will not have established their own homes at the time of gradua- tion so will necessarily work for some period of time following gradua~ tion. In contrast to the above studies, Graetz reported that age at ‘ 3h graduation was not a significant factor in the retention of men, and.Dillon concluded that age was not related to dissatisfaction of either male teachers or former teachers,35 The available evidence on the relation of age to Job turnover was thus conflicting, but it seems safe to conclude that there was some relationship between age and the employment of women in the 33Ruth T. Lehman, " The Employment Status of a Group of Home Economics Alumnae," Educational Research Bulletin, XXXII (October, 1953). p. 172. u . 3 Ralph Clarence Graetz, "Factors Affecting the Retention of Men in the TeachingIProfessionp—A.Study of Milwaukee State Teachers College Male Graduates From 1932-l9h6" (unpublished.Ed,D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1952), p. 139. 35D1110n, 2R. 9—11,... P. 990 28 teaching profession. The nature of this relationship was further investigated in the present study, College MM Average Little evidence was found in literature relating college grade- point average to either teacher retention or satisfaction. Thus, Clark investigated this factor in relation to retention of vocational agriculture teachers, but found that it was not significant.36 Simi- larly, a study by Quick reported that the grade-point average did not differentiate between teaching and non-teaching industrial arts graduates,37 Nor did grade-point average prove to be a significant factor in the retention of the men teachers studied by Graetz,38 Rooks, however, found that among University of Georgia graduates, both men and women, those who had never taught had a significantly lower college grade-point average than those who were then teaching,3 Since this study included women, it would seem to provide some evidence that college grade-point average might be related to the decisions of 3601ark on 93;" Po 59- ’fi. 370tho James Quick, "Teaching and Non—Teaching Baccalaureate Degree Graduates With Industrial Arts Majors: A Comparative Study of Former Students of Eastern Illinois State College Aimed at Improved Counseling and Related Aspects of Preparation: Thirteen Items on Record, Types of Teaching and Non-Teaching Positions, Present Status, Causes of Separation, and Professional Attitudes" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Minnesota, 1951+), p, 91+, 38Graetszs, lgg, 2-i- 3911a.Rooks, "Teaching Satisfaction in Relation to Intelligence, Interest, and Grade-Point Average of Selected University of Georgia Graduates" (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The University of Georgia, 1957). p. 130. 29 women to enter teaching, . Q "" V 1‘ : "‘ . ‘ “' ‘ ‘."' ": “ . '1 r‘ ‘ ~- .‘ A ...!» r .~ . I -~ - Ageciccr 1 reinla, In Sue eco hatter An;,or -eaculn; “etcocs --- — fl * AA—A- Warren reported that 35 per cent of the anti “fie ercHers es 1 s co.,ared to only 33 per cent of the dissatisfied teachers felt t3"t college gave a life-like preparation for problems met in terching, O'Donnell suggested in 2 nother study, hat one reason for discreaz.ncies oetveen beliefs of ecders and are ctices in local howe.anin’ depart— ments could be that the pre-s ervice edocztion nrode lfailed to provide suitable 'nd/or s efficientl' effective learning xperiences for pros— pective homemaking teachers, She stated the : It is possible that the objectives, content, values, and pro- cedures in colle ge lone economics courses and related courses in the college prod an 5y not 5‘1jport srj ficiently and/or be in conflict with certain of the oojectives, values and >locedu.r s at Cl. the secondary leVel and thus nQr have h£.d some uni :vora ole eff on homelaking at the secondaryl evel, “1 S Teacher-training programs were cited by Suggs as one of the four ma or l+2 ‘ . areas wnicn could prevent or solve persistent problems of teachers Several other investigators also reported problems and weaknesses in ‘ college training with the lupllcstlon tn: more realistic training LLO Lerle F, Warren, "Factors Related to coo Satisfaction of Thite Elerentary School Teachers in Louisiana" (unjublis hed Ed,D, disserta— tion, Louisiana State University and A r1 cultural and fechanical Col— leae. 1933). p. 127. l , n . O'Donnell, 00, Cit,, p. ale, ‘ blems of Teachers" (unp ab 0 &~' \F '— ’? .~ . L" ‘ C t,, 133/) nixerS1tr “lCTO- lisned Ed.u. disser etion, Ind ana LL‘v 1 filn Iissertat1on Abst s 30 programs should be offered to youn; geo le dm rin“ their collese a ‘17 1:11! “" "f ‘4‘), ‘ r,‘-rj’~r3 *’ fl 1 w a. careers. 1n suggort o: tne aoove stidies, Peolucci re— ported thet beginning hone econor. ics te eac -ers wisned tn; they had received yore infom‘ietion or help in making decisions in: (1) under- standing and baidling discipline droolers; (E) planning and or anizin u o -v ‘ ' ‘ 0 o \. - ‘ tnei" worn; (3) Lnow1n; wnere to go for 1nformst1on; (e) oetter under- ‘ O standing adni nistredt 'e policies of schools; and (E) understnncin . . . , M7 junior nign none econom1cs worn. It should be noted that t e decision to in cl dce tnis fuctor in the :resent study was subsorted bv all of the stulie es reviewed. Ade— ‘ \_. quacy of training both in subject matter 5rd teaching metnoCs seemed to be related to both teacher retention and satisfaction. 7‘ ' 1'“; t- :rofe551onul Aueouacr Closely allied to adequacy of treinin; is fin individusl's n,r- cegtion of himself as eCetuzte or inece01ete in his chosen vocCt io1m role, and his percegtion of the status of his special teaching field. Research tended to subcort the theor;r that this factor is relcted to five sistence in te1chi 7. Clark found thut vocational agriculture Anlrus, on. cit., p, 1%,, 11 . - Pepner, g3. c1t., 9. SD. LLB 1 ‘ '1 4' w r F: Irland, oo. c1t., y. o,. , non n r7 n ‘- Jrcetu, 10b. C11. 1+7 Paolucci, g1. cit., 93.102-133. 31 teachers who ranked their own departments high tended to remain in teaching while those who had little esteem left the profession. Of the beginning teachers studied by Schwarz, 7H,} per cent reported problems of self-adjustment which included feelings of inadequacy and conflict in personal-professional roles,M9 When comparing best satis- fied teachers with least satisfied teachers, Hoppock, too, found that feelings of success and interest in work were related to job satis- faction,50 Similarly, one hundred per cent of the satisfied teachers in Warren's study found their work interesting and only 11.6 per cent reported more satisfaction received from avocational activities than from their work, Of the dissatisfied teachers, 91 per cent found their work interesting but 33.6 per cent reported that avocational activities gave more satisfaction than their work,51 In another study, O'Donnell suggested that one reason for discrepancies between beliefs of leaders and actual programs might be that college women in home economics education were too immature and/or too inexperienced to profit from the learning experiences which were provided, at the time they were 2 included in the program,5 O'Donnell's suggestion received support 8 u Clark: .920 2.33.3.0. Po 109- n9'13erry E. Schwarz, "A.Study of'Beginning Teachers—~Prob1ems Encountered and Services Sought" (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1956) Universitl Liicrofilm girssertation Abstracts, XVII, p, 535, 5OHoppock, pp, cit., p, 22, l 5 Warren, pp, cit., pp, 115, 118. 52O'Donnell, loc. cit. 32 from the beginning home economics teachers in Paolucci‘s study who indicated that the factors of: (1) disapproval, (2) inefficiency, (3) inequality, (h) lack of achievement, (5) lack of success, and (6) uncertainty seemed to be related to dissatisfaction in decigfion—making relative to management in classes of home economics. Each study reviewed showed the importance of feelings of pro- fessional adequacy in teaching satisfaction and/or retention. Thus, this factor was included in the present study, Educational Philosophy, Two studies indicated that educational philos0phy might be a significant factor in the job satisfaction of teachers, Crosby found that the Opportunity to get experience, to use college education and to work toward vocational aims all were significant factors in the job satisfaction index of Hunter College women.5u Doyle, in a very differ- ent type of study, found that teachers tended to define their profes- sional role in a much narrower way than did administrators, school board members, and.parents. He concluded that "it would appear that the teachers were operating with the old traditional stereotype thoroughly in mind and that they held eXpectations for others which 55 were mirrored by such a stereotype." \ 53Paolucci, pp, cit., p. luO. u 5 Marion J, Crosby, "Personality Adjustment, Academic Achieve- ment and Job Satisfaction" (unpublished.Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1950). P. 57. 5SLouis Andrew Doyle, "A Study of the Expectancies Which Ele- mentary Teachers,.Administrators, School Board.Members and Parents Have of the Elementary Teachers' Roles" (unpublished Ed,D, dissertation, Michigan State University, 1956), p. 157. 33 It seems reasonable to assume that teachers who have a.well defined philosophy of education and realize the place of their parti- cular discipline in achieving educational goals will likely remain in the profession. Teachers who either do not have a sound.philos0phy of education or who are Operating in situations not congenial to their philosophy of education may well question their purpose in teaching and eventually drop out of the profession. For these reasons, this factor was further investigated in the present study, Courses Complgted.Beycnd The Bachelor's Degree Three studies including only men teachers showed a definite relationship between number of courses completed.beyond the bachelor's 56.57.58 degree and remaining in the teaching profession. However, evidence as to a relationship between this factor and satisfaction or dissatisfaction of teachers was conflicting. Dillon, in a study of teachers and ex-teachers, concluded that dissatisfaction was not re- 59 Other lated in any systematic fashion to the number of degrees held. studies showed a definite relationship although they were not in agree- ment that this was either a positive or negative relationship. Kline reported that: 56Clark. 22. 21.15... p. 136. 57Quick, _1_9_g'. cit. 58Graetz, 22. £13.09 PP. 138-1390 59Dillon, lpp. cit. 3h Those with less than an H.A, degree were annoyed.with more items in each category than those with less than the Ph.D. degree. This latter group found Ears items referring to the child annoy- ing than any other area. Sharma concluded that teachers with greater academic preparation tended to be less satisfied in regard to the quality of the professional lead- ership of their superintendent, the educational program of their school, the recognition of their efforts and achievements by the administra~ 61 tion and.by the community, and the salary they received. In direct contrast to this, the American Vocational Association study of satis- faction of home economics teachers showed an increase in satisfaction with advanced study. The conclusion was that: Increase in satisfaction apparently either resulted from advanced study beyond the bachelor's degree or ghose who were more satisfied with teaching did graduate work. 2 Although there was some disagreement among research reports as to the role of graduate training, the evidence did indicate that a definite relationship might exist. Other Types 9;,Profession§;.Activities Only one study reviewed related professional activities to either teacher retention or satisfaction. Clark reported that this Kline, pp, 913., p. 88. 61Chiranji L. Sharma, "Practices in.Decision—Making as Related to Satisfaction in Teaching“ (unpublished.Ph.D. dissertation, Univer- sity of Chicasp. 1955). p. 8N. ,American Vocational Association, pp, cit., p. 7. 35 factor was not significant in the retention of vocational agriculture teachers. 3 In spite of the one negative report, this factor was included in the present study. The importance of advanced study has been rather conclusively established. It follows, then, that other types of’professional activities which lead either to improving the teacher or to up-grading the profession might also be important in teacher retention and/or satisfaction. It is also possible that on any factor women may differ from men. Since the one study cited included only men, and the present study includes only women, this factor was being investigated. Perspppl_Go§;p,Upon Entering College Students who have made an occupational choice before entering college may have more clear cut goals, and as a result, may gain more from their college training than those who enter college not knowing their vocational goals. This might well lead to both satisfaction and persistence in a vocation. This theory was supported.by Graetz who reported that the intent of men to enter college specifically to pre- pare for teaching was a highly significant factor in their retention in the profession.6n While the evidence was limited, it did Justify further investigation. 63C181‘k, 22. 9.1-}... P. 1350 GraetZ. 92. Silo. P0 1370 36 Personal Goals Upon Entering Teaching Women are faced.with the possibilities of homemaking, working, or combining the two. How a woman perceives her role will doubtless affect her decisions relative to working or not working. Thus, some women may go into teaching with the intention of teaching only until marriage. These women likely perceive themselves as being content and busy as full time homemakers. Homemaking, then, in reality is their career goal. Teaching is seen only as a.stepping stone for earning a living until marriage. Other women may see themselves as teaching after marriage until the first child arrives. These women anticipate combining marriage and a career but not motherhood and a career. Their contribution to teaching, however, may be somewhat greater than the first group. Still other women may have long time goals in rela— tion to a vocation. These women perceive themselves as being able to combine successfully marriage, motherhood, and.work1ng outside the home. They actually prepare, in some cases, for a dual role. Although no research was found regarding this factor, it was included in the present study because of a.belief that women who have long time goals in relation to teaching will be more likely to remain in the profession. Immediate Personal Occupational Goals One of the two items (out of thirty) found.by Dillon to differ- entiate between present and former teachers was the respondent's 65 feelings of his probable successful future in teaching. Similarly, 6513111011. 93;. _c_:_L_t_., p. 96. 37 Crosby reported that the opportunity for advancement was a significant factor in Job satisfaction.66 Some doubts of these statements might be raised by warren who reported that 96 per cent of the satisfied elementary teachers planned to teach next year compared to 89 per cent of the dissatisfied group. While the difference in percentage was not great, the direction of the difference implied that this factor might have been related to teacher retention. 7 Thus, if a person saw a successful future in teaching and was working toward advancement, he more likely stayed in the profession. Reasons _F_o_p Tpa__c_}_i_i_ng Crosby concluded that the opportunity to work with people was a significant factor in the Job satisfaction index that he derived for Hunter College women.68 LaBuc also found that students in a female group classified as "persistently interested in teaching" chose teaching as a career which would.permit them to serve society.69 In discussing answers to questions regarding reasons why men graduates had left or remained in teaching, Graetz reported: It was pertinent that 131 men representing NS per cent of the entire group gave the fact that they liked teaching as a reason for remaining in teaching. Adding responses such as, personal 6 Crosby, lpp.‘p;p. 67 Warren, pp. __i_t_., p. 127. 8 Crosby, loc.c pip. 6aLaIBue, loc. c1 38 satisfaction and challenged by the work, it was found that 26% out of the 506 responses or 52 per cent of the total were in the “idealistic” category. 0 These studies indicated that a relationship might exist between the reasons given for teaching and the satisfactions received. Qinions 9p lhp Epptp 9; §u_n__i_p_p pip _S_§_r_1_ipp gig; School Home Economics No research was found.which considered the teacher‘s perception of the worth of her teaching field. It seemed lOgical, however, that the people who believed in the value of their vocational choice might stay in that vocation. This might be particularly important in teach— ing since it may well be that many people drift into teaching as a second or third choice occupation. It also seemed that if a home economics graduate believed that junior and senior high school home economics was valuable, that is, that these courses made a positive contribution to the well being of students, she might have been more likely to enter the teaching of it and might have been more satisfied with it. Availability 9; W Occupations The possibility of going into what appeared to be more promising work was a commonly studied factor in research on teacher retention. Such research studies approached the determination of the influence other positions had upon an individual's decision to enter, to remain in, or to leave teaching by either considering the desirability of 70Gut-mm. 22. sit... pp. 151-152. 39 alternative positions in relation to teaching or by exploring the undesirability of teaching. ‘Whether an alternative occupation was perceived as definitely attractive or whether it was "the lesser of two evils" might be an important consideration. But this distinction was difficult, if not impossible, to make. In a‘discussion of this as a cause of teacher turnover, Charters stated: "Better position" as a cause of turnover is meaningless. What teachgi would give as the reason for changing jobs "worse position"? For these reasons, despite the prevalence of this factor in other discussions of teacher turnover, it was not dealt with separ— ately in the present study. HOLE FACTORS The relationship of home factors to teacher retention will be discussed in the following order: (1) other teachers in the family, (2) attitude of family toward teaching as a career, (3) chances for marriage, (h) marital status and home responsibilities, (5) present attitude of husband toward wife's teaching, and (6) husband's present income. Other Teachers Ip_Family No research was found which attempted to relate the presence of other teachers in the family group to either persistence or satis- 71W. W. Charters, Jr., "What Causes Teacher Turnover?", School Review, LXIV (October, 1956), p. 296. ho faction in teaching. But it seemed reasonable to assume that such a relationship might exist. It has been pointed out on page 2% that parents were influential in determining the choice of teaching as a career. It followed, then, that parents who were themselves teachers, or were closely associated with teachers in the family, might be even more aware of the desirability of teaching as a career for their children. The reverse would also follow. Children who were closely re- lated to teachers might more readily come to perceive themselves as teachers than children whose only contact with teachers was in school. The resulting earlier commitment to teaching might determine the bene- fit derived from the teacher preparation program and might lead to a greater degree of stability in teaching. Attitude 9;; will 20ng Teacl'gpg {L3 A Q_a_._r_e_p_p Whether or not the parents were themselves teachers, their attitude toward teaching might be important. Vocational agriculture teachers studied by Clark gave family attitudes as a reason for remain- ing in or leaving teaching. This factor differentiated between the two groups.72 Hoppock also reported a relationship between job satis— faction and family influence.73 Likewise, Warren reported that 5 per cent of the dissatisfied teachers he studied as compared to 72Clark, pp. cit., p. 112. 73Hoppoclr, m. cit. M1 1 per cent Of the satisfied were under pressure by their families to change professionsju As indicated by these three studies, there seemed to be a relationship between attitude of family and both teach- er retention and satisfaction although the evidence was not conclusive. It did warrant the further investigation of this factor in the present study. Chances 293; Marrige Pepper reported that one—half of the women ex—teachers included in his study felt that the Opportunities for marriage in teaching were less than would be possible in other vocational pursuits. An addition- 91 third of these women were not sure about the Opportunities for marriage in teaching.75 It was reasonable to assume that marriage was a goal Of most women, and that this might be a factor in the retention and/or satis- faction Of some women in teaching. Marital Status App, Home Responsibilities The majority of women workers eventually withdraw, at least for a period of time, from their chosen field of work to marry and rear a family. Since teaching is a profession employing women, many withdrasals for these reasons can be expected. This expectation 71+Warren, on c t., p. 12M, *.—- l 75 Pepper, pp. cit., p. 1114». e 110:1 from \A fl 81’]. are 7v . v I v n rwmloi 1d ‘q U- x... 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C n n .... X .1 t 5...... C .: U. S .. . f 1 E. a. D .l . .1 e u. C O .1 :2 S S C. r as «I O 9 :J .C .1 N” -.u e .3. t 3 I“ S OJ 3 e 7/! ...” r o is.” C .1 «NM .1 cc 0 ..l. l W 3. .qC w... t a d u 2. r3 .3 S 6 C a S t C r t O O (\ .1 r W e a; 0 r e r.e r C 0 e a a M 2 7.. S .1 ".o c. at c . ml 8 c l is S "J . nu U a a. h e r f ...u a r V r S S t O O S as it r .1 e o C 3. O a.l.l.t .. 2.1.1 0.1 Ex) 7 S _ e O .... rm u 1 TA 0 n as Z T... my S m u S c .7; o e e w. 0 .u e e 0 .v... \u r r S e I) a .1 n ...“ O S t e .. n h .n a. S ....c e C e l A) C .t no N ac .. u _ V 11 .LAC a w e 0 v . acr.1l .l .1 .7. S - a X l a... S .n n .... m 5 lie S O O S l u C e ...c .1 _. t O O C a n 2 S T C a S .1 . 0 e e H H ... .1 .1 S To r "a S I P ....o e x 5 vi .3 . me n at r3 7: i it +t e. 34 e 11 «J 8 it .I .l J ....C it “a e e 7.. 7.. .... a .c 7. 7. .1. d a... St .1 . O S F a ....o m h t t t C r . n 6. S ---... r 2 at. l, .a .1 R O n r r a O .3. .l is r C2 .0. O a. E n ..A .l W e e e f a...“ S S 7.-.. a: .a w .l c v to m s s are. a c van 6 S a J E 6 e .c e S S 9w I 8 n .l .... e we am ... e e h ..u l .1 .1 f it w. e .1 n . ...o r .0 . ..C. it 1 it t 3 .C. E 0 S X .... S v. p h3. 