Introduction

In the past 18 months of post-Covid, concerns about a critical teacher shortage associated with challenging working conditions and the status of the profession have emerged in Australia (Australian Government, 2023). Recent evidence indicates that most Australian teachers are either unsure about whether they will remain in the profession for their entire career or are intending to leave the profession prior to retirement (AITSL, 2022; Heffernan et al., 2022). For example, the proportion of Australian classroom teachers reporting that they plan to leave the profession before retirement has increased dramatically over recent years, from less than a quarter (22.25%) in 2020 to more than a third (34.21%) in 2022 (AITSL, 2022).

Over the past decade, the Australian government has implemented various policies to address teacher retention in the school teaching workforce. These policies have focussed on initiatives such as increased professional development opportunities, competitive remuneration packages, and enhanced support for early-career teachers through mentorship programs (Australian Government, 2023). More recently, strategies to recognise and reward exceptional teaching performance, efforts to reduce workload, along with measures to enhance the status and the perception of the teaching profession, have been important to the government’s approach (Australian Government, 2023).

In the context of growing concern about the sustainability of the Australian government school teaching workforce, understanding why teachers leave and factors related to turnover is crucial. Teacher turnover negatively impacts students, schools, and the education system. When teachers leave, it impacts student achievement, the quality of instruction, and the continuity of the learning experience (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). Schools suffer due to the loss of institutional knowledge (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011) and increased organisational instability (Borman & Dowling, 2008), while school systems are affected by the substantial costs associated with recruiting and training new teachers (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011).

There are many different accounts of why teachers leave the profession, ranging from issues associated with education policies and the status of the teaching profession, such as standardisation, performance cultures, and systems of accountability (Nguyen et al., 2019; Perryman & Calvert, 2020), to school policies, conditions, and characteristics, including heavy workloads and the emotionally demanding nature of the work (Heffernan et al., 2022). Student, school, and teacher characteristics, teacher satisfaction, morale, and motivation are also factors (Madigan & Kim, 2021), as well as teacher mental health and wellbeing (Madigan & Kim, 2021). In this paper, focussing on teachers’ intentions to leave the profession, we present the findings from a national survey on Australian government school teachers’ work, health and wellbeing conducted in 2023. The survey focussed on teachers’ working conditions, experiences of work, teacher safety, teacher health, and future career intentions. We investigated this issue using the concept of the psychosocial work environment.

This study specifically focusses on teachers in Australia who work in government schools, a sector that caters to the majority of the student population (64.5%). While this study presents findings at a national level, it is important to note that education in Australia is primarily the responsibility of state governments, and variations in teachers’ working conditions and experiences of work are likely to vary within and between states.

The psychosocial work environment

The concept of the psychosocial work environment is important for understanding how the status of the teaching profession and their working conditions, influence their work experiences and their overall health—whether positively or negatively (Dicke et al., 2018; Riley et al., 2020). The psychosocial work environment is a concept from the fields of occupational health and psychology. It encompasses the social, psychological, and organisational factors that influence a worker’s experience of work and its impact on their mental health (Aust, et al., 2023). This concept includes organisational conditions, the culture of the organisation, interactions among individuals in a workplace, and the impact of an individual’s work on the employee health.

Rugulies (2019) describes the psychosocial work environment as an intermediate step in a causal pathway linking economic, social, and political structures with health and illness through psychological and psychophysiological processes. Adapting Rugulies’ framework for the teaching profession, we developed a conceptual framework for research into teachers’ psychosocial work environments and health that depicts the relation of the psychosocial work environment to phenomena at both the social and individual level (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
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Teachers psychosocial working conditions (adapted from Rugulies, 2019)

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Research on the psychosocial work environment goes beyond individual experiences of work, exploring macro- and meso-level structures that define and shape it. Understanding the impact of societal factors and work conditions on teacher health and career outcomes is crucial, highlighting the key role of the psychosocial work environment. It encompasses macro- and meso-level structures that define and shape the psychosocial work environment. Consequently, the psychosocial work environment is key for understanding how societal factors and work conditions affect teacher health and career outcomes. This research sheds light on how work impacts teachers’ wellbeing and job decisions.

The pathway begins with (i) broader societal factors, encompassing economic, social, and political structures like modes of production, division of teachers’ labour, school funding, school systems, and legal frameworks. These societal factors interact with (ii) workplace structures at an intermediate level, including the status and conditions of Australian teaching profession, such as job security, contracts, workforce supply, the authority of the profession, respect for the profession, and so on. These workplace structures, in turn, (iii) influence the psychosocial working conditions at the meso-level, such as job demands, work organisation, task content, and workplace relationships. These psychosocial working conditions are then encountered and processed by (iv) individuals or groups, triggering cognitive and emotional responses. As a result of these cognitive and emotional processes, the psychosocial working conditions subsequently give rise to (v) psychophysiological changes and (vi) health-related behaviours. Collectively, these factors (vii) impact the risk of developing somatic diseases and mental disorders.

