The well-being of early childhood educators is essential to the quality of care and education our young children receive. Yet not enough is known about infant/toddler (I/T) and preschool educators’ well-being and how their unique job demands of working with different age groups might impact their well-being. Moreover, studies on educator well-being mostly focus on the individual educator and what they can do to promote their own well-being when educators’ well-being is influenced by the systems in place, such as administrative support, which is defined as administrators providing support and assistance to educators to ensure quality in their work. A small but important body of literature on administrative support indicates that a lack of administrative support is associated with educators’ intention to leave and their job satisfaction. However, conceptualizations and definitions of administrative support vary across studies and only one study has examined administrative support in early childhood education. Further, there could be differences in the nature of both administrative supports and well-being between I/T and preschool educators. Therefore, this dissertation examined the associations between administrative support and the well-being of I/T and preschool educators using an exploratory mixed methods approach. The first study consisted of focus groups with early childhood administrators and educators to conceptualize and define administrative support and identify specific types of administrative supports. Findings from the first study were used to create a quantitative survey measure of administrative support for the second study which investigated associations between administrative support and educators’ physical, psychological, and professional well-being. The second study explored the differences in I/T and preschool educators’ perception of administrative support they receive and their well-being and identified specific types of administrative support that predict their well-being.Findings from Study 1 generated a definition of administrative support in early childhood education: administrators supporting educators’ work by providing necessary resources, respecting, trusting, acknowledging and expressing appreciation through open communication and relationships as well as supporting educators’ well-being. Themes from this study identified administrative support, lack of administrative support, ill-being, and well-being. Three different types of administrative support were identified: emotional, instrumental, and well-being support. Findings from Study 1 were used to create items to measure ECE administrative support for educators’ well-being in four domains: emotional support, instrumental support, well-being support, and well-being resources. Study 2 findings revealed that I/T educators reported more emotional support, instrumental support, and well-being support compared to preschool educators. Emotional support predicted educators’ mental well-being regardless of the age group of children they work with. Well-being support predicted lower perceived stress among preschool educators. More instrumental support was associated with higher physical ill-being; and well-being resources was positively associated with educators’ depressive symptoms and negatively associated with educators’ joy in teaching. Lastly, well-being support was negatively associated with I/T educators’ mental well-being, while higher well-being resources was associated with higher level of burnout for preschool educators. These findings contribute to the literature on how administrative support can influence early childhood educator well-being. Furthermore, the types of administrative support associated with educator well-being have practical implications for early childhood programs in implementing these administrative supports and advocating for policy on supporting educator well-being. Keywords: administrative support, well-being, early childhood care and education, infant/toddler educators, preschool educators
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