1 ‘_ O 1+3 83 or marriage. Since home economics is taught almost entirely by women and women are known to leave the profession for marriage and home responsibilities, Lehman's report on reasons for turnover in this field were hardly unexpected: Most of these (Ohio State University) alumnae (92 per cent) reported that they had been at some time gainfully employed, the greater number of them starting to work before they had.been out Of college two years. Yet only no per cent were working at the time that they returned the questionnaire. This was clearly due to a change in marital status. Practically all of the H07 single women (90 per cent), for example, were working, most of them full t1m.... There was much evidence too, that the presence of children was an influencing factor. More than half Of those who had no chil- dren were employed (58 per cent), and most of these at full-time work . . . Understandably enough, family size also definitely influenced the employment rate. .A fourth Of those with one chiég were working: only about oneusixth Of those with more children. While marriage seemed to be a major reason for withdrawal of women from the teaching profession, the evidence of its relationship to satisfaction and dissatisfaction in teaching was conflicting. The American Vocational Association study of factors affecting the satis- factions of home economics teachers indicated that satisfaction with teaching seemed to be independent Of marital status. Irritants in teaching did not seem to be radically different for married, single, 85 or widowed teachers. Dissatisfactions Of the group of men teachers and former teachers studied by Dillon were not found to be related to 83Pepper, pp, cit., p. 81. h 8 Lehman. 22. 933.. pp. 170. 17“. 85American Vocational Association, pp, cit., p. M. 1+1; marital status.8 Kline, however, in a study Of satisfactions and annoyances in teaching, reported that the married respondents were annoyed with more items than the single respondents?7 .A slight differ- ence between married and single women was fOund by Warren in a study Of factors related to Job satisfaction Of white elementary teachers. Sixty-one per cent of his satisfied group were married.whi1e 56 per cent Of the dissatisfied group were married. Of the single group Of teachers, 11 per cent Of the satisfied group were divorced or widowed while 1% per cent of the dissatisfied.were divorced or widowed.88 From these studies it seemed reasonable to expect that in the present research marriage and home responsibilities would be a with- drawal factor but probably would not be significant in the teaching satisfaction of home economics graduates. Present Attitude 91 Husband Toward Teaching Nothing was found in the review Of literature relating directly to the attitude Of a woman teacher's husband toward teaching. But we would expect that harmony in the home and mutual respect for what each family member was doing would relate importantly to Job satisfaction and.persistence in Jobs. Warren gave some support to this idea, He reported that 5 per cent of the dissatisfied teachers included in his 8 6Dillon, 22- 2232... p. 99. 87Kline, ;2_, Cit. 88Warren, pp, ci ., p. 121. 1&5 study were under pressure by their families to change professions. Only 1 per cent of the satisfied teachers reported similar pressure.89 TO test the belief that the attitude Of the husband does influence a.woman's vocational future, this factor was included in the present study. Humband's Present Income That marriage and home responsibilities were the reasons many women leave teaching has been rather conclusively established. Yet many married women and even some with young children are presently teaching. Why do some women leave teaching when married while others continue in the teaching profession? Lehman, reporting a study of home economics alumnae, concluded: There was some evidence that socio-economic status influenced the employment rate. Around half of all women whose husbands were in school, in military service, or in semi-skilled Occupations-- although the number involved here was small--were working. A.third of those in clerical and kindred fields or in skilled trades also were employed. Only about a fifth of the wives of professional men, of men in the proprietor-Official class, and of farmers were working.... Married alumnae . . . more commonl worked if their husbands' salaries were not in higher brackets. 0 It seemed lOgical that women would.work if the family needs were not adequately met by the husband's income. Thus, this factor was further investigated in the present study. 89Warren, pp. 933.. p. 121+. 90Lehman, pp. p_i_t_., pp. 171+, 70. M6 COMHUNITY FACTORS A number of factors relating to the nature of the community in which the teacher works has been explored. These factors will be dis- cussed in the following order: (1) size of community, (2) cultural Opportunities, (3) living arrangements, (M) status of teaching in the community, and (5) restrictions on personal life. Size 3mm While the evidence was conflicting, it did seem to indicate that a relationship existed.between teacher retention and the size of community in which the teacher worked. Manning found that the size of community most desired by prospective teachers was a city of 10,000 to 50,000 and the size least favored was 2500 or fewer.91 Manning was supported by Kline who reported that respondents with teaching experi- ence in communities of less than 2500 were annoyed.by many more items than were those with teaching experience in communities of any other size.92 Although Andrus reported no single outstanding cause for resig- nations, he did show that 27 per cent of the group studied resigned because of various community factors, chiefly size and.lack of trans- portation. He also found that the highest percentage of turnover occurred among the smaller schools. Likewise, Charters reported that 91stunning. lea. sit. 92mins, ,1_o_c_. cit. 93Andrus. pp. c ., p. 11+2. 1+7 the Bureau Of Educational Research at the University of Illinois found that the larger high schools in the state had turnover rates of about 8 per cent annually while small schools with fewer than ten teachers had turnover rates of nearly 30 per cent.9 Two studies of home economics graduates also indicated that this factor was worthy of consideration. Size of community was a significant factor in the job satisfaction scores Of the 971 home economics teacher respondents in the American Vocational Association study.95 Lehman, too, concluded that married home economics alumnae were most likely to be employed if they lived in middle sized or large cities.9 Two studies, however, did not support the above findings. War- ren did not find a relationship between community size and the job satisfaction of elementary teachers.97 Graetz reported that the at- traction Of a metropolitan area was not a significant factor in the retention Of men in teaching.98 Since the majority Of studies reviewed supported the theory that community size was related to both teacher retention and satisfaction, this factor was investigated. guChartCI'S, 9.2. 92-1}... F. 29,4. 95American Vocational Association, pp, cit., p. 5. 96Lehma'n0 £0 Cite! po 176. 9(Warren, pp, ci ., p. 96. 98Graetz, pp, ci ., p. 139. 1+8 Cultural Opportunitgpp Three studies definitely supported the theory that the presence or lack of cultural opportunities might be importantly related to teacher satisfaction. Andrus found that "few recreational and social outlets“ was high on the list Of criticisms Of communities among dis- satisfied teachers.99 Similarly, Warren concluded that dissatisfac- tion occurred among the elementary teachers in his study when they were not provided with interesting and cultural Opportunities.100 Only one-third Of the 210 ex-teachers studied by Pepper felt that teach- ing Offered certain cultural advantages over other occupations. Two- fifths of them were not sure about the cultural Opportunities offered by teaching.101 These studies were in agreement regarding the impor- tance Of cultural opportunities in the Job satisfaction of teachers. 11—min W The Research Division Of the National Education.Association in a study Of beginning teachers found that: .Almost one-half (M8.M-per cent) said their living arrangements were "very satisfactory"; 21.2 per cent said "good.but not excep— tional“; 18.“ per cent said "satisfactory”: 9.8 per cent said "just fair" and 2.2 per cent said "very unsatisfactory." It is apparent . . . that 12 in 100 beginning teachers in urban school systems are living pnder conditions that leave room for consider- able improvement. 0 991mm. pp. 2.1.3... p. 182. 100Warren, pp, pifi,. P. 97. IOIPePPere 22- M" P. 1114“ 102National Education.Association, pp, cit., p. 25. LL9 The Home Economics Research Committee of the American Vocational Asso- ciation reported that the kind of living arrangements teachers had were related tO their job satisfaction: It will be seen that those who, in general, were most satis- fied.with their teaching job lived.with their families; teachers who lived alone were better satisfied than those who roomed and boarded with others, did light housekeeping or had some "other" arrangement: and teachers who roomed in one place and.boarded in another were least satisfied. All Of these differences were sig- nificant.10 Pepper supported the findings of the above studies. Only one-third Of the expteachers included in his study reported considerable commu~ nity interest in helping them find suitable housing. Two-fifths report- ed mild community interest while one-fifth of the teachers believed their communities were indifferent to their housing problem. Only one- fifth Of all the expteachers included in the study said they owned 101+ their own homes. The above three studies investigated living arrangements and were in agreement as to the importance of this factor in relation to both teacher retention and satisfaction. Status 9f; Teaching Ip The Community In his study of teacher job satisfaction, Knox explored the perceived prestige value of teaching. Teachers who were most satisfied tended to perceive their community status as being high; those dissatisfied 103American Vocational Association, 22, 223,. P. 6. 10h Pepper, ;pp. cit. 50 105 felt their status position was low. Roth also included a category on status in developing a technique for determining sources of teacher 106 job dissatisfaction. In a related study, Dillon found that lack of understanding and appreciation of teachers and teaching problems shown by the city's citizens ranked third in importance as a source 1 Of teacher dissatisfaction. 07 It was difficult to know whether a perception of prestige value was a cause or an effect of dissatisfaction with teaching. In discuss- ing this point, Hoppock, while reporting that social status tended to be viewed more favorably among the satisfied teachers, said: The determining factor, it seems to us, is most likely to be a synthesis Of statuses--the status of the individual within his occupation and the status Of the occupation in the community-- combining tO determine the relative status Of the individual in the social and economic group with which he identifies himself.108 Acceptance into the community was another aspect of community status considered by the National Education Association in a study of beginning teachers: The per cent of respondents feeling accepted was significantly lower in small communities than in large communities, also, the proportion of respondents feeling they were ignored by their com- munities was over {hgee times as large in small communities as in large communities. 0 105Knox, lpp, cit. 106mm its. an. 107Dillon. 22. git... p. 58. 08 HOPPOCk’ 22.. 23-3-9 P0 350 10 aNational Education Association, pp, cit., pp. 26, 27. 51 Warren emphasized.the importance of good community relationships when he reported that dissatisfaction occurred.when teachers were not re- ceived as members of the community.110 Similarly, Schwarz, in a study of beginning teachers, reported that relationship problems with.parents and citizens were mentioned by the majority of respondents.111 Doyle's data seemed to support the idea that parents perceived a teacher's Job as somewhat comparable to a production job in industry, with its specified hours of employment and with the freedom accorded workers in their non-working hours.112 {Relationships with another group, the school board, ranked sixth in Derthick's study of reasons women teach- ers left the profession.113 The importance of community attitudes in teacher satisfaction and/or retention was further pointed out in two 11h.115 other studies. These were supported.by Suggs who concluded that prevention or solution of teacher problems appeared to be dependent , upon four factors, one of which was community attitudes and resources.110 Warren also reported that teacher dissatisfaction occurred when teachers 110 Warren, 22, £3£,. p. 97. 111Schwarz, lgg. cit. llanoyleo 229 Ellyn Po 1580 113Derthick. 92, 2$£,. P. 69. llhE. C. Hunter, "Attitudes and Professional Relationships of _ Teachers' Study of Teacher Morale," Journal 2;;E;perimental_Education, XXIII (June. 1955). p. 351. 115Graetz, 100. ci 116Suss3. lea. cit t. 52 felt that they did not have the cooperation of community members or they were not given adequate appreciation for their efforts.117 Similarly, Pepper found that slightly over two-fifths of all the ex- teachers indicated that they felt they belonged to the community in which they taught while about one-third did not feel secure in the community situation. Another one-fifth felt secure only part of the time. Only one-half of all the ex—teachers expressed.positive feeling about the community.118 The studies reviewed here presented rather conclusive evidence that the status the community attached to teaching was related both to retention and satisfaction of teachers. Several of the factors included in the present study attempted to develOp further evidence on the importance of status considerations. Restrictions QQ;Personal gife While there is some evidence of a relaxation during recent decades, community restrictions on the personal lives of teachers may still be a factor in teacher satisfaction and/or retention. This was suggested by the National Education Association: Worth noting is the fact that 17 times as many teachers in school systems containing 2500 to “999 peeple, as in systems con— taining 500,000 or more people reported serious restrictions on their pf§sonal lives; over twice as many reported some restric- tions. 117Warren, loc . cit . 118Pepper, 92. git” p. 150. 119National Education Association, g3. cit., p. 38. 53 .According to Warren, dissatisfied teachers thought that their activities were restricted by public criticism.120 These two studies were support- ed by data furnished.by'Pepper. Three-fourths of the ex-teachers responding to his survey indicated that they felt teachers were more 121 restricted socially than were members of other professions. SCHOOL FACTORS School related factors will be discussed in the following order: (1) relationships with administrators, (2) supervision by state and/or college home economics education staff, (3) relationships with non- administrative school personnel, (h) attitude of students, (5) creativ- ity, (6) financial opportunities, and (7) equipment and.operating expense. Relationships With.Administrators Knox reported that satisfied teachers perceived themselves as having qualified administrators, effective supervision, freedom to choose teaching methods, and fair consideration.122 Home economics teachers who participated in the American Vocational Association study reported increased satisfaction when supervised by local school administration.123 Byrnes also concluded that "actions of the school 120Warren, g2. cit., p. 98. 121Pepper, 22, §1£,. P. 1&8, 12Elinor, loc. cit. 123American Vocational Association, 32. cit., p. 12. 5h administrators" was one of the chief focal points of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among teachers. Teachers withdrawing from the pro- fession were more critical of their supervision than were in-service people.12u Similarly, Dillon found that the fourth most common source of dissatisfaction indicated by teachers and former teachers was lack of understanding and appreciation of teachers and teaching problems 125 shown by administrators and supervisors. Several other studies agreed that lack of helpful supervision was one of the professional reasons leading to the withdrawal of teachers. The whole problem of relationships with administrators was discussed by the National Education Association: .A serious conflict in philosophy or point of view between the beginning teacher and his principal greatly increases the possi- bility that the new teacher will be disappointed with teaching. Of those who said they had encountered no conflict in philosophy, only 5.6 percent said they liked teaching less than they thought they would. Of those who had encountered a serious conflict in philosOphy, four times as large a.prOportion (23.N-pef§ent) said they likedteaching less than they thought they would. 0 In another study of problems encountered by beginning teachers, Schwarz found that human relations problems with administrators were mentioned by 91.2 per cent of the participants.127 That administrators may not 12”Arthur Francis Byrnes, "A Study of Job satisfactions and Dissatisfactions of Teachers in Selected Schools of Indiana" (unpub- lished Ed.D. dissertation, New York University, 1951) University Microfilm Dissertation Abstracts, V1, p. 886. 125Dillon, lag. _c_i_t_. 26 . National Education Association,'gp. cit., p. 39. l27$chwarz, loc. cit. 55 always understand teachers and teachers' problems was suggested by Kline. High school teachers in his study felt that items in all four categories, namely; the child, the curriculum, the teacher-personnel relationships, and the physical plant were creating difficulties, while administrators considered only one item in the area of teacher-person- nel relationships and.one relating to the physical plant as annoying.128 While the above studies showed the importance of administrator- teacher relationships, other studies dealt more specifically with supervisory practices. Warren's data revealed that administrative planning and supervision were factors associated with satisfaction.129 Administrative practices and.procedures was also one of the four major factors suggested by Suggs as important in the prevention or solution of persistent problems of teachers.130 ioreover, Andrus reported that 55 per cent of the teachers who resigned indicated dissatisfaction with administrative policies in their schools. Major complaints were auto- cratic methods, failure to support teachers in disciplinary situations, and lack of organization and leadership.131 Dillon also discussed several items in this area which proved to be sources of dissatisfac- tion of the male teachers included in his survey. Some of these items in order of their importance were lack of support in student discipline, 128Kline, loc. £13. 129 Warren. 22. 9312... p. 131. ”Omega. .122. mi. 131mm. pp. .c___t_., pp. 182, 222. 56 failure of the central administrative staff to determine and work toward sound educational objectives, lack of communication between classroom teachers and central administration, inadequate provisions for teach- ers to take part in planning policies affecting teacher welfare, in- adequate provisions to protect teachers from being discharged unfairly, and.insufficient supervision.132 Hunter, in another study of adminis- trative practices, found that items dealing with recognition and reward for exceptional services and.baving work properly evaluated were sources of unfavorable attitudes and low morale for from 50 to 86 per cent of the teachers, but from 50 to 75 per cent of these same teachers showed favorable attitudes toward working conditions and attitudes toward administrative and supervisor assistance and cooperation.133 The research reviewed.presented conclusive evidence that rela- tionships with administrator were definitely related both to satis- faction and retention of teachers. Sgervision 3y §_t_§i_t_e_ @393. College Home Economics Education Staff In addition to local supervision, help to the teaching staff may be provided by state agencies or by college staffs. In a study made'by the American Vocational Association the least satisfied teach- ers reported no such supervision. It was concluded that supervision_ from a state, assistant state, or district supervisor seemed to 13213111011, on 9.23." PP. 58-590 133- ' hunter. 92. gi_.. p. 350. 57 increase satisfaction.13 Another group of home economics teachers studied by Vossbrink indicated that they desired more frequent visits and that supervisors should.provide helpful suggestions.135 These studies seemed to agree that non-local supervision might be important to teachers. This factor was included in the present study for further investigation. Relggionshins EingNonquministrative School Personnel A.teacher's attitude about colleagues was one of the four major areas found by Suggs to be important in the prevention and/or solution of teacher problems.l3b Satisfaction with associates was also found to be a discriminating factor in the job satisfaction index devised by Crosby.137 Similarly, Roth reported that poor faculty relations was one of the ten sources of teacher job dissatisfactions.138 Dif- ficulties in human relations with other teachers were mentioned frequent- ly among the problems faced by the beginning teachers studied by Schwarz}39 Kline concluded that 55 per cent of his checklist items referring to 13hAmerican Vocational Association, loc..gi£. 135Metaw. Vossbrink, WAn.Analysis of the In-Service Education Program for Home Economics Teachers with Suggestions for Improving the Michigan Program” (unpublished Pth. dissertation, The University of Chicago. 1953). p. 281*. 136Suggs, $23. cit. 137Orosby, lgg. c t. 138 139Schwarz, loc. ci . 58 teacherapersonnel relationships were possible loci of annoyance from the standpoint of what teachers wanted and what they thought was ex- pected of them. Thirtybfour per cent of the sources of satisfaction came from this category.lll0 The satisfied teachers in Hoppock‘s study enjoyed.better human relationships with associates than the dissatis- fied ones. Congenial associates and pleasant personal contacts appeared in many cases to be almost as important as supervision in their effect upon Job satisfactionffi1 In agreement with this, Byrnes reported that in-service teachers felt they were accepted.by the faculty to a greater degree than did teachers withdrawn from the profession.lug The evidence seemed conclusive that relationships with nonp administrative personnel was important to teacher satisfaction and retention. Attitude 9;: W Clark found accomplishments of pupils significant in stated reasons for decisions of vocational agriculture teachers to leave or to remain in the profession.1u3 Hill, likewise, found that professions al reasons causing teachers to withdraw from the profession included attitudes of pupils towards scholarship.11m Andrus reported that lnoKline,‘gp. cit., pp. 88~89. 1+1 Hoppock,‘gp, cit., pp. 88-89. lueByrnes, loc. g__. 1M3 Clark, pp. cit , p. 112. luhHill, igg. c . 