Considerable evidence suggests that the psychosocial work environment significantly affects the overall health of workers (Fernandes & Pereira, 2016; Stansfield & Candy, 2006). Factors in work design or management that increase the risk of work-related stress are termed psychosocial risks or hazards. The World Health Organisation lists key aspects of the psychosocial work environment, such as job content, workload, work pace, scheduling, control, equipment, organisational culture, interpersonal relationships, role clarity, career development, and the balance between work and home life (Leka & Jain, 2010).

The heightened stress that workers experience due to psychosocial risks triggers a range of responses. Physiologically, it leads to neuroendocrine and immune reactions. Emotionally, it manifests as feelings of anxiety, depression, or depressive symptoms, as well as alienation and apathy, among other emotional reactions. Cognitively, it results in restricted perception, altered concentration capacity, reduced creativity, and difficulties in decision-making (Rugulies, 2019). Behaviourally, it can lead to actions such as substance abuse (e.g. alcohol, tobacco, drugs) and even acts of violence (Fernandes & Pereira, 2016). Conversely, positive psychosocial factors or resources are the are aspects of the work environment that reduce the risk of work-related stress, avoid damaging responses, and contribute positively to employees’ mental health.

A key strength of framing teachers’ work in terms of the psychosocial work environment is that it provides a clear framework for identifying and assessing the challenges faced by teaching professionals. Moreover, this framing encompasses established frameworks and strategies for responding to challenges, which can be employed to promote healthier and more sustainable work conditions for teachers. For instance, LaMontagne et al. (2014) propose an integrated approach to promoting mental health and wellbeing at work, highlighting the advantages of combining strategies at the individual, organisational, and policy levels. Given the widespread interest in the challenges facing the teaching profession and the health and wellbeing of teachers, lessons from the field of occupational health related to teachers’ work could prove to be very useful.

Psychosocial working conditions in schools and teachers’ intentions to leave

Psychosocial working conditions play a significant role in shaping teachers’ career intentions and decisions to remain or leave the profession. These conditions encompass various aspects within the school environment that influence teachers’ health and wellbeing, job satisfaction, and overall experience in the profession. Evidence shows that positive psychosocial work conditions lead to better career outlooks and retention among teachers (Arnold et al., 2023; Casely-Hayford et al., 2022; Rahimi et al., 2023). This section examines how key psychosocial factors relate to teachers’ plans to exit the profession.

Job demands

Job demands in the workplace are often associated with psychosocial risks because they require sustained physical or psychological effort from an employee. These demands include workload, work intensity, and the emotionally demanding nature of the work. Many studies have demonstrated the negative impact of heavy workloads on teachers’ career intentions (Li & Yao, 2022). In Australia, Heffernan et al. (2022) found that the primary reason that teachers planned to leave the profession was workload that was ‘excessive, unrealistic and unsustainable’. They reported that both the volume and diversity of tasks had grown, leading to unsustainable workloads. Alongside this, the emotionally demanding nature of teaching work, compounded by limited rest opportunities, was linked to higher turnover intentions. Similarly, Rajendran et al. (2020) determined that workload, work–family imbalance, and student misbehaviour were associated with emotional exhaustion that led to turnover intention. Understanding the extent of teachers’ work, including the number of hours, administrative tasks, and time spent on non-teaching activities, is crucial (Stacey et al., 2023). Additionally, the emotional dimensions of the workload have been shown to be vital to workforce sustainability (Tuxford & Bradley, 2015; Yin et al., 2019). Teachers facing psychological and emotional pressures, such as student care and behavioural challenges, experience more work–life conflict. This suggests a strong link between job demands, personal life, and career intentions in the teaching profession.

Job resources

Job resources refer to the various conditions within the workplace that help employees to cope with job demands and enhance their ability to achieve their professional goals. These resources can have a positive impact on employees’ health, satisfaction and motivation to remain in their roles. There are many different job resources that impact teachers’ work. However, evidence suggests that organisational environments or cultures that promote collaboration among employees can foster healthy and sustainable work roles. High social capital in organisations fosters collaborative climates based on trust and fairness. In a meta-analysis by Li and Yao (2022), trust was the top psychosocial predictor of turnover intention, followed by school climate, justice, and colleague support. There is evidence that when teachers have high levels of trust in school leadership (Karakuş et al., 2014), a positive school climate (Awang et al., 2015), and perceptions that their workplace is fair and just (Esop & Timmes, 2019) they are less likely to leave their roles.

Teachers’ experiences of work

In addition to psychosocial working conditions, teachers’ experiences of work and their relationships with their jobs have been shown to have important consequences for turnover intention. When teachers have positive experiences at work and positive evaluations of their jobs, they are more likely to express intentions to remain in their roles. For example, work engagement (Ferrer & Morris, 2013), job satisfaction (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017; 2011), and workplace commitment (Esop & Timms, 2019; Lawrence et al., 2014) are negatively correlated with teachers’ intentions to leave. There is evidence that teachers who are highly engaged in their work tend to exhibit higher levels of commitment and a reduced intention to leave their positions (Ferrer & Morris, 2013). Conversely, dissatisfaction with their jobs, including dissatisfaction with working conditions (Ingersoll, 2001), salary or support from leadership (Guarino et al., 2006), increases the likelihood of teachers reporting the intention to leave their positions.