59 slightly more than one-third of the group of teachers who had been dismissed were not re-hired because of'poor discipline.11+5 Several studies were in agreement with Andrus that discipline was a very im— 1h6.1u7.1us,1u9 portant factor in teacher retention and/or satisfaction. Relationships with students were further discussed by Paclucci as follows: Beginning teachers seemed to derive the greatest amount of satisfaction in relation to decision-making in classes of home economics if their pupils were achieving, were efficient, and gave fggdence of approval and rec0gnition, and seemed to con- form. The importance of these relationships was further emphasized by Schwarz who reported that human relations problems with children were mentioned by 19.2 per cent of the beginning teachers participating in his study.151 Moreover, the one hundred teacher respondents in Kline's study indicated that 82 per cent of the items referring to the child were possible loci of annoyance from the standpoint of what teachers wanted and what they thought was expected of them. Twelve per cent luSAndrus. 22,. 2139... p. 1’45. 182. 11463341163, .129.- 9.110 1H7 Hill, loc. cit. “Pepper. 22.- 93-19.09 Po 110- 1M9 Graetz, 139. g3. 15oP 151 aolucci. 122, sit- Schwarz, 129, gig, 6o , 152 of the possible sources of satisfaction referred to the child. Likewise, Hunter reported that from 50 to 86 per cent of the teachers in his study reported unfavorable attitudes and low morale on items dealing with handling atypical pupils and school discipline.153 Quick, in a study of teaching and non-teaching industrial arts gradu- ates, drew a conclusion which rather fittingly summarizes this dis- oussion: The teaching group indicated by responses that they were well adjusted, had faith in pupils, were sympathetic and understanding of pupil relationships. The nonpteaching group indicated by responses that they felt insecure, were suspicious of pupil's behavior, and.were either autocraigfi or did not know what behavior they wanted from pupils. It was true that in contrast to the above studies Crosby found that satisfaction with students was not a significant factor in the job satisfaction index of Hunter College women.155 The weight of the evidence, however, conclusively pointed to a definite relationship between attitude of students and teacher retention and satisfaction. Creativity Creativity as used.here means the opportunity to use one's own ideas in experimentation, to share in decision-making, and to have a 152K11ne, 2p. git" p. 88. 1 53Hunter, pp. g_i_t_., p. 361. lsuQuj-Cko 22- 923.00 Po 1910 155 Crosby. ice. 9.1.2. 61 part in policy making in the schools. That this might be a factor in teacher satisfaction seemed evident, and there was also support for this position. Sharma concluded that the satisfaction of teachers was directly related to the extent to which they participated in decision- making. Satisfaction was also related to the extent to which current practices in decision-making conformed to the practices considered desirable by the teachers.156 Three of the sources of dissatisfaction in Dillon's study were concerned with planning and.policy making, provisions for teachers to take part in curriculum planning and free- dom for the teacher to plan his own work.157 Similarly, Crosby re— ported that both variety in one's work and opportunity to take initia» tive were significant factors in the job satisfaction of Hunter College women.158 A.group of teachers, studied.by Hunter, also showed favor- able attitudes toward freedom to teach and to speak out on issues and participation in planning.159 That many people recognized the importance of creativity was shown by Doyle who reported agreement among teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents that teachers should."play an active role in the deve10pment of school policies, should.participate in developing a salary schedule, plan teacher's meetings, change the l6 5 Sharma, 00. pi}, l 57Dillon, pp, cit., p. 60. 158 Crosby, oc. cit. 159Hunter, pp. cit., p. 350. 62 ‘prOgram of studies and.have a.part in the selection of instructional 16o materials." Financial Qpportunities Finances were almost certain to be related to satisfaction in teaching especially if inadequate to provide the teacher with a rea- sonable standard of living. Research findings were not in agreement as to the importance of finances in either teacher satisfaction or retention, nor were studies in agreement relative to the importance of the actual financial rewards in comparison with the teacher's perception of the adequacy of those rewards. In spite of disagreement about the role of actual finances in retention, the studies reviewed indicated that financial opportun— ity might be a factor in teacher satisfaction. While both Clark and Hoppock investigated the actual salaries paid teachers remaining in and leaving the profession and found them not significantly different, Clark found that the teachers who left gave salary as a reason.161'162 Hill, on the other hand, reported that low salaries were strong factors in teacher withdrawal from the profession.163 Two studies agreed.with Hill that salary was a significant factor in withdrawal; those by 160Doyle, 92. Cilia. Po 1590 161 Hoppock, 93. 2.12.. P. 32. 16201833115, 10cc 21-30 163 Hill, loc. cit. 63 eu,165 Derthick and by Graetz.1 It was true, however, that "economic conditions" as used by Derthick included not only low salaries but also unemployment during the summer, poor retirement or other fringe benefits, and lack of Opportunity for advancement. It is important to note that while "economic conditions" was the number one reason when considering the whole sample, it was only fourth in importance when considering women.166 Size of salary and salary increases were both recommended for study as factors in job satisfaction in the study made by the American VocationalAssociation.167 .A number of studies discussed the relative rather than the actual salaries of teachers. Sharma found that teachers with a higher salary tended to be more satisfied in regard to the salary they received and the welfare provisions than were those teachers receiving a lower salary.168 .A different approach was used by Dillon. He found that the source of dissatisfaction which ranked highest was the comparison of teaching salary with salaries in other professions requiring similar abilities and preparation. Sixteen former men teachers indicated better salaries as one of the conditions which might draw them back 61+ Derthick, pp. pip." p. 127. 6 1 5Graetz, 920 £3.10! P. 130. 166 Derthick. 22. 212.. pp. 36. 39. 167American Vocational Association, pp, 933,. pp. 6, 7. l68$harma, 1oc. pyg. 61+ into teaching.169 Similarly, the dissatisfied teachers in Warren's stuchr reported feeling that they received insufficient salary to travel, to save, and to get additional training}?0 Pepper, in the study of 210 ex—teachers, reported that nearly all of the ex-teachers indicated that they were receiving higher wages than those earned while teach- ing 171 Crosby, in his study of Hunter College women concluded that 5. "apparently satisfaction with salary was slightly more important as a determinant of satisfaction than actual salary received."172 Haas further substantiated the importance of perceived adequacy of income. She reported, in a study of home economics graduates. that the per- ceived adequacy of income obtainable in various fields was related to vocational plans of homemakers. Haas suggested that if these home- makers really did make the changps they indicated, the perceived adequacy of income was directly related to actual persistence in a 173 voc ational role . Teaching 1.293 Clark found that vocational agriculture teachers remaining in the profession taught a significantly greater number of vocational 16913111». 29,. 2232.. pp. 58. 9. 17C)Warren, pp. 923.. P. 9’4. 17113‘epper, 22,. 229... P. 80. 172Crosby, pp. 9313... P. 55. 173K333. 92. Eli—17.0, P0 138- 65 agriculture classes and had a significantly larger number of vocational agriculture students. Those teachers who left teaching had fewer vocational agriculture students and spent a significantly larger pro- portion of their time teaching classes in subjects unrelated to 1 1+ vocational agriculture. 7 The American Vocational Association study reported that those home economics teachers who: . . . had experiences in teaching home economics only had a mean job satisfaction score (51.83). more than two points higher than those having had experiences in teaching home economics and other subjects (mean score h9.37), or those having had full-time employment in other work as well as teaching (mean score M9.17). It was apparently not so much the actual size of load but the attitude toward load that was important in the satisfaction of the teacher. Both of these studies indicated that teaching outside the field in which the teacher was prepared might lead to dissatisfaction and/or wi thdraral . The actual amount of work was also a source of dissatisfaction. Dillon found that the usual classroom load ranked fifth in importance in a list of thirty possible sources of teacher dissatisfaction.176 Moreover, Warren concluded that satisfied teachers generally had loads which permitted them to plan and teach effectively while dissatisfied teachers felt they had to work too long on the job and that they were forced to hurry a great deal.177 Crosby, too, found that the factor, 17iClark, pp. p_i_t_., p. 136. 175American Vocational Association, pp, p13,, pp. 8, l2. 176Dillon, pp, pip,, p. 58. 177Warren, pp. _c_i__t,, p. 112. 66 hours of work, was significant in the job satisfaction of women, though he reported that the feeling of satisfaction with duties was perhaps an even more significant factor.178 On items concerning teaching load, low morale and unfavorable attitudes were reported more than the average percentage of the teachers included in Hunter's study.179 Andrus, in discussing load, reported that about one-fifth of the teachers who resigned felt that they had been responsible for far too many extrapcurricular activities.180 Similarly, over half of the expteachers studied.by'Pepper reported that they felt under pressure to sponsor extra—curricular activities during their teaching experi- ences. For these additional responsibilities very few ex—teachers reported that they received any additional compensation.181 Thus it seemed evident that load was a factor worthy of investigation. Epuipment And Operating Expense The evidence found in the studies reviewed indicated that pro- visions for adequate equipment and Operating expense were important factors in teachers' morale and satisfaction. Kline, in a study of satisfactions and annoyances in teaching, concluded that 87 per cent of the items referring to the physical plant were possible loci of 17801'08'03’. 22. _c1__.t . p. 57. 179 it Hunter, pp, p___., p. 351. 180Andrus,pp, cit., p. 182. 18ll’epper. 22. 2.1.39... 2. 115. 67 annoyance from the standpoint of what teachers wanted and what they thought was expected of them. Only two per cent of the teachers refer- 2 red to the physical plant as possible sources of satisfaction.18 Similarly, Warren reported that 37 per cent of the satisfied elementary teachers had classrooms which they thought were adequately equipped for teaching, in contrast to 15.6 per cent of the dissatisfied.183 Hunter supported the results of these studies with the conclusion that unfavorable attitude and low morale were evident regarding items deal- 181+ ing with adequacy of supplies and equipment. Crosby also reported that environment was a significant factor in the job satisfaction of women.185 Another study, by the American Vocational Association, concluded: Those teachers in departments equipped for teaching all phases of home economics had significantly higher mean job satisfaction scores than those who had less complete equipment, such as that for teaching foods and/ or clothing only. Where a plan for improv- ing the home economics department was being carried out or was soon to be carried out; job satisfaction scores in general were five points higher than in departments where there was no plan for improvement or where there was a plan but no improvement had been made. In addition, mean satisfaction scores were higher on school conditions when there was a definite amount seiggside for operat- ing expenses of the home economics department. 182Kline, l_op,. ci . 183Warren, pp, c1 ., p. 101+. h 18 Hunter, _l_pp. cit. 185Crosby, loc. cit. 186 American Vocational Association, pp, cit., pp. 10, ll. 68 All studies indicated a relationship between equipment and operating expense and.teacher retention and satisfaction. SUMMARY This chapter reviewed factors which may be related to teacher satisfaction and/or retention under four main categories: (1) personal, (2) home, (3) community, and (h) school. Although one might criticize some of these research studies from the standpoint of sampling and/or method. relationships have been indicated between many factors and teaching satisfaction and.retention. The evidence did support earlier comments to the effect that how the respondent feels about a factor might be as, or even more, important than the actual item in teacher satisfaction and/or reten- tion. Quick expressed this well: Of all the items studied, it seemed that a graduate's reactions to Opinion statements would.promise a best clue as to whether he might later be classified into either the teaching or non-teaching groups. It is believed that a series of items which sample teach- ing attitudes could be keyed for teaching and non-teaching classi- fications. These would have to be validated.byi§urther study to determine the degree of their predictive value. 7 For these reasons, both objective and attitude factors were included in this review and serve as the bases for the hypotheses set forth in Chapter III. These factors are: 18 YQ‘lJiCk, 9.2- 92.209 PP. 199‘2000 A. B. 69 Personal factors. 15. Year in school that decision was made to enter teaching. Chief reason influencing choice of teaching as a career. Dates of graduation and/or age at graduation. College grade-point average. Adequacy of training in subject matter and/or teaching methods. Professional adequacy. Educational philosophy. Courses completed beyond the bachelors degree. Other types of professional activities. Personal goals upon entering college. Personal goals upon entering teaching. Immediate personal occupational goals. Reasons for teaching. Opinions of worth of junior and senior high school home economics. Availability of alternative occupations. Home factors. 1“ t}; Other teachers in the family. Attitude of family toward teaching as a career. Chances for marriage. Marital status and home responsibilities. Present attitude of husband.toward wife's teaching. Husbandls present income. Community factors . C11 2 . g. 5: Size of community. Cultural opportunities. Living arrangements. Status of teaching in the community. Restrictions on personal life. School factors. Relationships with administrators. Supervision by state and/or college home economics education staff. Relationships with non-administrative school personnel. Attitude of students. Creativity. Financial opportunities. Equipment and.operating expense. CHAPTER III HYPOTHESES Chapter I described the current teacher shortage and emphasized particularly the shortage of home economics teachers. Chapter II reviewed research studies indicating a relationship of objective and attitude factors in the areas of the person, the home, the community, and the school to teacher retention and/or satisfaction. As a result of this review, specific hypotheses were formulated to determine if differences on these variables actually do exist. The hypotheses are stated as null hypotheses. This assumes that the differences obtained between comparison groups are due to chance. If one rejects the null hypothesis, one necessarily accepts an alternate hypothesis that differ- ences are due to something other than chance. 1 mothesis _I_ Groups of Montana State College home economics graduates (a) who have never taught, (b) who have taught but are now full time home- makers, (c) who have taught but are now gainfully employed in other work, and (d) who are now teaching home economics do not differ sig- nificantly on the following background factors: I Data tested by hypothesis I were collected from the total num- ber (END) of respondents. 71 1. Grade in school when decision was made to become a teacher. 2. Chief reason influencing choice of teaching as a profession. 3. Age at graduation. N. College grade-point average. 5. Teachers in family. 6. Marital status. 7. Income of husband. 8. Total number of children. 9. Total number of children under five years of age. 10. Personal goals upon entering college. 11. Personal goals at present. Hypothesis II? There are no significant differences in "satisfaction with teaching" between.Hontana State College home economics graduates (a) for the period 1935 through 19u1. (b) 19u2 through 19kg, and (c) igug through 1955. Hypothesis ;;_ There are no significant differences in "satisfaction with teaching" between Montana State College home economics graduates who (a) have taught but are now full time homemakers, (b) have taught but are now gainfully employed in other work, and (c) are now teaching. 2Data tested by hypotheses II, III, and IV were collected only from the 308 respondents who have taught. W 72 IV Groups of montana State College home economics graduates who (a) have taught but are now full time homemakers, (b) have taught but are now gainfully employed in other work, and (0) who are now teach- ing do not differ significantly on the following factors: 1. 2. Goals upon entering teaching. Size of community. School provision for equipment. School provision for Operating expense. Courses completed beyond the bachelor's degree. Other types of professional activities. Present attitude of husband toward.wife's teaching. Supervision of state home economics supervisor. Supervision of college home economics education person. CHAPTER IV GATHERING DATA Chapter I presented the problem, its justifications and its limitations. Chapter II summarized selected studies related to (l) objective factors and (2) attitude factors associated with satisfaction and/or retention of teachers. Chapter III set forth the specific hypotheses investigated in the present study. This chapter describes (l) the development of the questionnaire, (2) the pepulation studied, and (3) the administration of the questionnaire. DEVELOPMENT OF QUESTIONNAIRE Educational literature was reviewed for factors which seemed to influence teacher satisfaction and/or decision to enter, to remain in, or to leave the teaching profession. Letters were also written to five state supervisors of home economics education in the western region of the United States requesting "unusual" reasons why home economics teachers had left the profession in their states. A list of reasons was compiled from these sources and a tentative draft of the questionnaire was deve10ped. This first draft of the questionnaire was administered to the members and staff of a research workshOp in home economics education conducted at Michigan State University in the summer of 1957. A re- vised questionnaire was then completed and criticized by ten experi- enced homemaking teachers. From their suggestions, further revisions 71+ of the questionnaire were made before conducting a formal pilot study. For the pilot study, fifty Michigan State University home eco- nomics education graduates for the years 19MB, 19h7-M8, and 1952 were randomly selected as representative of the graduation years to be included in the major study. Forty, or 80 per cent, of the fifty pilot questionnaires were returned during the fall of 1957. At this same time the revised questionnaire was also sent to five home economics teacher educators and supervisors for additional suggestions.1 Using these suggestions and the results from the pilot study, a final re- vision of the questionnaire was made. The final form of the question— naire with the cover letters used to solicit response may be found in appendix, pages 152-166. One section of the questionnaire was developed into a scale composed of a series of items designed to obtain a rating of teacher satisfaction. The reliability of this scale was tested by correlation of the odd and even items for fifty questionnaires selected at random from the completed questionnaires included in the study. The corre— lation of the odd items on the satisfaction scale with the even items was .7h. Application of the Spearman-Brown.Prophecy Formula resulted 1Dr. Gertrude Roskie, Montana State College, Bozeman, Kontana Dr. May DuBois, Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon Miss Isabella HcQuesten, Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon miss Flora.Martin, State Department of Public Instruction, Helena, Hontana Miss Betty Lou Hoffman, State Department of Public Instruction, Helena, Mentana. 75 in a .85 correlation.2 The fifty questionnaires were further studied by comparing item means for the fifteen teachers with the highest and for the fifteen teachers with the lowest satisfaction scores. All but two items were found to be making a positive contribution to the discrimination repre- sented by the total satisfaction score (Table XXXVI, appendix, page 151). The two items were indifferent, that is, they did not contribute to the total score either positively or negatively so the material was not rescored. DESCRIPTION OF POPULATION Montana State College administrators gave permission for a follow-up study of home economics graduates. The Registrar, the Alumni Association, and the Dean of the Division of Architecture and Applied Arts provided the names and addresses of all Montana State College home economics graduates for the years 1935 through 1955. The total number (598) of such graduates were surveyed. The Registrar made the college grade-point average available for each graduate. All other data to be analyzed were secured by the questionnaire. 2 Helen H. Walker and.Joseph Lev, Statistical Inference New 'York: Henry Holt and.Company, 1953), p. 303. ADKINISTRATIOK 0F QEESTIOKNAIRE From February 6 to 9, 1958, questionnaires and self-addressed stamped envelOpes were mailed to 598 Montana State College home eco- nomics graduates. Three hundred forty-three, or 57.M per cent, of the 598 questionnaires were received before the first follow-up. On February 25, 1958, a personally written post card was sent to the non- respondents. An additional 127 questionnaires, or 21.2 per cent, of the total possible were received as a result of this first follow-up. On larch 11, 1958, a hectOgraphed letter written on the basis of a personal appeal, was mailed to each of the remaining non-respondents. By April 15, 1958, another 70, or 11.7 per cent, were returned. Since some of the questionnaires were incomplete, these were returned to the respondents with further instructions and another appeal for help. As a result of all of these efforts 590 usable returns, or 90.3 per cent, were made available. The small percentage of 9.7 per cent who did not respond can be attributed to several factors. The original list of ‘C addresses was not entirely correct. dhen questionnaires were returned unclaimed, letters requesting addresses were sent to parents, to a former Dean of the Division of Architecture and.App1ied Arts at Kontana State College, and even to some of the graduates‘ former high schools. Kany, but not all, addresses were obtained. Two per cent of the question- naires were returned unclaimed and new addresses were not obtainable. ho responses were received from 7.7 per cent of the total group. One source of bias in any study may be the differences in the 7? characteristics of the response and non-response groups. In the present study, therefore, an attempt was made to determine if there were significant differences between the response and non-response groups on each of the following variables: (1) years of graduation, (2) grade-point average, and (3) marital status. These variables were tested for independence of the response and non-response classifica- 3 tions by the chi—square test. The results of the relevant compari- sons appear in Tables I, II, and III. TABLE I HOME ECONOXICS GRADUATES IR THE RESPONSE AED NON-RESPONSE GROUPS BY YEARS OF GRADUATION * v1 —___ T Years of Graduation Groups 1939:u1 19u24us 19u9-55 T°tal N N N N Non-reaponse 21 26 ll 58 Response 159 193 188 5ho Totals 180 219 199 598 X2 . 509 def. I 2)... x205 I 600 The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was accepted. 3Wa1ker and.Lev, on, gi£., pp. 81-108. Moo P0 90- 78 TABLE II BORE ECONOKICS GRADUATES IN THE RESPONSE AND NON-PESPONSE GROUPS IN THREE GRADE-POINT AVERAGE CATEGORIES Grade-Point Average Groups Total 1.0-1.2* 1.3-1.8 1.9-3.0 N N N N Non-response 12 23 1h hgtt Response 73 263 204 5N0 Totals 85 286 218 589 * l 3 Grade C 2 = Grade B 3 = Grade A ** Grade-point averages were not received for total non-response group. p 2 X“ , M.8 d.f. : 2 X 05 a 6.0 The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was accepted. TABLE III HOME ECONOHICS GRADUATES IN THE RESPONSE AND NON-RESPONSE GROUPS IN TWO MARITAL STATUS CATEGORIES I 1 Marital Status Total Groups Single, Widowed and Divorced Married N N N Non—response 11 M7 58 Response 65 h75 SRO x2 = 205 def. 3 1 X2 3 3.8 .05 The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was accepted. 79 The response group showed a slightly greater proportion of recent graduates, a slightly higher gradeapoint average, and a slightly lower preportion of single, widowed, or divorced women. But none of these differences between the non-response and response groups proved to be statistically significant and it can, therefore, be assumed that with respect to these important background.variab1es the response group is representative of the total number of graduates for the period 1935 through 1955. SUWDEIZARY After a careful review of literature and suggestions of five state supervisors of home economics education, a questionnaire was constructed which included factors thought to be related to teacher retention and satisfaction. One section of the questionnaire was composed of a series of items designed to contribute to a total satis- faction score. Correlation of the odd and even items on fifty random- ly selected questionnaires and corrected by the Spearman—Brown Prophesy Formula.was .85. A.formal pilot study was conducted using fifty Mich— igan State University home economics education graduates. Data were then collected by questionnaire from 5ND, or 90.3 per cent, of the total number of Montana State College home economics graduates during the period of February 6 to April 15th, 1958. Tests for significant difference of the response and non-response groups were conducted on the variables of (1) years of graduation, (2) college grade— point average, and (3) marital status. No significant differences were found. CHAPTER.V ANALYSIS OF DATA The present chapter describes the characteristics of the Hontana State College home economics graduates in terms of their occupational histories since leaving school, and an analysis of data related to the four hypotheses developed in Chapter III. OCCUPATIONAL HISTORIES OF HOME ECONOMICS GRADUATES Five hundred forty-two, or 90.6 per cent, of the 598 home economics graduates returned the questionnaire, two of which were received too late to be included in the analysis. Consequently, this study is based on completed questionnaires from 5H0, or 90.3 per cent, of the Montana State College home economics graduates for the years 1935 through 1955. Table IV classified the respondents by years of graduation and by their status in relation to teaching. Of the 5h0 returns, 159, or 29.9 per cent, were received from the graduates of the period 1935-Ml; 193, or 35.8 per cent, from gradu- ates of the period 1992-98; and 188, or 3h.8 per cent, from graduates of the period 19h9-55. Recent graduates replied in slightly greater numbers. The preportion of all home economics graduates entering teach- ing has steadily declined through the period of the study. Evidence of this trend may be seen in Table IV by inspecting the percentages for the "never taught" group. The trend may reflect the shift toward 81 earlier marriage during and following'World.War II. Although the proportion of those entering teaching has steadily declined, the 19N2-M8 graduates had fewer actually teaching than the other two groups. Eleven, or 5.7 per cent, of the 191¥2J48 graduates were teach- ing compared with twenty-two, or 13.8 per cent, of the 1935—M1 group and.twenty-five, or 13.3 per cent, of the 1999—55 graduates. The low figure for the 19h2-hs graduates may be explained by the fact that these women were probably in that period of family life which had heaviest home reaponsibilities. TABLE IV CLASSIFICATION OF LIONTAIIA HCI'E ECONOIIICS GRADUATES BY TILE OF GRADUATION AND TEACHING STATUS H A! Graduation Dates GrOUPS 1935-M1 19Ml-M8 1999-55.. T°ta1 A 56 N 30 N 46‘; N 5% Never taught M2 26.9 90 h6.6 100 53.2 232 93.0 Tanght but now full time home- makers 75 147.2 79 No.9 58 30.8 212 39.3 Taught but now in other work 20 12.6 13 6.8 5 2.7 38 7.0 Home economics teaching 22 13.3 11 5.7 25 13-3 58 10.7 Totals 159 100.0 193 100.0 188 100.0 5h0 100.0 82 The proportion of home economics graduates who had taught but are now in other work has also steadily declined through the period covered by the study. The element of time might be involved since the older graduates have had more time in which to shift to other work. Many of the older graduates might have left teaching for other employ- ment during the war or to have families. In some cases, a teaching position might not have been available to them if they decided to re- turn to teaching. In other cases, they might have remained out of teaching by choice. It seemed significant that even among the younger graduates some were still leaving their field of professional training to do other work for which, presumably, they had not been trained. In order to show that home economics graduates, even those qualified for teaching, had not contributed as much as possible to the teaching profession, Table V shows the employment experience of home economics graduates since graduation. It is important to note that while 308, or 57.0 per cent, of the 5&0 respondents had made some contribution to teaching, only lh8, or 27.h per cent, had spent all of their working time in teaching. Further examination of Table V showed that only seventy—two, or 13.3 per cent, of the 530 respondents had never been gainfully employed since graduation. Another thirty-four, or 6.3 per cent, worked but had never held a home economics position. This made a total of 106, or 19.6 per cent, of the 5M0 respondents who had never held a home economics position. 83 TABLE v EJPLOYMEKT EXPERIENCE OF HOHE ECOEOXICS GRéDUATES S DICE GPJIDUATI ON? Taught but not full Taught but Home Groups time home- now in economics Total makers other work teaching N % N % N % N h N g Never worked 72 31.0 72 13.3 Non-hone economics only 3M 1%.? 3M 6.3 H. Ec. other than teaching 126 5H,} 126 23.3 Teaching and non-H.Ec. so 23.6 18 um 11 19.0 79 1K6 Teaching and other H. Ec. 36 17.0 9 23.7 10 17.2 55 10.2 Teaching, other H. Ec. and non-H. EC, 9 h.2 11 29.0 6 10.3 26 u.s Teaching only 117 55.2 31 53.5 Ins 27.“ Totals 232 212 38 58 5&0 It may be significant that eleven, or 29 per cent, of those who had taught but were in other work had been employed, not only in teaching, but in non—home economics positions and in home economics positions other than teaching. Only six, or 10.3 per cent, of the fiftyaeight persons who were new teachers had held such a variety of positions. These two figures might indicate a group of graduates who were unstable in terms of employment. ‘ I 1 8h Another way of discussing stability of employment is by taking note of the number of times a graduate has been in and out of the work situation. Table VI presents the number of times M6M home economics graduates had left gainful employment. A few had never left employ- ment, the majority had left only once and never returned, but some had been in and out of employment many times. TABLE VI NUKBER OF TIMES KORE ECONOXICS GRADUATES HAD LEFT GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT Never taught 28 17.5 Taught but now full time home- h Tot- Groups 0 1 2 3 or more al N a N g N p a N s N 97 60.6 30 18.8 n 2.5 1 0.6 160 makers - - 1M6 70.2 51 2n.5 9 h.) 1.0 203 Taught but now in other work 11 28.9 10 26.3 11 29.0 5 13.2 2.6 38 Home economics teaching 28 no.3 16 27.6 12 20.7 2 3.u 58 Totals 67 1n.u 269 58.0 10h 22.h 2o h.3 ,3 man 0f the M6h respondents who completed the section of the question- naire on work experience, only sixty-seven, or lh.h per cent, had worked continuously since graduation. Two hundred sixty-nine, or 58.0 per cent, left gainful employment only once while 10%, or 22.h per cent, left twice. This meant that only twenty-four, or 5.1 per cent, of the graduates with work experience had been in and out of work as many as 85 three or more times. Apparently the total graduate group were quite stable in their vocational choices. In order to compare the stability of the teaching group to that of the whole group, Table VII was prepared to show the number of times the 308 home economics teachers had left teaching. The majority of this group left teaching once and never returned. This group repre- sents the large numbers of qualified teachers available in communities if their services could be secured. TABLE VII NUMBER OF TIMES HOEE ECONOHICS GRADUATES HAD LEFT TEACHING Never 1 2 u Total N 8 N 8 N % N % N % N Taught but now full time homemakers - - 176 83.0 30 1M.1 5 2,u .5 212 Taught but now in other work - - 25 65.8 12 31.6 1 2.6 - 38 Home economics teaching 25 "3.1 19 32.8 11 19.0 2 3.“ 1.? 58 Totals 25 8.1 220 71.h 53 17.2 8 2.6 .7 308 Twenty-five, or u3.1 per cent, of the fifty-eight respondents presently teaching had taught continuously since entering the profession. This group represented only 8.1 per cent of the 308 respondents who had taught. Two hundred twenty, or 71.“ per cent, of the 308 respondents 86 left teaching once, and 176, or 57.1 per cent, never returned. Only ten, or 3.3 per cent, had been in and out of teaching three or more times. As a group then, the 308 persons with teaching experience had not been in and out of teaching as frequently as one might expect. It is important to note that of the thirty-eight teachers who were in other work. twenty-five, or 65.8 per cent, had left teaching only once. Apparently their decisions to leave teaching were permanent ones. Still another way of determining stability in teaching is the amount of service an individual has given to her chosen profession. The various groups were compared as to this contribution. The total number of years a graduate actually taught was divided by the total number of years since graduation. Table VIII presents the distribution of graduates according to the percentage of the possible time the graduates had actually taught. TABLE VIII PER CENT OF POSSIBLE TEACHIHG TIME DURING WHICH HOME ECONOMICS GRADUATES HAD ACTUALLY TAUGHT 1-198 20-39% 50—598 60-798 80-1008 Total Groups N 8 N 8 N 8 N 8 N 8 N Taught but new full time homemakers 111 52,u 72 3u.0 16 7.5 10 u.7 3 1.u 212 Taught but now in other work 28 63.2 10 26.3 2 5.3 1 2.6 1 2.6 38 Home economics teaching 2 3.“ 17 29.3 9 15.5 7 12.1 23 39.7 58 Totals 137 uh.5 99 32.1 27 8.8 18 5.8 27 8.8 308 l 87 Only twenty-seven, or 8.8 per cent, of the 308 respondents had taught more than 80 per cent of the time since they graduated while 137, or Mu.5 per cent, had taught less than 20 per cent of the time. It might be significant that 52.1; per cent of those who were full-time homemakers and 63.2 per cent of those employed in non-teaching posi~ tions compared to only 3.“ per cent of those teaching had taught less than 20 per cent of the time since their graduation. The reverse was also true. For these same groups, the percentages who had taught more than 80 per cent of the time were respectively 1.8, 2.6, and 39.7. These facts might indicate that women who are going to drop out of the teaching profession do so early in their working career. Both the terms teacher and "qualified teacher" have been used in this discussion. In the present study, graduates who completed student teaching will be called "qualified home economics teachers." Table IX shows the number and percentage of home economics graduates in each employment category who had completed student teaching. Three hundred eightyAfour, or 71.1 per cent, of the 590 respond- ents had completed student teaching. Ninety-five, or 29.7 per cent, of the 38% graduates who completed student teaching had never taught; two hundred, or 52.1 per cent, had taught but were now full time home- makers; and thirty-five, or 9.1 per cent, had taught but were now employed in other work. Only fifty-four, or lu.l per cent, were now teaching. TABLE IX 88 COMPLETION OF STUDEHT TEACHING AS REPORTED BY HOME ECONOEICS GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHIUG EXPERIETCES Undergrad- No uate Graduate Groups No student student student Total Response teaching teaching teaching N 8 N 8 N 8 N 8 N Never taught h 1.7 133 57.3 92 39.7 3 1.3 232 Taught but now full time homemakers 5 2.h 7 3.3 195 92.0 5 2.u 212 Taught but now in other work 1 2.6 2 5.3 33 86.9 2 5.3 38 Home economics teaching 2 3.h 2 3,u 51 88.0 3 5.2 58 Totals 12 2.2 its 26.7 371 68.7 13 2.u 5kg Only thirteen graduates completed student teaching as graduate students. Apparently if peeple do not prepare for teaching as under- graduates, there is little chance that they will come into the pro- fession. However, it might also be noted that nine of the 188 gradu— ates who did not complete student teaching had held teaching positions and two were holding teaching positions at the time of the survey. 89 A further analysis of the present occupational status of all the home economics graduates responding to the questionnaire appeal is presented in Table X. TABLE X PRESEITT OCCUPATIONS OF G? UATES GROUPED ACCORDING TO TEACHING EXPERIENCE W Ne r t ht Groups ve aug Have taught Total N 8 N 8 N 8 Full time homemakers 183 78.8 212 68.9 395 73.1 Employed in non—home economics positions 18 7.7 22 7.1 No 7.h Employed in home economics position other than teaching 31 13.5 16 5.2 1+7 8.7 Home economics teaching - - 58 18.8 58 10.8 Totals 232 100.0 308 100.0 5140 100.0 Table X shows that only lh5, or 26.9 per cent, of the 5M0 gradu- ates were gainfully employed. Of this group, fifty-eight, or “0 per cent of those working, were teaching home economics; fortyeseven, or 32.h per cent, were working in home economics positions other than teaching; and forty, or 27.6 per cent, were employed in non-home economics positions. It may be important that 78.8 per cent of the graduates without teaching experience were full time homemakers as compared to 68.9 per cent of those who had taught. Also slightly more of the group 90 without teaching experience (7.7 per cent) were working in non-home economics positions as compared with the group who had taught (7.1 per cent). Study of the occupational histories of the graduates shows (1) a group of graduates who had taught but were full time homemakers (these graduates will be referred to as gggteachers ip_homemaking in the remainder of the study), (2) a group who had taught but were gainfully employed in a non-home economics teaching position (these graduates will be referred to as Egrteachers lg other work), and (3) a group who were teaching home economics (these graduates will be referred to as teachers). Interpretation of data related to factors which might have influenced these Montana State College home economics graduates to enter, to remain in, or to leave the teaching profession will now be presented. OBJECTIVE FACTORS COKE N TO TOTAL POPULATION The following section will describe the data related to the factors tested by hypothesis I. It seems desirable to restate hypothe- sis I in order to clarify the organization of this presentation. Groups of Montana State College home economics graduates (1) who have never taught, (2) who have taught but are new full time home- makers, (3) who have taught but are now gainfully employed in other 1 work, and (M) who are now teaching home economics do not differ 1The teaching of home economics refers to formal classroom teach- ing at the junior hi school, senior high school, or college levels. It is recognized tha women working in extension and other forms of adult education are teaching but this study is limited to the school situation. 91 significantly on the following background factors: 1. Grade in school when decision was made to become a teacher. 2. Chief reason influencing choice of teaching as a profession. 3. Age at graduation. A N. College gradeapoint average. 5. Teachers in family. 6. Marital status. 7. Income of husband. 8. Total number of children. 9. Total number of children under five years of age. 10. Personal goals upon entering college. 11. Personal goals at present. Each factor included in hypothesis I was analyzed by use of the chi-square test. In every case a five per cent level of confidence was employed. This meant that if a chi-square which would be expected to occur by chance with a probability of l in 20 was obtained, the null hypothesis was rejected and the factor was considered as having significance in differentiating between those graduates who (1) had never taught, (2) had taught but were full time homemakers, (3) who had taught but were gainfully employed in other work and (M) who were teaching. Grade 2p School When Decision Was Made T Become A Teacher The graduates were grouped into those who made a decision to become a teacher before high school graduation. after high school and/or 92 in the early part of their college training, and after the second year of college. Examination of Table XI shows that #03 home economics graduates had at some point in their lives made the decision to teach. It is important to note that one hundred of the graduates who decided at some time to teach did not enter the profession. TABLE XI HOME ECONOEICS GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS AND TIME OF MAKING DECISION TO TEACH T Grades one After high school Third year Groups through 12 through.second in college Total year in college or after N N N N Never taught 29 M3 28 100 Taught but new full time homemakers M8 76 88 208 Taught but now in other work 9 12 16 37 Home economics teaching 18 20 2M 58 Totals 100 151 152 803* *Only N03 respondents reported making a decision to teach. x2 n 5.7 d.f. . 6 x205 g 11.1 The hypothesis of no significant difference in the distribution was accepted. In Spite of the fact that the grade at which the deci- sion to teach was made did not differentiate between groups remaining in and leaving the profession, it might be important to educators that 2M.8 per cent of the group responding to this item on the questionnaire decided to become teachers before they were graduated from high school. Chief Reason Influencing Choice Q:_Teachinf Ag A Profession Respondents were asked to check from among a list of several reasons the one which was most influential in their selecting teaching as a career. This item was devised in an attempt to identify the roles of people who were influential in the decisions these graduates made in relation to the choice of a teaching career. Forty of the graduates wrote in some employment reason under "other" and did not check a person, however. Employment reasons included such answers as "during the depression one could be more sure of a job" and "teach- ing combines well with marriage.“ many of these graduates seemed to. confuse "home economics person" with "counselor" so these two categories were finally grouped together. "Family" and "friends" also proved difficult to differentiate, so these were combined to form a single category. Table XII analyzes these three reasons which were most frequently checked. The hypothesis of no significant differences in the distribution was accepted. Actually, on this item thirty-five, or 6.5 per cent, of the 580 respondents did not reSpond, 183. or 26 per cent, said they never decided to teach, and fifty—six, or 10.3 per cent, said nothing in particular influenced them to teach. While this item did not differentiate between groups with respect to later career histories, it might interest educators that a home economics person or counselor was the influential person checked by 157, or 29.1 per cent, of the respondents. But it was evident from the present analysis that these three types of reasons for choosing teaching as a career were not significantly related to teacher retention. TABLE XII REASONS FOR CHOOSING TEACHING AS A CAREER AS EXPRESSED BY H HE E ONOXICS GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Family' Home economics For reasons Groups 7 and person or of Total friends counselor employment N N N N Never taught 3O 38 ll 79 Taught but now full time homemakers 58 82 18 158 Taught but now in other work 7 16 5 28 Home economics teaching 18 21 6 hi Totals 109 157 #0 306* I"Only 306 respondents listed one of these three reasons for choosing teaching. x2 . 2.8 d.f. e 6 x205 = 12.6 The reasons that graduates wrote, other than those grouped under "employment reason! above, were not shown in Table XII. Table XIII presents these after they have been grouped into appropriate categor- ies. One of these categories, "idealistic reasons," included such things as teacher shortage and interest in young people. Another reason, "stepping stone," included those people who were definitely using teaching as a means to secure another position and also included eight people who said they could not get into an area of their first choice. 95 TABLE XIII KISCELLANEOUS REASONS FOR BECOKING TEACHERS GIVEN BY GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS t ‘ __‘—: :—. 