Teachers’ mental health

These challenges of teaching, alongside concerns about work-related safety, have led to concerns that for many teachers, teaching is a stressful profession in which mental health difficulties are common. In their daily work, teachers must contend with a multitude of stressors stemming from interactions with students, parents, and the demands of the school environment. Empirical studies have consistently demonstrated the adverse impact of stress on teacher attrition (Bukhari & Kamal, 2017; Klassen & Chiu, 2011; Kyriacou, 2001). Furthermore, research indicates that acute work-related stressors can lead to more serious mental health problems including burnout and depression (Stansfeld & Candy, 2006). There is evidence that teacher burnout predicts lower engagement at work, lower levels of satisfaction, increased absenteeism, increased motivation to leave the teaching profession, and increased teacher attrition (Madigan & Kim, 2021). In Australia, Heffernan et al. (2022) found that concern for their mental health and wellbeing, including experiences of exhaustion, stress, and burnout, led many teachers to consider leaving their job, while other studies have demonstrated that burnout is associated with turnover intention for Australian teachers (Goddard & Goddard, 2006; Rajendran et al., 2020).

Aim of the study

The principal aim of this paper is to investigate critical elements of the psychosocial work environment, teachers’ professional experiences, and their mental health as these factors relate to the intention to leave or remain in their roles. A deeper understanding of these issues will help to identify the key issues facing the Australian teaching workforce in government schools and offer opportunities for interventions at the policy, school, and individual teacher level.

Methodology

Participants

Participants were recruited through email invitations sent to around 10,000 Australian teachers registered with Qualtrics panels. They were invited to access the survey through a secure online link. Out of those invited, 3328 opened the link. On the survey page, they were provided with information about the study in plain language, along with a consent form to be agreed upon before starting the survey. A dual-stage screening was applied at the start of the survey to exclude participants not meeting the study’s criteria, such as inactive teachers, those not teaching in government sectors, or lacking teaching qualifications. An additional screening ensured representativeness across key demographics like state/territory and school level. The final dataset contained 1005 records, with 905 active teachers in Australian government schools deemed viable for the study following the exclusion of entries with missing data.

In the final study sample, a significant majority were female, comprising around three-quarters of the respondents, with males making up the remainder. Most teachers worked in metropolitan locations, while smaller proportions were based in inner-regional, outer-regional, remote, and very remote schools. Regarding teaching levels, just over half taught at primary schools, a sizeable portion in secondary, and a small minority in combined levels. The majority of respondents were employed full time, with a smaller percentage working part-time and a minor fraction engaged as casual teachers. In terms of professional experience, roughly one-third had less than 5 years in the teaching role, while the majority had more extensive experience, with more than 5 years in the field (see Table 1).

Table 1 Participants demographic attributes
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As reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2022, the distribution of teaching staff was split between primary schools, which employed 156,019 (50.8%) teachers, and secondary schools, with 151,021 (49.2%) teachers. Notably, secondary schools boasted a higher proportion of male teachers at 38.6%, in contrast to primary schools, which had 18.0% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022).

Instrument

This paper is drawn on the data collected through the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire III (COPSOQ-III)—a validated tool for assessing psychosocial work environments, which is widely used across various occupations, including education. The Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6) is similarly recognised for reliably measuring turnover intentions. These tools were selected for their effectiveness in capturing the nuances of the teaching profession’s psychosocial work environment and career intentions. We distributed the survey to primary and secondary school teachers in Australian government schools via a secure online platform. The majority of the survey consisted of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire III (COPSOQ-III), an instrument known for its validity and reliability in assessing psychosocial work environments across various working populations, including Australian school leaders (Burr et al., 2019). The survey examined key aspects of teachers’ psychosocial work environments, including key job demands and job resources for teachers. Job demand factors, such as emotional and quantitative demands, and work–family conflict are seen as stressors that could potentially lead to strain and health risks. Job resources factors, including trust, justice, and recognition are aspects of work that can enable teachers to do their work. The survey also assessed teachers’ experiences of and attitudes to their work through three variables, job satisfaction, commitment to the workplace, and the quality of work. Finally, COPSOQ-III was also used to assess three key mental health-related outcomes: burnout, depressive symptoms, and stress.

To assess teachers’ career intentions, we used the short version of the Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6) (Bothma & Roodt, 2013). TIS-6 has been shown to be a reliable measure of turnover intention that can distinguish between actual leavers and stayers (Bothma & Roodt, 2013). Study participants were prompted to think back on their experiences over the prior nine months and answer questions like: ‘how often have you thought about quitting your job?’, ‘how frequently have you felt frustrated by unachieved work goals?’, ‘how often have you fantasised about a different job?’, ‘how well does your job meet your personal needs?’, ‘how likely would you be to take another job with the same pay?’, and ‘how often do you look forward to another workday?’. These responses were totalled and normalised on a 0 to 100 scale, yielding a uniform metric for each teacher’s likelihood to leave their current role. A score above the 50 midpoint indicates a stronger inclination to leave, whereas a score below 50 suggests a weaker inclination.

Both instruments primarily utilised Likert scale responses. For the COPSOQ-III, participants were typically asked to respond on a 5-point scale, ranging from ‘always’ to ‘never’ or ‘to a very large extent’ to ‘to a very small extent’, depending on the question context. Similarly, the TIS-6 responses were structured on a Likert scale, where participants indicated their level of agreement or frequency of experiencing certain feelings related to turnover intentions. This methodology afforded a thorough, context-relevant exploration of factors affecting teachers’ workplace engagement and intentions. Open-ended survey questions also collected qualitative data, which were analysed and are presented in alignment with pertinent themes.

Data preparation and visualisations

The collected data underwent preparation, cleaning, and processing using a range of analytical programming methods in R, Python, and Microsoft Excel. In this study, we use scatter diagrams to visualise the relationships among groups of four variables. The utilisation of scatter graphs in this study enables a visual investigation into the relationships among four distinct variables related to teacher intention to leave. By plotting individual data points for different combinations of variables, such as work experience, job satisfaction, emotional demands, and intention to leave, scatter plots offer a way to discern underlying patterns and associations. This method aids in identifying clusters, trends, or outliers that might not be apparent through numerical data alone. By offering a clear visual representation, scatter plots enhance our understanding of the complex interplay between these factors within the teaching profession in Australian government schools.

COPSOQ measures of work and wellbeing

In evaluating the teachers’ work environment and mental wellbeing, the means of normalised scores derived from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire III (COPSOQ) (Burr et al., 2019) serve as a vital measure. By calculating the average scores across various measures of each dimension for those that expressed an intention to stay and those that intend to leave we can gauge the prevailing conditions and attitudes within the two groups. This methodical approach, through the aggregation of individual responses, provides a comprehensive understanding of the broader trends in teacher morale, working conditions, their wellbeing, and job satisfaction. These mean scores allow for a comparative analysis between ‘leavers’ and ‘stayers’ and enable us to pinpoint areas that may require targeted intervention or support. The mean scores were used to provide a comparative analysis of the measures for teachers and the Australian workforce (n = 2442). The provisional unweighted measures for the Australian workforce were calculated based on the data that was separately collected from a random sample of working population of Australia. This approach thus provides insights specific to the teaching profession and situates these findings within the broader landscape of employment conditions across different sectors in Australia.

Correlations

In this study, correlation analysis plays a pivotal role in understanding the relationships between different factors influencing teacher retention within Australian schools. Specifically, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was employed to measure the linear association between variables such as workload, support, job satisfaction, and intention to leave. The coefficient values range from + 1 to − 1, where + 1 denotes a perfect positive linear relationship, − 1 indicates a perfect negative linear relationship, and 0 signifies no linear correlation. The significance of each correlation was further tested to ascertain whether the observed relationships occurred by chance. The application of Pearson’s correlation coefficient enabled a rigorous and objective examination of how variables interrelate, shedding light on the underlying patterns that may guide teacher retention strategies. This statistical approach contributes valuable insights to the complex dynamics within the teaching profession, with implications for both policy and practice (Cohen et al., 2013).

Results

Intention to leave

In a comparison to the general Australian workforce, a greater proportion of teachers in Australian government schools report planning to leave their roles (See Fig. 2). The proportion of teachers planning to leave their roles was 4% higher among teachers (43.2%), compared to the general working population (39.2%). This difference underscores the unique challenges faced by the teaching community, drawing attention to a higher rate of turnover intention among educators.

Fig. 2
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Proportion (%) of teachers in Australian government schools that intend to stay or leave compared to the Australian general population

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Table 2 shows that most Australian government school teachers, regardless of location or years of experience, intend to stay in their roles. However, a significant portion—between 35.7 and 47% across various categories—express a desire to leave. Primary teachers and those with fewer years in the field are more inclined to stay. The intention to leave or stay appears consistent across both full-time and part-time/casual employment status.

Table 2 The proportion of Australian government school teachers that intend to leave and intend to stay according to demographic and background factors
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Psychosocial work environments and teachers’ career intentions

The next section of our analysis explores teachers’ intentions to leave in relation to several key groups of factors related to the concept of the psychosocial work environment: Job demands, Job resources, Experiences of work, and Mental health-related factors. Through a detailed analysis of these categories, we aim to explore the key factors that are associated with teacher career intentions and workforce sustainability.