1 ‘- Always Interest Stepping Training Idealistic Groups wanted in stone for reasons Total to subject home— teach matter making N N N N N N Never taught O 2 5 M 2 13 Taught but new full time homemakers h 2 17 6 5 3h Taught but now in other work 0 O 2 l 1 n Home economics teaching 2 3 u 1 u in Totals 6 7 28 12 12 55. *Only 65 respondents wrote in reasons classified in the above cate- gories. It was worth noting that twenty-eight, or h3.l per cent, of the sixty-five reasons written in by graduates had to do with using teach- ing as a stepping stone to another position or with going into it only because they could not get into the area of their first choice. This latter reason might be partially explained by the fact that home economics extension used to require teaching experience as one of the qualifications for the position of home demonstration agent. One graduate discussed the limited opportunity for specializa— tion in other areas of home economics: I have always felt that it was a mistake for the Home Economics Department of M. S. C. to emphasize, almost to the exclusion of all other fields, the teaching careers. In the 8-9 years I have 96 been back in -------- it has been hard to reconcile this big high school having the small, inadequate, and unimportant home economics department that it has. It is my belief that encouraging inter- est in the wide field of home economics with its many, many careers would bring more girls into home economics in high school and college, and this in turn would interest a greater number in teach- ing. This might indicate a need for evaluating counseling procedures and the number of home economics majors offered at Hontana State College. In any case, it should be noted that only four graduates in this "step- ping stone" group had remained in teaching. Age _A_t_ Graduation In Table XIV, the respondents were grouped into those less than twenty-three and those twenty-three years and older at graduation. This division provided a test of the importance of age to one's later teaching history. TABLE XIV AGE AT GRADUATION OF HOEE ECONOXICS GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Less 23 years Groups than 23 or older Total N N N Never taught 171 M2 213 Taught but new full time homemakers 161 38 199 Taught but now in other work 27 9 36 Home economics teaching 35 1M M9 Totals 39k 103 M97* *OnlyM97 gespondents answered the questiog relative to age. x 3 2.7 def. = 3 x.05 = 708 97 The null hypothesis was accepted. It would appear that "matur- ity" as an undergraduate, at least when this was defined in terms of chronolOgical age, as not a significant determinant of teacher reten— tion. Colleg§_Grade—Point Ayeragg The distribution of groups of home economics graduates by three different grade-point average categories and by teaching status is presented in Table XV. The grades ranged from 1.0 (Grade C) to 3.0 (Grade A). In order to have sufficient numbers for chi-square analysis the grades were grouped into three categories: (1) l-l.2, (2) 1.3- 1.80 and (3) 1.9‘3000 TABLE XV COT “GE GRADE-POINT AVERAG“ OF HOHE ECONOEICS GRADUATES IN RELATION O TEACHING STATUS Groups 1-1-2* 1.3-1.8 1.9-3.0 Total N N N N Never taught 23 119 90 232 Taught but now full time homemakers 38 10M 70 212 Taught but now in other work 5 21 12 38 Home economics teaching 7 19 32 58 Totals 73 263 20M 5&0 .1 3 Grade C 2 : Grade B 3 3 Grade A x? = 15.9 d.f. = 6 X205 3 12.6 98 The hypothesis of no significant difference in the distribution was rejected. Examination of the cells which contributed to the sig- nificant chi-square showed that more teachers than one would expect had high grade-point averages; in fact, 55.1 per cent of them were in the 1.9-3.0 category. This was in comparison with 38.8 per cent of those who never taught and 33.0 per cent of the ex-teachers. In the lowest grade—point category, the percentages of these same groups were respectively 12.0, 10.0, and 17.2. The ex-teachers had the lowest grade-point averages while the teachers had the highest. 0f the group who had never taught, more were in the middle category (1.3-1.8) than one would expect and fewer in both the high and low categories. This significant chi-square indicated that college grade-point average might be related to entry and/or remaining in the teaching profession. Teachers Ip_Parental PamiLy A slightly higher percentage (72.14) of those teaching had teach- ers in either their immediate or secondary families than of those who either left teaching (63.0) or those who had never taught (58.8). These differences were not, however, significant, and it can not be concluded that having teachers in the parental family was related to either teacher entry or retention. Table XVI presents the distribup tion of the responses of home economics graduates on this item. TABLE XVI TEACHERS IN THE PARENTAL FAMILY OF HOME ECONOMICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS No teachers Teachers in Teachers in Groups in family secondary immediate Total family family N N N N Never taught 95 37 99 231 Taught but now full time homemakers 80 27 101+ 211 Taught but now in other work 10 8 20 38 Home economics teaching 16 9 33 58 Totals 201 81 256 538* *Only 538 respondents completed the section of the questionnaire on teachers in the family. 2 2 X a 7.9 d.f. ' 6 X.05 I 12.6 The null hypothesis was accepted. Marital Status Examination of Table XVII shows a significant difference in distribution between groups of home economic; graduates according to marital status. The expteachers in homemaking were combined with the ex-teachers in other work in this particular analysis since there were only four single, widowed, or divorced women in the ex-teacher homemaking group. The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was rejected. The single, divorced or widowed teaching group made the greatest contribution to the significant chi-square. Twenty-one, 100 or 36.2 per cent, of the fifty-eight teachers were single, divorced or widowed compared with seventeen, or 6.8 per cent, of the 250 ex- teachers and twenty—seven, or 11.6 per cent, of the 232 respondents who had never taught. marital status seemed definitely related to ' teacher retention. TABLE XVII MARITAL STATUS OF HOHE ECONOMICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Single, Groups divorced Married Total or widowed N N N Never taught 27 205 232 Taught and left 17 233 250 Teaching home economics 21 37 58 Totals 65 M75 5N0 2 X2 = 38.6 d.f. = 2 X.O5 3 6.0 Income .O_f; W All married respondents who answered the question concerning husbandfis income (368) were grouped into those whose husbands, at the time the data were obtained, received $6,000 and above per year and those whose husbands received less than $6,000. Thus, a "high" and a "low" income group were defined. The hypothesis of no significant difference in the distribution was rejected. Study of the observed and expected numbers shows that 101 the husbands of the graduates who were gainfully employed tended to have smaller incomes than did the husbands of the ex-teachers in homemaking. Only 3M.0 per cent of the employed graduates compared with 73.9 per cent of the ex-teachers in homemaking had husbands earn- ing $6,000 or more per year. Although there were a few employed women in the group which had never taught, 68.8 per cent had husbands in the high income group. There was little difference between the teachers and the ex-teachers in other work. Apparently the majority of these women worked when the husband's income fell below a certain point. TABLE XVIII INCOME OF HUSBANDS OF HOME ECONOMICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Below $6,000 Groups $6,000 and above Total N N N Never taught M7 10M 151 Taught but new full time homemakers M2 119 161 Taught but now in other work 15 8 23 Home economics teaching 22 ll 33 Totals 126 2N2 368* l"Only 368 respondents reported husband's igcome. x2 a 30.6 d.f. . 3 x 05 e 7.8 Additional information on the importance of the income of the husband was obtained by answers to the questions, "What conditions might now influence you to teach home economics?" and."What conditions might now influence you to return to teaching?" Financial need.was mentioned 102 by 289 individuals as a factor which would influence them to enter or return to teaching. This need was usually stated in terms of husband's possible death or disability or the wish to help provide college edu- cation for children. Seven of the teachers who had remained in teach~ ing continuously listed financial need as a reason for remaining in the profession. It was clear that the husband's income was related to decisions of graduates to enter, to leave, or to remain in teaching. Totg1_Number Of Children In order to determine the influence that the total number of children had upon the decisions of graduates to teach or not to teach, graduates were sorted into categories ranging from a group with no children to a group with three or more. These data are presented in Table XIX. Only ninety-five, or 17.6 per cent, of the 5M0 had no children while 223, or Ml.3 per cent, had three or more children. The hypothesis of no significant difference in the distribution was rejected. Analysis of Table XIX shows that only fourteen, or 6.6 per cent, of the 212 ex—teachers in homemaking were childless compared with forty-one, or 17.7 per cent, of the 232 graduates who had never taught, and twenty-four, or Ml.M per cent, of the fifty-eight now teaching. The reverse of this is also true. One hundred four, or M9 per cent, of the ex-teachers had three or more children, compared with 106, or M5.7 per cent, of those who never taught, and ten, or 17.7 per cent, of the fifty-eight new teaching. 0f the ex-teachers in 103 other work and the present teachers, fewer than would be expected worked after they had one child. In addition to the statistical evidence that total number of children was related to teacher retention, answers were written in response to the question, "If your reasons for leaving teaching have not been covered in the above items, will you please list them." One hundred eight graduates listed such things as pregnancy, caring for children, and spending more time with children. Sixty-one of these same graduates indicated that as their children became older, they would again be interested in teaching. TABLE XIX TOTAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN OF HOME ECONONICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS O l 2 3 Groups or more Total N N N N N Never taught M1 27 58 106 232 Taught but now full time homemakers 1M 22 72 10M 212 Taught but now in other work 16 10 7 5 38 Home economics teaching 28 11 13 10 58 Totals 95 70 150 225 5M0 x2 3 7801* def. 3 9 XEOS 3 1609 10M Total,Number Q£.Children Under Five The number of children under five years of age also seemed to be a factor significantly related to the retention of women teachers. Table XX presents the numbers of home economics graduates in the vari« ous employment categories with children under five years of age. TABLE XX TOTAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN UNDER FIVE OF HOME ECONOMICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Groups None One or more Total N N N Never taught 82 150 232 Taught but now full time homemakers 78 13M 212 Taught but now in other work 31 7 38 Home economics teaching 39 19 58 Totals 230 310 suo x2 _ u6.u d.f. , 3 x205 . 7.8 The null hypothesis was rejected. Analysis of Table xx showed that 35.3 per cent of the group who had never taught and 36.8 per cent of the ex—teachers in homemaking had no children. This was compared with 81.6 per cent of the ex—teachers in other work and 67.2 per cent of those who were teaching. It seemed clear that the presence of children under five was significantly related to entering and remain— ing in the teaching field. 105 Personal Goalg‘gpon Entering College Home economics graduates grouped in relation to teaching status differed significantly on the factor, personal goals upon entering college. Table XXI indicates the goals of 538 Montana State College home economics graduates in relation to teaching. TABLE XXI PERSONAL GOALS UPON ENTERING COLLEGE INDICATED BY HOME ECONONICS GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Did not want Mildly interested Attended college Groups to teach in teaching to become a Total teacher N N N N Never taught 122 76 33 231 Taught but now full time homemakers 51 88 73 ' 212 Taught bum now in other work 6 18 1h 38 Home economics teaching 13 21+ 20 57 Totals 192 206 1140 533.- I"Only 538 respondents reported personal goals upon entering college. x2 a 58.5 d.f. a 6 recs .. 12.6 The null hypothesis was rejected, Analysis of Table XXI showed that 3h.8 per cent of all those graduates who had taught or were teach- ing attended college to become a teacher. This was in comparison with lh.3 per cent of those who had never taught. The reverse was also true. Of those graduates who had taught, 22.8 per cent did not want 106 to teach when they entered college compared to 52.8 per cent of those who had never taught. It seemed safe to say that this factor was definitely related to entering teaching. The three groups who had taught did not differ appreciably on this factor so it was doubtful that it could be related to teacher retention. It seemed important that of the IMO graduates who attended college specifically to become teachers, only twenty, or 1N.3 per cent, were teaching, thirty-three. or 23.6 per cent, had never entered the teaching profession, and 10 per cent had taught but were in other lines of‘work. Personal Goals At.Present The factor, personal goals at present. also differentiated between the groups of home economics graduates who had never taught, ex-teachers in homemaking, ex—teachers in other work, and teachers. Table XXII divides the graduates into two groups, those who did and those who did not want to teach. The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was rejected. The most noticeable difference in goals was between the teachers and ex—teachers in other work. Of the teachers, 77.6 per cent wanted to teach but of the ex—teachers in other work only 23.7 per cent had any desire to teach. There also seemed to be a significant difference between the 307 respondents who had taught or were teaching and the 232 who had never taught. One hundred fifty— 107 nine, or 51.5 per cent, of the group who had taught wanted to teach as compared to eighty-six, or 37.1 per cent, of those who had never taught. Of particular importance was the potential number of "qualified teachers" who indicated an interest in teaching. Of the SNO respond- ents, there were 200 who wanted to teach, and at least 11M of these were qualified. TABLE XXII PRESENT PERSONAL GOALS OF HOKE ECONOMICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Did not want Wanted Groups to teach to teach Total N N N Never taught 1M6 86 232 Taught but now full time homemakers 106 105 211 Taught but now in other work 29 9 38 Home economics teaching 13 1&5 58 Totals 29%L 2H5 539* *539 of the 5&0 respondents indicated.present goals. x2 = 39.6 def. = 3 X205 3 7.8 108 SATISFACTION IN TEACH NG One section of the questionnaire used in the present study was devoted to attitude items believed to contribute to job satisfaction. Since all of these items appeared to be measuring a common generalized factor, a total satisfaction score was determined for each individual by a method tested by Likert and Murphy.2 This consisted of assigning a value of one to the extreme of the attitude continuum on the unfavor— able side and increasing the value of each alternative by one point. Thus, if there were four alternatives, the alternative to the extreme on the favorable side would receive a value of four. After assigning a numerical value to each alternative of each statement that was used, an individual's score was obtained by adding the numbers correSpond- ing to the alternative that was checked. It was true that items with different numbers of alternatives received different weights but in discussing this method, Likert and Kurphy concluded: It is evident therefore that the additional effort required to weight the alternative values is unwarranted, since the simpler method.yields results as satisfactory as that obtained from either the sigma method or the "weighted" method.3 It was recognized that the scale used in the present study elicited feelings about a person, factor or situation. It was an 2Roslow R. Likert and G. Murphy, "A Simple and Reliable Method of Scoring the Thurstone Attitude Scales," Journal 9f_Social Psychology, v (may: 19314): Pp. 228’38o Braid” p. 237. 109 attempt to quantify feelings. HcKemar discussed this method: A.number of critics of psychOIOgical measurement in general, and.attitude measurement in particular, have rightly claimed that such is not measurement in the true sense because nothing is known concerning the equality of units in the scales. At first thought, this criticism might seem quite disturbing, but actually it only means that certain limitations of these so-called scales must be kept in mind. If we have A scoring h. B scoring 6, and C scoring 8, it simply cannot be said with any certainty that A and B differ as much as C and B or that C possesses twice as much attitude as A. What can be said is that B‘s value differs from that of C in the same direction A‘s value differed ffiom B's, a statement that assumes a single continuum is involved. The factors on which attitude questions were formulated and which were combined to make up the total satisfaction score are listed be- low. These factors were selected as the result of library research and suggestions from state supervisors in home economics education. They are listed in the order in which they appeared on the question- naire: 1. Adequacy of training in subject matter. 2 Adequacy of training in teaching methods. a. Professional adequacy. Educational philos0phy. 5 Chances for marriage. 6. Financial opportunities. 7. Living arrangements. 8. Cultural opportunities. 9. Creativity. 10. Attitude of teachers other than home economics. 11. Attitude of administrator(s). l2. Prestige in the community. 13. Attitude of students. 1h. Attitude of parental family toward home economics teaching. 15. Attitude of friends toward home economics teaching. 16. Relationships with students. uQuinn McNemar, "Opinion—Attitude NethodolOgy," Psychological Bulletin, XLIII (July, 19h6), p. 29h. 110 17. Relationships in the community where you are teaching or did teach. 18. Relationships with school personnel. l9. Restrictions on personal life. 20. Attitude of community toward teachers. 21. Supervision of principal and/or superintendent. 22. Worth of junior and senior high school home economics. 23. Load. 2M. Reasons for teaching. The! ontana State College home economics graduates who had taught were divided into three groups by years of graduation: (l) 1935 through lghl, (2) 19u2 through 19u8, and (3) 19u9 through 1955 Hypothesis II assumed there were no differences in teaching satisfac- tion for these groups. The number, the mean satisfaction score and the standard deviation are recorded for each r~roun in Table XXIII L l. 0 TABLE XXIII HONE ECONOXICS GRADUATES GROUPED EYV RS OF GRADUATION W113 Tl XEAII SATISFAC 'ION SCOPE fiD ST‘"D’ID DEVIAT ION TOR EACH GR UP mean Groups satisfaction s.d. N score 19 5-h1 117 69.u 8.2 19'2-h8 103 68.9 7.9 19h9-55 88 70.5 7.h The first test of the data was to determine if it were reason- able to assume that the variances within the several groups to be analyzed were significantly different. Such a test is necessary because one of the assumptions upon which analysis of variance is based is that the variances of the cells are homogenous. The lll variances were tested by the F test.5 The test of variances for the groups divided by years of graduation resulted in an F of 1.1. F.05 = 1.M2. Therefore, he hypothesis of no significant difference in variance within groups was accepted. To test if these small differences in mean scores could have been expected by chance, the mean scores presented in Table XXIII were tested by analysis of variance as summarized in Table XXIV. TABLE XXIV ANALYSIS or VARIAICE TESTING 2.21m SATISFACTION scoers or GMUATES FOR Yams 1935-1u, 1919-148, mm 1919-55 Sources of variation DF SS use E Total 307 19390.5 Years of graduation 2 llh.6 57.3 ,9 Error 305 19276.0 63.2 F g 09 F 05 z 300 The null hypothesis of no significant difference in teaching satisfaction on the variable of years of graduation was accepted. Apparently the satisfactions and irritants in teaching did not differ appreciably for graduates of different ages. This conclusion was surprising as there was a tendency to believe that teaching condi— tions had improved and that teacher training had also improved. Evi- dently the socio-economics conditions of the country have had no effect 5Helen M. Walker and Joseph Lev, Statistical Inference, (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1953), p. 192. 112 upon teaching satisfaction, as expressed in the attitudes included in this particular scale. Next the home economics graduates were grouped into three cate— gories in relation to teaching status: (1) those who had taught but were full time homemakers, (2) those who had taught but were employed in other work, and.(3) those presently teaching. Hypothesis III assumed there were no differences in teaching satisfaction between these groups. The number in each category, mean satisfaction scores, and standard deviations are shown for these groups in Table XXV. 1 m-pr J. XXV E, HOXE ECONOI 'ICS GRAD" £33 GROUPED III PE MT ON TO TEACHING STATUS WITH THE YE SATISFACTION SCOL.E AND STANDARD DEVIATION FORE fiCH GROUP Mean Groups N satisfaction s.d. score Taught but now full time homemakers 212 69.” 7,7 Taught but now in other work 38 65.0 8.0 Home economics teaching 58 73.0 6.9 The test of variances of the groupings in relation to teaching status resulted in an F of 1.2. F 05 = 1.59. The hypothesis of no significant difference in variance within groups was accepted. 113 The differences in these mean scores were tested by analysis of variance to determine if they were due to chance. This analysis of variance test appears in Table XXVI. TABLE XXVI ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE TESTING EEAN SATISFACTION SCORES OF GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS F Source of Variation DF 53 qu F Teaching status 2 137u.s 687.h 11.6 Error 305 18015.7 59.1 F = 11.6 F.05 = 3.0 The null hypothesis of no difference in teaching satisfaction mean scores of those groups (1) who had taught but were full time homemakers, (2) who had taught but were employed in other work, and those presently teaching was rejected. The obtained F showed that these three groups could not be assumed to come from the same popula— tion with respect to teaching satisfaction. A further test was needed to determine how these averages differed from each other and if each was actually different from the other two. The method used was to determine a theoretical average as described by Snedecor.6 By using this theoretical average, the standard error of the mean was computed George W. Snedecor, Statistical Xethods, (Iowa: The Iowa State College Press, 1956), pp. 268-69. 11h and the means were tested by a method described by Duncan.7 By apply- ing Duncan's test, it was found that at the five per cent level of confidence each mean was significantly different from the other two. Thus, it could be concluded that current teachers tended to be more satisfied than were ex—teachers in homemaking, who in turn, were more satisfied than were ex-teachers in other lines of work. Further support was given to the results of this analysis by answers to the question, "What factors in addition to those covered in the questionnaire influenced you to leave teaching?" One hundred ten respondents wrote in answers having to do with child bearing. The next highest category had to do with aspects of the teaching situa- tion. Ninety-eight persons wrote answers such as the following: I switched to primary because I prefer the age group and be- cause of inadequate home economics training. I left teaching because the schools would not hire married women. However, if a job change had not been possible I would have left teaching the second time because of poor administra- tion. If I should again have to enter a profession I would choose teaching but would first enter a school where methods of teaching were paramount--subject matter I knew but methods and handling young people were foreign. Being married and having our home in the community made a much more open and friendly attitude of people toward me--especially since people knew my husband who was a very active business man in town. We were included in the community activities-~when other faculty members frequently were not--especially single teachers. 