Job demands: strains and challenges in the teaching environment

In school contexts, aspects of teachers’ work that demand significant and ongoing effort can potentially have a negative impact on teachers’ work–life balance and their career intentions. In response to our request to describe significant actions that would help retain teachers in the profession, several teachers identified issues related to job demands and the challenges of balancing work with their personal lives:

The workload is insane. The student misbehaviour and the amount of time spent on planning, assessment and correction is overwhelming.

General conditions are alright. But workload is absolutely ridiculous. There are constantly new initiatives to ‘raise’ student achievements, so teachers are just finding their feet, then something new comes along and it’s new learning all over again. There are increasing numbers of challenging children due to trauma, behaviour and learning needs. And it’s ever harder to get support for them.

More flexibility with hours and family/personal commitments. Despite its reputation otherwise, teaching is not a family-friendly occupation.

These teacher comments paint a picture of a demanding and complex work environment. Overwhelming workloads, frequently changing educational initiatives, and increasing behavioural and learning challenges in students create a challenging work environment. Teachers emphasise the need for more support and fewer new initiatives aimed at enhancing student learning, highlighting the emotional strain from managing student behaviour and continually changing their practice to accommodate new strategies and programs. Furthermore, they express a desire for more flexible work arrangements to better balance professional and personal commitments.

These comments highlight the importance of emotional demands, sheer quantity of work (quantitative demands), and work–family conflict. Teachers expressed a desire for more manageable workloads, including a smaller quantity or amount of work tasks (quantitative demands), more support to cope with the emotionally demanding aspects of their work and a better work–life balance.

The survey results supported these findings by demonstrating notable differences in perceptions of workload, emotional demands, and work–life imbalance between teachers planning to leave and stay (Fig. 3). Teachers intending to leave faced heavier workloads, greater emotional stress, and more work–life conflicts than those intending to stay and the average Australian worker. It is concerning that all of these measures for the government school teachers who intend to stay are even higher than the average for the Australian working population.

Fig. 3
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A comparison of the mean scores (out of 100) on the key job demand variables between teachers who intend to stay, teachers who intend to leave, and the average for the Australian working population

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All three of the variables related to job demands show moderate correlations with intention to leave. Given the positive correlations of quantitative demands and intention to leave (r = 0.48, p < 0.001), as well as between emotional demands and intention to leave (r = 0.44, p < 0.001), it can be inferred that there is an association between higher quantitative and emotional demands at work and teachers’ intentions to leave their jobs. The positive correlation between work–family conflict and intention to leave (r = 0.50, p < 0.001) suggests a positive relationship between work–family conflict and intention to leave the job.

Considering these associations, the scatterplot gives a visual depiction of these relationships. The size of each bubble in the plot corresponds to the level of work–family conflict experienced by the teachers. The colour of the bubbles represents the teachers’ intention to leave their current job, with green indicating a lower intention to leave (or higher intention to stay) and red indicating a higher intention to leave (see Fig. 4).

Fig. 4
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Association of Intention to leave with Emotional demands, Quantitative demands & Work–family conflict (bubble size)

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The positioning of each bubble along the axes reveals how the emotional demands and quantitative demands interact with both work–family conflict and the intention to leave. Teachers experiencing high emotional demands and high quantitative demands (top-right quadrant, labelled ‘A: Higher int. to leave’) generally have larger bubbles (indicating higher work–family conflict) and a red colour (indicating a higher intention to leave), which aligns with the correlations observed in the matrix shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Correlation between job demand factors and intention to leave
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Job resources: supportive dynamics of the psychosocial work environment

In school contexts, job resources, which encompass aspects such as job recognition, trust in management, and organisational justice, can have a significant influence on a teacher’s decision to persist in or leave their profession. In response to our request to describe any significant actions that would help to retain teachers in the profession, several teachers identified issues related to trust, justice, and recognition within their schools and the profession more broadly:

Just trust our professionalism and let us teach. Stop the micromanagement.

Less red tape, trusting and allowing teachers to use their knowledge and expertise like the professionals we are.

Respect from Government and Community.

Less nepotism in promotional positions.

Career progression from a young age, not just waiting for someone to be ‘an age’ before they have access to that job.

These comments highlight the importance of recognition for work done and also emphasise the need for fairness and trust at work. The emphasis on trusting teachers’ professionalism and reducing micromanagement aligns with the significance of job recognition and trust in management, as noted by Li and Yao (2022) and Karakuş et al. (2014). These studies highlight trust as a crucial psychosocial predictor of turnover intention and the positive impact of trust in school leadership on retention. The call for less red tape and respect from government and community echoes the need for organisational justice and societal recognition, as discussed by Esop and Timmes (2019), who found that perceptions of a fair and just workplace significantly influence teachers’ decisions to stay.

These views were supported by survey results, showing significant disparities in perceptions of organisational justice, leadership trust, and job recognition between teachers planning to leave and stay (Fig. 5). Teachers intending to leave felt they worked in less fair settings, had less trust in leaders, and received less job recognition compared to those planning to stay and the average Australian worker.