7DavidB. Duncan, "Multiple Range and Multiple F Tests," Bio- metrics, II (March, 1955), pp. 1-h1. 115 Disliked teaching and not qualified to teach subjects other than home economics. Became discouraged because teaching situation was too diffi- cult for a beginning teacher. Lack of prestige and.working conditions. School personnel and their attitude toward home economics. Not a sufficient salary and no raise. Lack of discipline. Own personal inadequacies. Felt I was a poor teacher. Definite overload of work-~such as teaching seven subjects, cooking hot lunches, etc. Hated it. Did not care for it. Work required after school hours. Either I wasn't adequately prepared or wasn't a "born" teacher. I have enjoyed other home economics work so much more. I felt that I wasn't doing as much as I could or should have. The first community in which I taught was not conducive to good teaching practices. Frankly, I was disappointed in teaching and wanted a greater challenge. In answer to the question, "What influenced.you to remain in teaching if not adequately covered in the questionnaire?", those re- spondents who were teaching wrote such things as: This is a most desirable community, is stable and is comfort- able to live in the year around. Own property and feel reasonably secure in my present position. Satisfactions such as working with Future Homemakers of Amer— ica, etc. Have strong group of teachers who are continuously working for improvement. 116 Like contact with youth. Have a very adequate budget. Felt that no other work combines as easily with homemaking and having children because of hours, vacations, and contact with schools when children are of school age. Those who had left teaching at one time and later returned to the profession were asked to explain why they had returned if they felt their reasons were not adequately covered in the questionnaire. In these replies financial need led the list. Other replies covered reasons such as the following: I Boredom with so-called social activities in small community. More creative than bowling, bridge and luncheons. Needed something to challenge my thinking. Greater contribution to society in teaching than in business. Felt responsibility to teaching because of my education. Enjoy teaching and have a desire to teach. Salaries have increased. Desirable location. Found that I enjoyed teaching and it offered a five day week and three month vacation. I took a $2200 cut in salary to return to teaching. The group of teachers who had been in teaching continuously were asked to list dissatisfactions if they felt they had not been covered adequately by the questionnaire. Following are some of the reSponses: 117 Too heavy schedule causes inadequate preparation. Need more fair division of supervision of extrancurricular activities. Home economics teachers and students are exploited in that they are required to run catering service (food for everything). When students fail in other courses, they are put in home economics. Students are from low socio-economic levels and often have low ability; but worse, have little or no intellectual curi- osity. Student attitudes toward school work--indifference with emphasis on avoiding as much work as possible. Poor administration. No reCOgnition for work. Rather too tightly bound by time schedule--life regulated by "bells“ and 55 minute periods. Feel girls belong to FHA for reasons other than the objectives of the organization. Perhaps the time has come to truly evaluate FHA. Anxiety over tenure, teacher's retirement and social security. The group who had left teaching never to return were asked what might influence them to return to teaching. One hundred thirty-six said that financial need resulting from death or disability of husband or increased family need would influence them to return. Seventy-one said that a changed family situation such as children leaving home would enable them to return. But fifty-three gave answers which in- cluded factors in the teaching satisfaction scale, such as: Improved salaries. Change in the attitude that home economics is for low ability only. 118 A.principal who believes that home economics is worth-while. Changes in regulations regarding discipline. Am older and more secure. A growing concept of education. Enjoy teaching. Compared.with other work, I like teaching best. Feeling of responsibility to use my training. Interest in young people. Twenty-four, or 9.5 per cent, of the 210 ex-teachers said that nothing could influence them to return to teaching; if they worked it would be in other employment. Some of the graduates included letters with their questionnaires. Following are some quotations from these letters which definitely sup- port the findings relative to teaching satisfaction: Some schools are realizing now that teachers must be paid an adequate salary (some still don't). Despite my M years of college training,in Home Economics I was paid $90.00 per month at the time I quit. I got a job in an office just as typist (poor one, too) for $120.00. In 1939 a difference of $30.00 was a lot. Right now teachers in our small high school in ---- make no more than the bank in ----- pays high school graduates as general office clerks. Next—-you are spied.upon and watched constantly in smaller communities. This is especially true of the younger, single teachers. Since the war this, too, has changed in some places but not enough. Everyone knows everything you do and sometimes the wrong interpretations are put upon those actions. You.do not have enough contact with persons of your own age group, especially if you are fairly young. There may be one or two other young teachers and otherwise your social life is limited to student homes and church socials.... 119 Your questionnaire has a question on chances of marriage. They are poor in smaller communities. Host young men of ambition leave and those who stay are just a little leery of Teacher: As you see by my answers I have been margied twice but I did not meet either husband as a school teacher. Next comes poor living conditions. I lived in a house without electricity, running water or bath room the first year I taught. Much of this has changed in rural areas but even ----- has a hous— ing situation and they have been unable to hire a new superintendent because there is no place for him and his family to live. The one who is there won't stay for the same reason. Now comes one of the biggest reasons of all-~insecurity. What other job has as many bosses? You aren't accountable only to your superintendent but to the school board and also to the whole com- munity.... I've heard teachers cussed and discussed over a bridge table and more than once have seen a teacher fired shortly after the Wednesday afternoon bridge session finished hashing her over! It isn't fair. Another graduate wrote: Actually my change in jobs after that first year of teaching at ----- college was purely happenstance.... The job paid more than I could get in a high school teaching job and since I had a daughter to support and many debts to pay (not only from college but my husband's long illness) I decided that I could not afford to turn the job down. I enjoyed my year of teaching at ---—— college and had a per- sonal interest in everyone of my students. I can truly say the same for my year at ---— University. Here again I would have stayed on in teaching-but ----- was slow in offering me the second contract (my first was on a substitute basis) and.not being sure that it would be forthcoming I proceeded to negotiate with ----- . Of course here again salary and.retirement benefits played a part. I was teaching at ----- University for about half the salary I got at ----- . I know this sounds as if "money" is the primary objective with me. Really that is not the case. It is important I will admit but there are other considerations. I have gotten a great deal of professional satisfaction out of my work with This respondent's first husband was killed in action during World.War II. 120 Still another graduate said: I should have taken commercial in college, but my own decision was made against it because I had difficulty with shorthand in high school and was afraid of it in college. However, a counselor in college would have reasoned it out with me that I probably would have made a better showing with shorthand in college than trying to fight through chemistry and the other sciences like I did. There was no counselor either at college or at home. Another condition which affected my teaching career was the fact that I could not and would not play politics. In college, it didnlt matter what your experiences were, but WHO you were. In teaching, a 3-5 man school board selected their teachers more by political influence than by abilities, qualifications, etc. That teacher's contract was renewed only if she did as the board wanted her to do, which was the way the individual board members ruled the community.... Then another factor which must be considered in my own'case was that I did not have the physical”endurance to keep up with a teaching career. My first year of teaching I had 7 full periods a day plus a high school girls' gym class during noon hour plus the planning of meals and supervision of school lunch. I was Junior class sponsor and also had to chaperone school groups frequently. Still another graduate wrote: It seems to me there are too many theoretical subjects in teach- ing curriculums and not enough of practical psychology, getting along with others, and emphasizing outside interests. Salaries are not enough.... A fair teacher with an M.S. degree and 5 years experience in all probability will be paid the same as an excellent teacher with the same degree and experience. I see no reward for personal achievement or abilities. And another: I happen to be one of those peOple who should never have entered this particular field in the first place.... With the Present vocational guidance, testing, etc., that is done, I feel there is far greater chance of round.pegs being fitted for round holes than there was at that time. .121 Teaching satisfaction, as measured by the attitude scale used in the present study, was definitely related to teacher retention. This conclusion was supported both by the statistical evidence and by the statements of the graduates. As a result of the evidence presented in this section, hypothesis II was accepted and hypothesis III was rejected. OBJECTIVE FACTORS COKKON TO THOSE WHO HAVE TANGLT Hypothesis IV is restated since this section describes data related to it. Groups of Montana State College home economics gradu- ates who (1) have taught but are now full time homemakers, (2) who have taught but are now gainfully employed in other work, and (3) who are now teaching do not differ significantly on the following factors: 1. Goals upon entering teaching. 2. Size of community. 3. School provision for equipment. M. School provision for operating expense. 5. Courses completed beyond the bachelor's degree. 6. Other types of professional activities. 7. Present attitude of husband toward teaching. 8. Supervision of state home economics supervisor. 9. Supervision of college home economics education person. Each factor included in hypothesis IV is tested by the chi-square. 122 Personal Goals Upon Entering -eaching The home economics graduates who had taught but were full time homemakers were combined with those who had taught but were in other work to form one group. Two graduates did not respond to this item so the total number responding was 306. The personal goals of these graduates were placed on a continuum from the goal of teaching only one or two years to a long time goal in relation to teaching. This information is listed in Table XXVI . TABLE XXVII PERSONAL GOALS or Home ECONONICS GRADUATES UPON ENTERING TEACHING IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Teach one Teach Teach until Long time Groups or two until first teaching Total years married. pregnancy goal Taught but left 79 129 22 19 2M9 Home economics teaching 15 23 5 1h 57 Totals 9h 152 27 33 306* I"Only 306 of the 308 respondents who had taught indicated.present goals. x2 a 1M.O d.f. - 3 xéos = 7.8 The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was rejected. Analysis of Table XXVII revealed that more teachers (2M.6 per cent) than ex—teachers (7.6 per cent) had long time plans for teaching when they entered the profession. The reverse was also true. Fewer current teachers (26.3 per cent) than ex—teachers (31.7 per cent) intended to teach just one or two years. Ninety graduates, or 30.7 123 per cent. of the 306 respondents indicated that they entered teaching with intentions of teaching only a short time. Personal goals upon entering teaching seemed to be a factor related to teacher retention. Size 9; Community Since Montana is largely a rural state, the communities in which graduates taught were grouped into those of less than 1000, 1000-9999, and 10,000 and over. The numbers of home economics graduates in these categories are presented in Table XXVIII. TABLE XXVIII POPULATION OF COXMUHITY AS REPORTED BY HOXE BOON xICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Groups Less than 1000- 10,000 Total 1000 9999 and over Na N;_ N, N Taught but now full time homemakers 7M 8M 53 211 Taught but now in other work 13 18 7 38 Home economics teaching 12 16 30 58 Totals 99 118 90 307* I"Only 307 of the 308 respondents indicated size of community. X2 a 18.” d.f. 3 u ngS 3 9.5 The null hypothesis was rejected. Table XXVIII showed that 51.7 per cent of the teachers were teaching in communities of 10,000 and over while only 25.1 per cent of the ex-teachers in homemaking and 18.” per cent of the ex-teachers in other work had taught in communities 121; as large as this. Only 20.7 per cent of the teachers reported teach- ing in communities of less than 1000 while 35.1 per cent of the ex- teachers in homemaking and 3M.2 per cent of the ex-teachers in other work reported having taught in small communities. Apparently either the size of the community in which the teaching was done was a factor related to teacher retention or opportunities to return to and remain in teaching were greater in the larger communities. Eguicment l§_Home Economics Department In order to determine the relationship between adequacy of equipment in home economics departments and teacher retention. home economics graduates were grouped into those who thought the equipment was adequate for teaching all areas of homemaking and those who thought that it was inadequate. Table XXIX shows how home economics graduates rated the equipment in the departments in which they taught. TABLE XXIX EQUIPMENT IN HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENTS AS RATED BY HOEE ECONOMICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Inadequate for teaching Adequate for teaching Total Groups all areas of homemaking all areas of homemaking N N N Have taught bum now full time homemakers 121 91 212 Have taught but now in other work 23 15 38 Home economics teaching 22 36 58 Totals 166 112 308 x2 = 7.5 d.f. = 2 x205 = 6.0 125 The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was rejected. Table XXIX showed that 57.0 per cent of the ex-teachers in homemaking and 60.5 per cent of the ex-teachers in other work compared to 39.6 per cent of the teachers thought the equipment in the homemaking department was inadequate for teaching all areas of homemaking. Feel- ings about the adequacy of equipment seem definitely related to teacher retention. School Provision For Operating Expense Home economics graduates who reported no funds for operating expense were grouped with those who reported some funds available but amount not known by the teacher. Another grouping included those graduates who reported a definite amount of funds known by the teach- er. Table XXX presents data relative to graduates' ratings of adequacy of school provision for Operating expense. TABLE XXX HOME ECONOHICS GRADUATES' RATINGS OF ADEQUACY OF SCHOOL PROVISION FOR OPERATING EXPENSE IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS W None or no amount Definite amount of Total Groups known by teachers funds known by teacher N N N Taught but now full time homemakers 11:9 61 210 Taught but now in other work 2M 1M 38 Home economics ' teaching 31 27 58 Totals 20h 102 306* *Only 306 of the 308 possible respondents comp%eted this item. x2 = 5.1 d.f. = 2 X.o5 = 6.0 126 The null hypothesis was accepted. There was no significant difference on this factor between teachers and ex-teachers. It did seem significant, however. that only 102, or 33.3 per cent, of the 306 respondents to this item reported having known that a definite amount of funds was assigned to the home economics department. Courses Completed Beyond Bachelor's Degree In order to investigate the relationship of courses completed beyond the bachelor's degree and teacher retention. graduates were divided into those who had either taken no additional courses or only those required for certification and those who had taken more courses than required for certification. Table XXXI shows this distribution. TABLE XXXI COURSES COXPLETED BEYOND BACHELOR'S DEGREE BY HOZE EC‘NOXICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS None or only those More courses than G required for required for Total roups certification certification N N N Taught but now full time homemakers 163 M9 212 Taught but now in other work 21 17 38 Home economics teaching 31 27 58 Totals 215 93 308 x2 = 16.8 d.f. = 2 N965 : 6.0 The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was rejected. Table XXXI showed that ninety-three, or 30.2 per cent, of 127 the 308 respondents had taken courses beyond those required for certi- fication. A slightly higher percentage of the current teachers (h6.5) were included in this group than of the ex—teachers in other work (MM.7). A higher percentage of both the current teachers and ex-teachers in other work had taken courses beyond those required for certification than of the ex-teachers in homemaking (23.1). It might be argued that home economics education graduates took courses beyond those required for certification because they stayed in teaching rather than that the courses were a factor in teach- er retention. This was a possible interpretation. In any event, how- ever, the two factors were related. Other Types Qngrofessional Activities The extent of participation of home economics graduates in professional activities other than advanced study is presented in Table XXXII. This factor definitely differentiated between the teachers and ex—teachers. The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was rejected. Only 22.8 per cent of the teachers failed to participate in some professional activities beyond the local level as compared with N8.6 per cent of the ex-teachers. A.higher percentage (M7.3) of the teachers participated at local, regional, state, and national levels while a lower percentage (29.5) of the ex-teachers reported these activities. It seemed worth noting that almost h f, M3.7 per cent, of the 30k respondents to this item reported either no 128 professional activity or activity at the local level only. TABLE XXXII PARTICIPATION OF HCKE ECCNLX CS GRADUATES IN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OTHER THAN COURSE WORK IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS None or Regional and/ Local, regional, Total Groups local or state only state and national N N N N Have taught but now full time homemakers 103 M5 61 909 Have taught but now in other work 17 9 12 38 Home economics teaching 13 17 27 57 Totals 133 71 100 30h: I"Only 30M respondents completed the item on participation in pro- fessional activities. x2 a 13.2 d.f. = h X?05 = 9.5 Present Attitude Q£_Husband Toward Wife's Teaching In order to determine the influence a husband's attitude might have upon his wife's teaching, home economics graduates were asked to rate their husbands' attitudes toward their wives' teaching. These ratings were grouped into those Opposed and those favorable and are indicated in Table XXXIII. The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was rejected. Further analysis of Table XXXIII showed that only 3h.5 per cent of the ex-teachers in homemaking had husbands who were favor— able to their wives' teaching. This might be compared with 5h.2 per 129 cent of the ex-teachers in other work and 72.1 per cent of the teachers. It might be concluded that this was a factor in teacher retention. It was also significant that only M2.N per cent of the husbands of these 262 home economics graduates were favorable to wives‘ teaching. TABLE XXXIII HUSBAID'S ATTITUDE TOWARD WIFE'S TEACHING AS RATED BY HOXE ECONCRIOS GRADUATES GROUPED IN RELATION TO TEACHIJG STATUS Husband Husband Total Groups opposed Favorable N N N Taught but now full time homemakers 131 69 200 Taught but now in other work 11 13 2M Home economics teaching 9 29 38 Totals 151 111 262* *Only 262 graduates completed this item. x2 = my d.f. = 2 X535 = 6.0 The conclusion that attitude of husband toward wife's teaching, as rated by the home economics graduates, was related to teachers retention was supported by answers to the question of what might in- fluence the graduates to enter or return to teaching. Several gradu- ates said consent of their husbands would be necessary. One graduate gave as her reason for leaving teaching: 130 My husband is unfavorable towards teaching; not teaching itself but what happens to teachers. For example, I had charge of the marketing and menu planning for the senior class banquet. The other two senior sponsors did not appear so had to take over super- vising students in preparing the banquet, setting tables, etc. It was this way the two years I taught. Supervision Of State Home Economics Supervisor Supervision of the state home economics supervisor was originally intended to be a part of the attitude scale in the present study. Since only 201 respondents reported this type of supervision, it was not possible to include it. It is, therefore, discussed here although in reality it deals with attitudes. The ratings of quality of super- vision were divided into "poor" and "good" and are reported in Table XXXIV. T ‘LE XXXIV CHALITY OF SUPERVISION BY STATE H033 ECONOXICS SUPERVISOR AS REPORTED BY HOXE ECONOXICS GRADUATES IN RELATION TO TEACHING STATUS Poor Good T t Groups supervision supervision 0 al N N N Taught but now full time homemakers 29 115 1hh Taught but now in other work 13 1M 27 Home economics teaching 9 21 30 Totals 51 150 201* *Only 201 respondents reported supervision by state supervisor. 