Fig. 5
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A comparison of the mean scores (out of 100) on the key job resources variables between teachers who intend to stay, teachers who intend to leave, and the average for the Australian working population

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All three variables of job recognition, trust in leadership, and organisational justice have moderate negative correlations with intention to leave. Given the negative correlations between job recognition and intention to leave (r = − 0.55, p < 0.001), trust in leadership and intention to leave (r = − 0.55, p < 0.001), and organisational justice and intention to leave (r = − 0.53, p < 0.001), it can be inferred that higher levels of job recognition, trust in management, and organisational justice are associated with teachers’ intention to remain in their roles (see Table 4).

Table 4 Correlation between institutional-related factors and intention to leave
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Figure 6 provides a visual representation of these relationships. The colour of the bubbles represents the teachers’ intention to leave their current job, with green indicating a lower intention to leave (or higher intention to stay) and red indicating a higher intention to leave. The size of each bubble in the plot (corresponding to job recognition) indicates the level of recognition perceived by the teachers.

Fig. 6
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Association of Intention to leave with Trust in management, Organisational justice & Job recognition (bubble size)

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The positioning of each bubble along the axes then reveals how perceptions of organisational justice and trust in management interact with both job recognition and the intention to leave. Teachers with high trust in management and high organisational justice (top-right quadrant, labelled ‘A: Higher int. to stay’) generally have larger bubbles (indicating higher job recognition) and green colour (lower intention to leave), which aligns with the correlations observed in the matrix. This aligns with the correlations in Table 4.

Teachers’ experiences of work: valuing engagement in teaching

In response to our request to describe significant actions that would help retain teachers in the profession, several teachers identified issues related to the quality of their work and the opportunities for engaging in meaningful work:

Less meaningless tasks more quality teaching time.

More time to teach, less time on administrative tasks.

These comments emphasise the importance of teaching staff engaging in quality work by dedicating their time to what means the most to them: teaching students, rather than administrative tasks. These align with the findings of Ferrer and Morris (2013), who noted that work engagement is a critical factor in reducing teachers’ intention to leave. This sentiment is echoed in the call for ‘more time to teach, less time on administrative tasks’, underscoring the importance of job content and the balance of teaching versus administrative duties in influencing teachers’ job satisfaction, as highlighted by Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2017).

Survey results show significant differences in personal experiences between teachers planning to leave and those planning to stay (Fig. 7). Teachers wanting to leave had lower work quality, less role commitment, and lower job satisfaction compared to their staying counterparts and the average Australian worker.

Fig. 7
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A comparison of the mean scores (out of 100) on the key ‘experiences of work’ variables between teachers who intend to stay, teachers who intend to leave, and the average for the Australian working population

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All three variables related to teachers’ experiences of their work show moderate negative correlations with intention to leave. Given the negative correlations between job satisfaction and intention to leave (r = − 0.58, p < 0.001), commitment to the workplace and intention to leave (r = − 0.65, p < 0.001), as well as quality of work and intention to leave (r = − 0.47, p < 0.001), it can be inferred that higher job satisfaction, a greater commitment to the workplace, and a higher quality of work are associated with teachers’ intention to remain in their jobs (see Table 5).

Table 5 Correlation between workplace engagement factors and intention to leave
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Correlations between these variables and the intention to leave are displayed in Table 5, with Fig. 8 visually depicting these relationships. Figure 8 positions each data point based on the teachers’ commitment to the workplace (x-axis) and quality of leadership (y-axis). The size of each point corresponds to the level of satisfaction on quality of work experienced by the teachers. The colour of the bubbles represents the teachers’ intention to leave their current job, with green indicating a lower intention to leave (or higher intention to stay) and red indicating a higher intention to leave.

Fig. 8
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Association of Intention to leave with Job satisfaction, Commitment to the workplace, and Quality of work (bubble size)

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Teachers experiencing high commitment to the workplace and high quality of work (top-right quadrant, labelled ‘A: Higher int. to stay’) generally have larger bubbles (indicating higher satisfaction of work quality) and a green colour (indicating a lower intention to leave). These observations align with the correlations observed in the matrix (see Table 5).

Mental health-related factors: the importance of supporting teacher wellbeing

In response to our request to describe significant actions that would help retain teachers in the profession, several teachers identified issues related to the mental health and wellbeing:

Prioritising staff mental health and out of work hours.

Better conditions to reduce end of year burnout.

More focus on teacher wellbeing (burnout, mental health etc).

Arrange psychological counselling, so that the teacher’s pressure can be relieved and relieved.

Teachers reported that prioritising mental health and reducing burnout through improved conditions, increased assistance, and a greater focus were essential. Results from the survey determined significant differences in teachers’ mental health outcomes between those who plan to leave and those who plan to stay (see Fig. 9). Teachers who intended to leave their roles reported higher levels of stress, more depressive symptoms, and increased burnout compared to both teachers who intend to stay and the average Australian worker.

Fig. 9
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A comparison of the mean scores (out of 100) on the key ‘mental health’ variables between teachers who intend to stay, teachers who intend to leave, and the average for the Australian working population

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The positive correlations between job satisfaction and intention to leave (r = − 0.58, p < 0.001), commitment to the workplace and intention to leave (r = − 0.65, p < 0.001), as well as the quality of work and intention to leave (r = − 0.47, p < 0.001), demonstrate that increased burnout, more depressive symptoms, and higher stress levels are associated with teachers’ intentions to leave their job (see Table 6).

Table 6 Correlation between mental health-related factors and intention to leave
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The positive correlations with intention to leave for Burnout, Stress, and Depressive symptoms suggest that there is a moderate-to-strong relationship between mental health and intention to leave. Examining these connections further, Fig. 10 offers a graphical interpretation of these relationships. In this plot, the colour of the bubbles represents the teachers’ intention to leave their current job, with green indicating a lower intention to leave (or a higher intention to stay) and red indicating a higher intention to leave. The size of each bubble corresponds to the level of stress experienced by the teachers.

Fig. 10
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Association of Intention to leave with Burnout, Depressive symptoms & Stress (bubble size)

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The positioning of bubbles along the axes discloses how burnout and depressive symptoms interact with both stress (bubble size) and the intention to leave. Teachers experiencing high levels of burnout and depressive symptoms (zone A at the top-right quadrant, labelled ‘A: Higher int. to leave’) generally have larger bubbles (indicating higher levels of stress) and a red colour (indicating a higher intention to leave), which aligns with the correlations observed in the matrix shown in Table 6.

Discussion

This paper also provides an exploration of the relationship between several key aspects of Australian government school teachers’ work and health and their intention to remain in or leave their roles. Framed by the concept of the psychosocial work environment, our analysis demonstrates the importance of the relationship between both the quantity of work that teachers face and the emotionally demanding nature of the role, and teachers’ intentions to leave their roles. In addition, there was a significant relationship between the experience of work–life conflict and teachers’ intentions to leave. Taken together, this aspect of the analysis demonstrates that perceived demands at work and the encroachment of work on teachers’ personal lives are important issues related to teachers’ career intentions.

Workload among the teaching profession is recognised as a major issue affecting the profession (Heffernan, 2021; Heffernan et al., 2022). We have demonstrated that teachers who express a desire to leave report heavier workloads than those staying. Developing a fine-grained understanding of the sheer volume of work that teachers must contend with, such as the number of hours worked, the number of administrative tasks that must be completed (Stacey et al., 2023), and the time spent on non-teaching tasks, is critical to the future of the profession.

In addition, our analysis aligns with other research demonstrating that the emotional dimensions of teacher workload are also critical to the sustainability of the workforce (Tuxford & Bradley, 2015; Yin et al., 2019). Teachers that intended to leave their roles were significantly more likely to report experiencing psychological and emotional pressures related to their work. Responding to the emotional needs of students, caring for students and their future, addressing behavioural challenges and being under pressure to perform can all contribute to the emotionally demanding nature of teaching work (Tuxford & Bradley, 2015; Yin et al., 2019). Teachers intending to leave experienced more work–life conflict than those planning to stay. This implies a significant link between job demands affecting personal life and career intentions.

In terms of the positive aspects of the psychosocial work environment, our analysis determined that teachers who intended to leave their roles had significantly lower levels of job recognition, trust in leadership, and organisational justice compared to their colleagues who intended to remain. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of the relationship between these three variables and teachers’ career intentions. In terms of job recognition, acknowledgment, appreciation, and validation of teachers’ contributions and efforts are associated with teachers’ career intentions (Arnup & Bowles, 2016). Perceptions of fairness and equity in the treatment of teachers and other staff, decisions affecting teachers and their colleagues, as well as work processes, and the belief that school and system leaders are honest, competent, transparent, and have the best interests of teachers, students, and the school in mind, are also important factors influencing teachers’ career intentions.

Psychosocial work environments significantly affect teachers’ satisfaction, commitment, and perceptions of their job (Rugulies, 2019). Those intending to leave were notably more dissatisfied and less committed, and they perceived lower job quality compared to those planning to stay. Our findings highlight the positive association between higher levels of commitment, job satisfaction, and work quality and teachers’ intentions to remain in their roles (Madigan & Kim, 2021). These factors, which align with Organisational Commitment Theory, correlate with intentions to stay and build on prior research (Watt & Richardson, 2008), suggesting that fostering a work environment that promotes professional commitment and satisfaction is key to enhancing teacher retention.

Ultimately, teachers’ psychosocial working conditions, as shaped by their experiences and evaluations of their work, contribute to specific mental health outcomes (Fernandes & Pereira, 2016; Rugulies, 2019). Our analysis demonstrates a positive association between mental health problems and teachers’ intentions to leave. Teacher stress, burnout, and depressive symptoms were all positively associated with intentions to leave. Teachers who intended to leave their roles experienced significantly more stress, higher levels of burnout, and more symptoms of depression than colleagues who intended to stay.