2 x2 = h.s d.f. a 2 x = 6.0 .05 131 The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was accepted. Supervision by state supervisor did not differentiate be- tween teachers and ex-teachers. It was important that only 201, or 65.2 per cent, of the 305 graduates who had taught reported supervision by the state supervisor. However, of the 201 graduates, one hundred fifty, or 7M.6 per cent reported a desirable quality of supervision. Another fact worth noting was that 50.0 per cent of the ex—teachers in other work reported poor supervision as compared with 30 per cent of the teachers. Supervision 0f Collegp Home Economics Teacher Education Person Supervision by a college home economics teacher education person was also a factor originally intended as a part of the attitude scale used in the present study. It was taken out of the score when only 165, or 53.5 per cent, f the 308 graduates who had taught reported this type of supervision. The replies were divided into those report- ing a poor quality of supervision and those reporting a good quality. The distribution of these replies is presented in Table XXXV. The hypothesis of no significant difference in distribution was accepted. Although this factor did not differentiate between teachers and ex—teachers, it seemed worth noting that 135, or 81.8 per cent, of the 165 respondents reported a good quality of supervision by the college home economics teacher education person. QEALITY 0F SUPERVISION BY COLLEGE Hora E cronies TEACHER.EDUCAT10w PERSON REP RTED BY ch3 3n , Poor Good Total Groups supervision supervision N N N Taught but now full time homemakers or employed in other work 25 117 1M2 Home economics teaching 5 18 23 Totals 30 135 165* *Only 165 graduates reported this type of supervision. x2 = .2 d.f. = 1 X205 - 3.8 SUHHARY This chapter presented the analysis of data related to the occupational histories of home economics graduates and to the four hypotheses. The pOpulation consisted of the total number (598) of Montana State College home economics graduates for the years 1935 through 1955. Usable replies to the questionnaires were received from 5M0 including 395 full time homemakers, forty employed in non-home economics positions, and 105 employed in home economics positions. The 303 graduates who had teaching experience included 212 ex—teachers in homemaking, thirty- eight ex—teachers in other work, and fifty-eight teachers. The data used in the analysis of occupational histories and to test hypothesis I 133 included the total number (5%?) respondents while those used to test hypotheses II, III, and IV included only the 308 respondents who had taught. Hypothesis I with respect to the following factors was rejected: (1) college grade-point average, (2) income of husband, (3) marital status, (u) total number of children, (5) total number of children under five, (6) personal goals upon entering college, and (7) personal goals at present. These factors differentiated at the five per cent level of confidence between groups who had never taught, had taught but were full time homemakers, had taught but were in other work, and were teaching home economics. Hypothesis I was accepted for the following lactors: (1) age at graduation, (2) chief reasons influencing choice of teaching as a profession, (3) grade in school when decision was made to become a teacher, and (h) teachers in the family. These factors did not differ- entiate between the groups studied. Hypothesis II, that there is no significant difference in "satis- faction with teaching" between Hontana State College home economics graduates (l) for the period 1935 through laul, (b) lgue through lane, and (c) 19h9 through 1955, was accepted. Hypothesis III, that there is no significant difference in "satis— faction with teaching" between hontana State College home economics graduates who (1) had taught but were full time homemakers, (2) had taught but were gainfully employed in other work, and (3) were teaching, 131+ was rejected. Each of these groups differed significantly from the others, with the group who had taught but were now in other work having the lowest mean satisfaction score, and the teacher group having the highest mean satisfaction score. Hypothesis IV was rejected in relation to the following factors: (1) goals upon entering teaching, (2) size of community, (3) school provision for equipment, (h) courses completed beyond the bachelor's degree, (5) other types of professional activities, and (6) present attitude of husband toward wife's teaching. These factors differ- entiated at the five per cent level of confidence between the groups who had taught but were full time homemakers, who had taught but were in other work, and who were teaching. Hypothesis IV was accepted in relation to the following factors: (1) school provision for operating expense, (2) quality of supervision of state home economics supervisor, (3) quality of supervision of college home economics teacher education person. These factors did not differentiate between the groups being studied. CHAPTER VI COHCLUSIOXS AND IMPLICATIONS This study was undertaken to determine factors which influenced Montana State College home economics graduates to enter, to leave, or to remain in the teaching profession. The total number (598) of graduates for the years 1935 through 1955 were included in the study. CONCLUSION Occupational Histories Questionnaires were sent to the total number of Montana State College graduates for the period 1935 through 1955. Five hundred forty, or 90.3 per cent, of the 598 home economics graduates returned the questionnaire in usable condition and in time to be included in this study. 'A slightly higher percentage of the returns came from recent graduates and fewer of the recent graduates had teaching experience. Of the 5RD respondents, 395, or 73.1 per cent, were full time homemakers; forty, or 7.H per cent, were employed in non-home economics positions; and 105, or 19.5 per cent, were employed in home economics positions. Of the 105 reSpondents in home economics positions, fifty- eight, or 55.2 per cent, were in teaching. However, the fifty-eight in home economics teaching represented only 10.8 per cent of the total number of respondents. Seventy-two, or 13.3 per cent, of the 5M0 reSpondents had never 136 worked; thirty-four, or 6.3 per cent, had worked but in non-home econom- ics positions only. These two categories combined almost equaled the 1H8, or 27.h per cent whose only employment had been in teaching. The remaining 53 per cent had.worked, some in a variety of positions. The majority (38M, or 71.1 per cent) of the 5&0 graduates completed student teaching either at an undergraduate or graduate level. Ninety-five of these home economics education graduates reported no teaching experience. This means that only 2H,? per cent of these home economics education graduates had failed to make some contribution to the teaching field. Only sixty—seven, or 1H.h per cent, of the non graduates respond- ing to the item on work history reported working continuously since graduation. Two hundred sixtyanine, or 58 per cent, reported having left gainful employment only once while 128, or 27.5 per cent, had left gainful employment two or more times. Of the 308 reSpondents who had taught, only twenty-five, or 8.1 per cent had never left teaching. Two hundred twenty, or 7l,u per cent, had left teaching only once while sixty-three, or 20.5 per cent, had left teaching two or more times. Two hundred thirty six, or 76.6 per cent, of the 308 respondents had taught less than NO per cent of the time since they graduated. Although the majority of these gradu, ates in home economics education have made a contribution to the teaching profession, it has, in many cases, been a small one. 137 Hypothesia:; To test hypothesis I data were gathered to determine factors which seemed to influence graduates to enter, to leave, or to remain in the teaching profession. For this test, graduates were divided into: (1) those who had never taught, (2) those who had taught but were full time homemakers, (3) those who had taught but were employed in other work, and (M) those who were teaching. Factors which differ- entiated between these groups and therefore might have had some influa ence in a graduate‘s decision to enter, to remain in, or to leave teaching were: College grade-point average . Income of husband Marital status Total number of children Total number of children under five . Personal goals upon entering college . Personal goals at present NO‘xkfi-L’MINH O. The factors listed below did not differentiate between the groups and, therefore, could not be associated with the decisions of Xontana State College home economics graduates to enter, to remain in, or to leave teaching: 1. Age at graduation 2. Chief reason influencing choice of teaching as a profession a. Grade in school when decision was made to become a teacher . Teachers in family Hypothesis II The testing of hypothesis II was to determine if "satisfaction with teaching" were related to three periods grouped according to years 138 of graduation. The 308 who had taught were divided into those wh graduated: (1) during the period 1935 through 191.11, (2) during the period 13mg through 19%, and (3) during the period 19149 through 1955. There were no significant differences in the teaching satisfaction mean scores of graduates for these three periods. This indicated that neither age nor current conditions affected the "satisfaction with teaching" reported by these Eontana State College home economics gradu- ates. Eypothesis III Hypothesis III was rejected. There was a significant difference in "satisfaction with teaching' reported.by graduates when analyzed according to teaching status. The teaching satisfaction score for each graduate was computed by adding scores for the following series of items: Adequacy of training in subject matter Adequacy of training in teaching methods Professional adequacy Educational phiIOSOphy Chances for marriage Financial opportunities Living arrangements Cultural opportunities Creativity 10. Attitude of teachers other than home economics 11. Attitude of administrator l2. Prestige in the community 13. Attitude of students . Attitude of your parental family toward home economics teaching 15. Attitude of friends toward home economics teaching 16. Relationships with students 17. Relationships in the community 18. Relationships with school personnel Dori-10\U14:'\NNH O l9. Restrictions in personal life 20. Attitude of community toward teachers 21. Supervision of principal and/or superintendent 22. Worth of junior and senior high school home economics 23. Load 2 . Reasons for teaching The respondents who were teaching had the highest mean satisfaction score (73.0) while those who had taught but were full time homemakers or were employed in other work had mean satisfaction scores of 69.h and 65.0 respectively. The mean satisfaction score for the total group of 308 respondents was 69.5. Hypothesis 13. The testing of hypothesis IV was a further attempt to identify differences in the groups of graduates who had taught but were full time homemakers, who had taught but were in other work, and who were teaching. Factors which differentiated between these groups and might be said to influence graduates' decisions to remain in or leave teach- ing were: 1. Personal goals upon entering teaching 2. Size of community a. School provision for equipment . Courses completed beyond the bachelor's degree 5. Participation in other professional activities 6. Present attitude of husband toward.wife's teaching The factors listed below were not significantly different for these groups and, therefore, could not be related to the retention of these xontana State College home economics graduates in the teaching profession: like 1. School provision for operating expense 2. Quality of supervision by state home economics supervisor 3. Quality of supervision of the college home economics teacher education person I LELI CATI OI? Based upon the conclusions summarized in the above section, the following implications would seem to be worthy of consideration. 1. The counseling program for home economics students at Montana State College may need to be evaluated and improved, particup 1arly in relation to the following: a. There may be a need to help students consider both interest and aptitude in selecting a suitable home economics major. b. Students with a particular interest in teaching (or some other major) may need help with personal and/or professional problems if they are to maintain that interest. c. Home economics teachers and counselors at all levels need to recognize that they are influential in the vocational choices of young peOple and prepare for and accept this responsibility. d. Both college counselors and students at hontana State Col- lege might be given the information that home economics graduates with high grade—point averages are the ones who tend to remain in teaching. e. There may be a need to determine criteria for selection of students who major in the teaching profession. 2. The curriculum in home economics at Kontana State College may need to be carefully evaluated, particularly in regard to the following questions: a. Are there adequate majors offered at Kontana State College to meet the needs of the students enrolling and for trained personnel in the state? 1141 b. Would the enrollment increase with the addition of major fields in addition to those now offered? 0. Are students fully informed concerning choices of majors at a point in their college career when they have suffi- cient maturity and have achieved an adjustment which will enable them to make a wise selection? d. Is the curriculum as presently offered meeting the real needs of students? One in every five hontana State College graduates had never held a home economics position; others had worked only a very small proportion of the time since graduation, and three in every four were full time homemakers. These facts might indicate that education for life and for homemaking, in addition to professional education, needs very serious consideration. 6. Is there provision for helping women prepare for the dual role of homemaker and.professional woman? Do students receive help in making wise decisions as to when it is wise for a woman to work, and how a woman becomes qualified to enter or re-enter a profession after being out for a period of time? f. Are courses which will help homemakers become qualified to enter or re-enter teaching being offered at a convenient time and place? g. Are men being educated to accept the idea that women may assume dual responsibilities? In education, married women seem to be necessary if we are to staff the nation's schools, yet 57.6 per cent of the husbands of the home economics graduates in this study were opposed to their wives' teach- ing. h. Is Montana State College seriously studying teacher needs in determining graduate offerings. Since the teachers who take graduate work, tend to stay in teaching, the courses they take seem extremely important. 3. Communities may need to become aware of the potential teacher supply available in their own localities and attempt to make use of this. One suggestion might be to provide part-time employment so that married women could more easily make a contribution to the teaching profession. 112 Since satisfactions and irritants in teaching seemed to be essentially the same for older and younger teachers, communities should probably not be hesitant to hire well qualified older women who are attempting to enter or re—enter the teaching profession. Communities, particularly small communities, may need to study their situations in terms of teacher satisfaction to make them more appealing to teachers. h. School administrators may need to study the school situaa tion and administrative practices in an attempt to increase "satis- faction with teaching." For example, adequate equipment has been shown in the present study to be related to teacher retention. Every attempt might be made by the school to provide equipment adquate for teaching all areas of homemaking. 5. All leaders in home economics education in Xontana need to find ways of helping teachers to participate in professional activities. 6. The home economics teacher education program needs to be continually evaluated in terms of course content and supervisory practices to insure adequate training on the pre—service and in-service levels. 7. Home economics education supervision by the state supervis- ory and/or college staff needs to be expanded to reach more teachers. 8. The curriculum in home economics at the elementary and secondary levels needs to be carefully evaluated. Comments such as the following suggested this: 1M3 As a dietitian I have taught student nurses, medical internes, and.patients and enjoy the nutrition science. I would want nothing to do with home ec. on the elementary and secondary levels. In fact, I believe that part of the shortage of home economics majors can be attributed to two things: (1) The low status of home economics at these levels. (2) If I had had it as part of the curriculum off and on for 12 years, I'd want something else, too. (I note in a recent issue of the Home Economics Journal a glowing account of baking cookies in the first grade). Another graduate wrote: I have always felt that the home economics high school curri- culum as well as the teacher could do with some constructive criticism. I think my criticism is not just of the one department but of the entire high school system.... And another commented: Mr. ----— thinks that perhaps junior high home economics takes the edge off home economics at the high school level. I believe that I'm inclined to agree with him. It might mean a really strong high school prOgram where students wouldn't always say "they'd already had that .“ BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY A. BOOKS AED BULLETIYS American Vocational Association, Inc. Committee on Research and Publication, Factors Affecting the Satisfactions g§_Home Economics Teachers, AVA Research Bulletin, Ho. 3, Washington: Hay, 19M8. 9 PD- Arny, Clara Brown. The Effectiveness 2f the High School Program lg Home Economics-2.9; Report 9; g Five-Year Study _q_f_‘ Twenty Liinnesota Schools. Hinneapolis: University of hinnesota.Press, 1952. 319 pp. Bureau of Labor Statistics in COOperation with Veterans Administration U. S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bulle- tin No. 1215. 1957. 69k pp. Hoppock, Robert. Job Satisfaction. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1935. 303 pp. Krech, David, and Richard S. Crutchfield. Theory and.Problems g: . Social Psychology. New York: KcGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 19%. 339 pp. National manpower Council. Womanpower. New York: Columbia Univer- sity Press, 1957. 371 pp. Snedecor, George. Statistical Xethods. 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"Factors Affecting the Retention of Hen in the TeachingiProfession—«A Study ofi ilwaukee State Teachers College Hale Graduates from 193 2-M6. " Unpublished Ed. D. diss er- tation, Hichigan State College, 1952. 200 pp. Haas, Hary Helen. “A Study of Certain Factors Related to the Voca- tional Activity of Home Economics-Education Graduates." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Hinnesota, 1957. 232 pp. Hill, Wayne Valter. "Factors Contributing to the Problems of Teachers in the Secondary Schools of: Iaryland Leaving the Profession from 1950 to 1955." (Unpublished.Ph. D. dissertation, Un niversityo Pittsburg, 1956) University Hicrofilm Dissertation Abstracts, XVII, p. 76. 1M8 Irland, Harquite L. "An Analysis of the Home Economics Teacher Edu— cation Program in Three Hichigan Colleges." Unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, Wayne University, 1956. 121 pp. Knox, Carl Warner. "An Investigation of the Job Satisfaction of Recent Graduates of the University of Illinois How Engaged in School Teaching and.Administration," (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, 1953) University Hicrofilm Dissertation Abstracts, XIII, p. 10%}. LaBue, Anthony Charles. "An Analysis of Some Factors Associated with Persistence of Interest in Teaching as a Vocational Choice." Un- published Ed. D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 195M. 208 pp. Hanning, Walton. "A Comparative Study of Job Satisfaction of Selected Teachers in Favored Urban and Less Favored Rural Teaching Positions," (Unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, Indiana University, 195H) Univer— sity Hicrofilm Dissertation Abstracts, XIV, p. 1586. O'Donnell, Beatrice Olson. "Discrepancies Between Beliefs of Leaders n Homemaking Education in Hichigan and Practices in Local Home- making Programs." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Hichigan State College. 1951+. 392 pp. Paolucci, Beatrice. "Decision-making in Relation to Hanagenent in Classes of Home Economics by Beginning Teachers." Unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, Hichigan State University, 1956. 187 pp. Pepper, James H. "Factors Involved in the Recruitment and.Retention of Teachers in Michigan." Unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, Wayne University, 195%. 185 pp. Quick, Otho James. "Teaching and Non-Teaching Baccalaureate Degree Graduates with Industrial Arts Hajors: A Comparative Study of Former Students of Eastern Illinois State College Aimed at Im- proved Counseling and Related Aspects of Preparation: Thirteen Items on Record, Types of Teaching and Hon-Teaching Position, Present Status, Causes of Separation, and Professional Attitudes." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, U iversity of Hinnesota, 195M. 2“? PP. Reiner, Hyman Larry. "A Study of the Factors Which Have Caused Ele- mentary School Teachers to Leave the Profession," (Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1957) University Hicrofilm Dissertation Abstracts, XVII, p. 253. Rooks, Ila. "Teaching Satisfaction in Relation to Intelligence, Interest, and Grade-Point Average of Selected University of Georgia Graduates." Unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, University of Georgia, 1957. 180 pp. 3 1M9 Roth, James Lester. "A Technique for Determining the Sources of Teacher Job Dissatisfactions," (Unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1956) University Hicrofilm Dissertation Abstracts, XVI, p. 1826. Schaffer, Issac Woodrow. "A Study of the Persistency in the Teaching Profession of Secondary Education Graduates of Dine Tisconsin State Colleges," (Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Horthwestern University, 1956) University Hicrofilm Dissertation Abstracts, XVI, p. 239M. do ed and Services Sought," (Unpublished.Ed. D. dissertation, Penn— . Y O , Fr 0 O ‘3. O O . sylvania State University, 1956) University mlCFOfllm Dissertation Abstracts, XVII, p. 535. Schwarz, E Terry. "A Study of Beginning Teachers--Prob1ems Encounter- Sharma, Chiranji L. "Practices in Decision-Haking as Related to Satisfaction in Teaching." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1955. 180 pp. Suggs, Hary Frances. "Persistent Problems of Teachers,“ (Unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, Indiana.Universi y, 1955) University Hicro- film Dissertation Abstracts, XVI, p. 50M. Vossbrink, Heta W. "An Analysis of the In-Service Education Program for Home Economics Teachers with Suggestions for Improving the Hichigan Program." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1953. 293 PP. Warren, Herle F. "Factors Related to Job Satisfaction of White Ele- mentary School Teachers in Louisiana." Unpublished Ed. D. disser- ation, Louisiana State University and.Agricultural and Hechanical College. 1953. 155 pp. APPENDIX ABLE XXXVI ’- FIFTY RAIDOHLY SELECTED QEESTIOHNA RES SOURCES OF DISSATISFACTION RANKED BY DIFFEREICE I 151 IILEEHS FOR THE FIFTEEI HOST SATISFIED TEACHERS AID THE PIE EEK LEAST SATISFIED TEACHERS IN A GROUP OF Average Average Difference mean of mean of Rank Factor high low in group group mean 1 Supervision of principal and/or superintendent ................... H.93 2.M6 2,u7 2 Reason for teaching ................. “.00 1.66 2.3M 3 Attitude of community toward teachers ......................... n.00 2.73 1.27 M Professional adequacy ............... 3.60 2.H0 1.20 5 Relationships in the community ...... h.OO 2.86 1.1% 6 Relationships with students ......... n.66 3.60 1.06 7 Attitude of students ................ 2.93 2.06 .87 8 Attitude of administrator towards home economics ................... 3.20 2.U0 .80 9 Restrictions on personal life ....... 2.53 1.80 .73 9 Worth of junior and senior high school home economics ............ 2.86 2.13 .73 10 Load ................................ 2.66 .00 .66 ll Adequacy of training in teaching methods ................. 3.33 2.73 .60 11 Living arrangements ................. 3.13 2.5 .60 ll Prestige in the community ........... 2.80 2.20 .60 12 Relationships with school personnel ........................ 3.33 2.80 .E 12 Educational philosophy .............. 3.73 3.20 .5 13 Attitude of friends toward home economics teaching ............... 3.H6 3.00 .ue 1M Cultural opportunities .............. 2.20 1.80 .MO in Creativity .......................... 3.73 3.33 ..uo 15 Adequacy of training in subject matter ................... 3.13 2.85 .28 l6 Chances for marriage ................ 1.93 1.65 .27 16 Attitude of teachers other than home economics ................... 3.53 3.26 .27 17 Financial opportunities ....,..,,,.,. 2.06 2.06 .00 18 Attitude of parental family toward home economics teaching .......... 2.80 2.80 .00 i 1: HOHTAIA STATE COLLEGE Bozeman January 28, 1958 Dear HSC Alumna: This letter will come to you with a questionnaire from Helen Hollandsworth, who is studying for her doctor's degree at Jichigan State University. We are proud of Helen as a graduate of our department and grateful for the sort of loyalty that made her want to do the study for her disserta- tion with HBO alums. We are anxiously waiting its completion because we think the results will be of real interest to us. Hey I urge your cooperation in filling out and returning 0‘. Helen's questionnaire promptly. Sincerely, (Signed) Gertrude Roskie Gertrude Roskie Professor of Home Economics Education 153 618 Grove East Lansing, fiichigan February 7, 1958 Dear Fellow Alumnae, We have three things in coamon--Kontana, home economics, and Kontana State College. How about adding a fourth? I am a candidate for an advanced degree at Kichigan State University and am now preparing to do my dissertation. Xontana State College administrators have given me permission to do a follow—up study of their graduates and Dr. Gertrude Roskie has indicated that she believes that you will be willing to help me. Enclosed is a questionnaire which I sincerely hope you will complete for me. I am planning to conduct a research study concerning the factors which influence home economics majors to enter, to leave or to remain in the teaching profession. I hope through this study to find if there are significant differences between the groups of peOple who never taught, who left teaching, who taught,‘left and returned, and those who have always taught. This means that names and personalities are not important. The enclosed questionnaire is coded for follow—up purposes as I have to obtain a good percentage of returns but your identity will in no way be disclosed or connected with the data. The value of this research to education, to home economics, to hontana State College, and to me depends upon your frank and honest answers. It is important that you check each item. There is space at the end of the questionnaire in which to make comments. If you have any questions, please feel free to write for further explanation. Your help at this point in my graduate work will be deeply appreciated. Some of you may have a little difficulty in remenbering your_teaching situations but please do the best you can. I will be grateful if you can return the questionnaire in the enclosed self-addressed envelope within two weeks. Sincerely yours, Helen L. Hollandsworth 151; A.SUEVEY OF HOME ECOECfiICS GRADULTES I. PEESOTAL DATA A. Marital Status: Single Divorced or legally separated Married Date of marriage Date of divorce or legal separation Widowed Date of death of husband Eemarriage Date of remarriage Children Number Age Range 0-5 years 6—10 years 11-15 years Over 15 years Date(s) of graduation: BS KS Doctoral Age at graduation: Completed student teaching: As a graduate ES As an undergraduate Never What was the chief reason influencing you to become a home economics teacher? H O m o LL «FL L: Time in teacher. H O N o LLLL N O IOQ 0 Check one item only) Never wanted to become a home economics teacher No particular influence Family experience and/or influence Influence of counselor Influence of home economics teacher High School home economics eXperience M-H Club experience Contact with home economics students Other influence (Explain) school when you definitely decided to become a home economics (Check one item only) Never decided to teach Grades 1-6 Grades 7-10 Grades 11-12 After high school but before starting to colleg During 1st or 2nd year of college During 3rd or Nth year of college After college F. Are there teachers in your family? 1. Ho teachers 2. Uncles, aunts and/or grandparents are teachers . Parents, brothers and/or sisters are teachers L Personal goals upon entering college. (Check one item only) . Did not want to become a teacher of home economics . Was mildly interested in becoming a teacher of home economics . Attended college specifically to become a teacher of home economics LLL Personal goals upon entering teaching. Not to be answered by those who have never taught. (Those who have taught check one item only) 1. Wanted to teach one or two years only 2. Wanted to teach until married . Wanted to combine teaching and marriage continuously with limited time out of the profession for child bearing . Wanted to combine marriage and teaching only until first pregnancy . Wanted to combine marriage and teaching until first preg- nancy and wanted to return to teaching after children left home Personal goals at present. (Check one item only) 1. Have never taught and have no desire to teach 2. Have never taught but have a desire to teach 5. Have left the teaching profession and have no desire to return \ h. Have left the teaching profession but have a desire to return 5. HOpe to leave the teaching profession soon 6. HOpe to continue in my present teaching position 7. Hope to move to a better position in teaching at this level 8. Hope to advance to a higher level of teaching and/or supervision Record of husband's income. Please estimate if husband is not on salary. At time of your first job: At time you left teaching: lst time 2nd time Last time At time you re-entered teaching: 1st time 2nd time Last time Present: 156 K. List below every job you have held since completing your BS degree, tOgether with related information indicated. with date of Dates employed. Begin first job after graduation. Classification of position such as Junior High School home economics teacher, home demonstration agent, Type of work you did such as the subjects taught in school, sales From: To: and home service advisor. or public re- Nonth and Konth and lations work in Year Year business. II. The next two items to be answered only by those who have NEVER TAUGHT home economics. A. Will you please explain as completely as possible why you never entered the teaching profession. B. What conditions might now influence you to teach home economics? 157 III. PROFESSIONAL DATA. Those who have FEVER TAYGHT home economics do not answer the remainder of the questionnaire). Directions: In the spaces on the left side of the page check those items which best describe your present (if teaching at the present time) or your last (if not teaching at present) home economics classroom teaching position. Please apply the statements to your last (if not teaching at present) teaching position even though the statements are written in present tense. A. Size of community. (Check one item only) ...: . Population of less than 1000 . Population of 1000 -— 1999 . Pepulation of 2000 -- 2999 . Population of 3000 —- 999 . Population of 10,000 —- M9,99 . POpulation of 50,000 and over m lLL B. School provision for Operating expenses. (Check one item only) 1. Ho funds are provided by the school 2. Funds are provided by school but no set amount is known by the teacher 3. Definite amount of school funds provided by the school and the amount is known by the teacher C. Equipment in home economics department. (Check one item only) 1. Inadequate equipment for teaching any area of home economics 2. Adequate equipment for teaching one or two areas of home economics 3. Adequate equipment for teaching almost all areas of home economics D. Number of single class periods a week not scheduled to teach class or keep home room or study hall; that is, number of free periods and/or conference periods. Count double periods as two single periods. 1. None 2. One . Four . Five . Six and more 2. Two . Three 6 _____J 158 E. Average amount of time you spend on activities (include teaching and preparation time, TEA, home visitation, adult prOgram, etc.) per week as part of your job whether you do the work at school, Directions: home, or elsewhere. Other types of Professional Activities. L IV. AITITUDES (Check one item only) Under 30 hours 30 - 35 hours 36 - “0 hours #1 - H5 hours #6 - 50 hours " - 55 hours - 60 hours - 65 hours hours and over OW O'\U‘| \J U] H 0\ completed beyond 38 degree. (Checx one item only) Eons Courses required for certification Courses beyond that required for certification but have not completed a Master's degree Xaster's degree Courses beyond a Iaster's degree but have not completed a doctoral degree Doctoral degree (Check one item only) Participate in no Professional activities Participate only in local professional activities Participate in professional activities only at the regional and/or state levels (such as home economics teacher confer- ence) Participate in professional activities at local, regional and/or state levels Participate in professional activities at local, regional and/or state and national levels In the spaces on the left, check those items which best describe your beliefs and/or feelings as they apply to your present home—economics classroom teaching position (if now teaching) or your last position (if not teaching at present). A. Adequacy of training in subject matter. (Check one item only) 159 1. Feel inadequately prepared in almost all areas of home economics 2. Feel adequately prspared in one or two areas of home eco- nomics Feel adequately prepared in most areas of home economics Feel adequately prepared in all areas of home economics 4 B. Adequacy of training in teaching methods. (Check one item only) Feel inadequate in planning and using most methods . Feel adequate in the use of general methods such as lecture but feel inadequate in planning and carrying out some special home economics laboratory lessons, discussions, demonstra— tions, and activities such as FHA and home experiences . Peel adequate in planning and using a variety of methods in classroom, laboratory and related activities . Peel adequate in plannipg. usipg and evaluatiqg a variety of methods in classroom. laboratory, and related activities NH 0 ..N L C. Professional adequacy. (Check one item only) H I Feel insecure and unhappy in teaching Feel fairly secure and happy in teaching Feel secure and happy in teaching Peel secure and happy in teaching and feel that a worth- while contribution is made to society and young people N o LL D. Educational philos0phy. (Check one item only) Have no well defined beliefs about the purposes of education Have some beliefs concerning the purposes of education but cannot see how to achieve them through home economics Have some beliefs concerning the purposes of education and how to help achieve them through home economics Have a well defined phiIOSOphy of education and the place of home economics in achieving these objectives H O D.) o LL E. Chances for marriage. Please check your beliefs even though you may be married. (Check one item only) 1. Believe that women teachers have few chances to meet suitable marriage partners 2. Believe that women teachers have as many chances to meet suitable marriage partners as women with comparable profes- sional positions 3. Believe that women teachers have better chances to meet suitable marriage partners than women with comparable pro— fessional positions F. Financial opportunities. (Check one item only) 1. Cannot meet needs with the salary received for teaching 2. Can meet immediate needs with the salary received for teach~ ing, but find it difficult to plan for travel, attending school and/or major things such as owning a home Can meet immediate needs and budget for travel, further education and generally meet financial expectations on the salary received for teaching L Living arrangements. (Check one item only) 1. Living arrangements are unsatisfactory 2. Living arrangements are fairly satisfactory 3. Living arrangements are satisfactory M. Living arrangements are very satisfactory Cultural Opportunities. (Check one item only) 1. This teaching situation provides little opportunity for cultural and/or stimulating intellectual activities such as attending concerts and lectures . This teaching situation provides some Opportunity for cul- tural and/or stimulating intellectual activities This teaching situation provides much opportunity for cul- tural and/or stimulating intellectual activities LL Creativity. (Check one item only) 1. Home economics teaching seems dull and routine 2. Home economics teaching provides limited opportunities to use own ideas in deveIOping the prOgram and teaching methods 3. Home economics teaching provides Opportunities for experi- h mentation with teaching methods and program development . Home economics teaching provides Opportunities for experi- mentation with teaching methods, prOgram development and sharing problem-solving in the school as a whole Attitude of teachers other than home economics. (Check one item only) 1. Home economics is ignored by most teachers in the school 2. Home economics is viewed unfavorably by many of the teachers in the school 3. Home economics is viewed unfavorably by some, but is sup- h ported by some teachers in the school . Home economics is viewed favorably and is supported by most of the teachers in the school K. Attitude of administrator(s). (Check one item only) 1. Home economics is considered largely a field for students of low socio-economic level and/or mental ability Home economics is considered necessary for students of low socio-economic level and/or mental ability but is also considered suitable for all students Home economics is considered a field having much to offer all girls Home economics is considered a field having much to offer all students (boys as well as girls) L. Prestige in the community. (Check one item only) host community members seem to think of home economics as a "frill" rather than a necessary part of the school prOgram host community members seem to accept home economics as a part of the school prOgram but do not seem to understand that it is more than cooking and sewing Host community members seem to understand home economics and generally support the prOgram Most community members seem to understand and see real value in home economics and strongly support the program X. Attitude of students. (Check one item only) 1 2. Home economics is considered largely a field for students of low socio-economic level and/or mental ability Home economics is considered necessary for students of low sociO-economic level and/or mental ability but is also considered suitable for all students Home economics is considered a field having much to Offer all girls Home economics is considered a field having much to offer all students (boys as well as girls) N. Attitude of your parental family toward home economics teaching. (Check one item only) 1. 2 ..___;3 _____}+ Family has little respect for home economics teaching as a profession Family respects home economics teaching but does not think there is any future in it Family has respect for home economics teaching and feel it is a creditable profession for women Family has great reSpect for home economics teaching and think that it is a worth-while profession for both men and women 0. Present attitude of husband toward teaching-~answer only if marriel. (Check one item only) 1. Definitely Opposed to wife's teaching 2. Fairly favorable to wife's teaching 3. Favorable to wife's teaching fi. Very favorable to wife's teaching P. Attitude of friends toward home economics teaching. (Check one item only) 1. Very unfavorable toward home economics teaching 2. Somewhat favorable toward home economics teaching . Favorable toward home economics teaching . Very favorable toward home economics teaching i Q. Relationships with students. (Check one item only) 1. Students are hard to manage and working with them is not enjoyable 2. Students are hard to manage but working with them is enjoyable 3. Students are fairly cooperative but working with them is not enjoyable 1+. Students are fairly COOperative and working with them is enjoyable 5. Students are cooperative and.working with them is very enjoyable R. Relationships in the community where you are teaching or did teach. (Check one item only) 1. Do not participate in community functions and do not feel a part of the community DO not participate in community functions but feel a part of the community Participate in some community functions but do not feel a part of the community Participate in some community functions and feel a part of the community Participate in many community functions and have a strong sense of belonging in this community N O LLL S. U. 163 Relationships with school personnel. (Check one item only) 1. Do not enjoy many staff members and have little contact with them 2. Enjoy some staff members but have few contacts with them other than professional 3. Enjoy some staff members and have both professional and social contacts with them M. Enjoy many staff members and.bave both professional and social contacts with them Restrictions in personal life. (Check one item only) 1. Teachers are much more restricted in personal life than other professional workers 2. Teachers are somewhat more restricted in personal life than other professional workers 3. Teachers have about the same restrictions in personal life as other professional workers Attitude of community toward teachers. (Check one item only) 1. host community members do not accept teachers and are critical of them 2. Xost community members ignore teachers 3. host community members accept teachers but make no attempt to include them as regular members M. Teachers are well accepted and included in all community functions 5. Teachers are sought after as community members and leaders Supervision of principal and/or superintendent. (Check one item only) 1. Does no supervision and gives little support to teachers 2. Does no supervision but gives support to teachers 3. Directs much of the teachers' work from the main Office and checks only to see that the teachers carry out Office directives H. Checks to see how things are going but gives no suggestions 5. Observes. gives good suggestions and/or praise 6. Observes, gives good suggestions and/or praise and always supports teachers 16h W. Supervision of state home economics supervisors. (Check one item only) 1. Does not visit this school 2. Visits this school but does no supervision 3. Sends out directives and checks to see that the teachers carry them out . Checks to see how things are going but gives no suggestions 5. Observes, gives good suggestions and/or praise 6. Observes, gives good suggestions and/or praise and always supports teachers Supervision of college home economics teacher education person. (Check one item only) Does not visit this school Visits this school but does no supervision Sends out directives and checks to see that the teacher carries them out . Checks to see how things are going but gives no suggestions Observes, gives good suggestions and/or praise . Observes, gives good suggestions and/or praise and always supports teachers H O N o .24 o Llfil-F' Worth of junior and senior high school home economics. (Check one item only) 1. Not convinced that home economics education is worth-while for all students 2. Believe that home economics education can make a.worth-while contribution to the lives of most individual students, families and to society 3. Believe that home economics should be an integral part of the school curriculum and of vital importance to indivi- duals, families and society Load. (Check one item only) 1. Have such a heavy schedule of class and extra-class activ- ities that you can not do many of the things which other teachers do 2. Teaching load is usually light enough to enable you to do most of the things other teachers in the school do 3. Have about the same teaching and extra-class load as other teachers in the school 165 AA. Reasons for teaching. (Rank these items in order of importance. That is, l for the most important, 2 for the next important, etc.) 1. Teach for financial reasons 2. Teach because teaching is the only work for which you feel qualified . Teach because it is the only work that you can get in the community . Teach because you enjoy it . Teach because you feel responsibility toward young peOple and society V. Only those who have TAUGET BUT LEFT AND NOT nETURhiD answer the next two items. A. If your reasons for leaving teaching have not been covered in the above items, will you please list them? B. What conditions might now influence you to return to teaching? VI. Only those who have TAUGHT BUT LEFT AND RETURHED answer the next two items. A. If your reasons for leaving teaching have not been covered in the above items, will you please list them. B. What conditions influenced you to return to teaching? 166 VII. Only those who have STAYED K TEACHIIG COZTIYYCTSLY answer the nex two items. A. Will you explain any reasons for remaining in teaching that have not been covered in the above items? B. If you feel dissatisfaction(s) with teaching which have not been shown in the above items, please list. at? feasted-4; MW JW . ‘ ”62 4‘4 .m. . WTIWIWUISIWW IUIWIIVIWISHWI WITIRIAIITES 3 1293 03015 4396