This aligns with evidence about the importance of mental health for employees’ intentions to remain in their roles (Madigan & Kim, 2021). Depressive symptoms, burnout, and stress can all influence an individual’s career intentions and increase their desire to seek alternative opportunities (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Demerouti et al., 2001; Ybema et al., 2014). As discussed through a broad spectrum of literature, our findings provide insights into global educational settings, highlighting universally relevant psychosocial factors in the teaching profession and offering a framework for international policy and practice in diverse educational contexts.

Implications

These findings emphasise the importance of the psychosocial work environment to create supportive work environments that not only mitigate the risks of stress and burnout but also contribute to the retention and overall health and wellbeing of teachers in the profession. The strategies and frameworks discussed here, though based on Australian data, have broader implications, suggesting ways to improve teacher retention and wellbeing worldwide.

The current analysis offers a framework for understanding the complexities facing Australia’s teachers. It advocates for a unified approach to manage these challenges, promote positive work aspects, and support mental health. Current approaches are fragmented, employing various measures across jurisdictions. While multiple research perspectives are crucial for understanding teachers’ work and health, it is key for policymakers to adopt consistent methods to identify and assess psychosocial risks. These data should then inform comprehensive policies to tackle challenges teachers face, along with providing organisational support.

LaMontagne et al.’s (2014) integrated approach to workplace health could be useful in framing a coherent response to retaining Australian government schools teachers. The integrated approach aims to achieve the following objectives:

  1. 1.

    Prevent Harm: Enhance mental health by mitigating workplace-related risk factors.

  2. 2.

    Promote the Positive: Foster mental wellbeing by nurturing positive elements of work and harnessing employees’ strengths and positive capabilities.

  3. 3.

    Manage Illness: Tackle mental health challenges faced by working individuals, regardless of the underlying causes.

The first objective focusses on protecting teachers’ mental wellbeing, emphasising the employer’s role in ensuring a healthy work environment. This means Departments of Education, in collaboration with teachers and school leaders and federal support, should address workforce challenges to foster safe conditions. Evidence suggests that preventive, organisational-level interventions can improve the psychosocial environment and employee health (Aust et al., 2023). Organisational-level interventions target changes in school policies, leadership styles, or working conditions.

While school-level intervention is important, teachers’ work in schools is heavily shaped by systems and policies beyond the school. The scope for change in government schools is severely limited by mandated policies, processes, and procedures at both state and federal levels. For interventions to improve the work environment in schools, there needs to be change in school systems. This is particularly important given that policymakers and systems administrators have dominated decisions about teachers’ work over recent decades (Stacey et al., 2023). Potential interventions that promote change at the school and policy level include the Total Worker Health approach (Sanetti et al., 2022). This involves policymakers, systems administrators, and teachers working together to understand and promote healthier working environments.

The second objective, promote the positive, focusses on harnessing the existing strengths, talents, and positive attributes within schools to enhance wellbeing. This approach focusses on promoting the positive aspects of work and teacher capabilities such as resilience and adaptability. Unlike strategies solely aimed at managing mental illness, it aims to empower teachers to better handle challenges. The third objective, manage illness, addresses mental health issues through qualified support like EAPs and psychoeducation programs (LaMontagne et al., 2014). Teachers with mental health problems receive confidential counselling, and literacy programs encourage early intervention and help-seeking.

According to LaMontagne et al. (2014) combining all three approaches could substantially improve the mental health outcomes over and above what might be achieved by each thread on its own. However, LaMontagne et al. (2014) also emphasise that there are considerable risks associated with this approach due to the tendency for employers to avoid the difficult and time-consuming work of reducing stress and preventing harm in favour of individual-directed interventions. This is evidenced by the prevalence of workplace mental health literacy and resilience-oriented positive psychology programs (LaMontagne et al., 2014). For the integrated approach to be successful, it is critical that employers avoid taking the easy option and focus on the more challenging and time-consuming work of changing the psychosocial work environment through the development of healthier school systems. This means that employers must listen to teachers and school leaders about how they can design systems and policies that support the development of healthy, sustainable workplaces for teaching professionals.

Limitations

The correlational approach shows the relationship between teachers’ intention to leave and various work-related factors, but cannot be used to confirm causality. Longitudinal analysis is needed for deeper insight. Additionally, the study is cross-sectional, limiting its scope in capturing the fluid and complex nature of teachers’ work environments and their impact on mental health and career intentions. Furthermore, this study concentrated solely on government school teachers due to the larger population size and accessibility of this sector. Including other school sectors would have required a more extensive and resource-intensive data collection effort, given their varied administrative structures.

Conclusion

This analysis demonstrated that the concept of the psychosocial work environment can be useful in distilling some of the key features of teachers’ work environments, their experiences of work and their mental health, and analysing their relationship with teachers’ intention to leave. Our analysis demonstrates strong positive relationships between higher workplace demands, lower workplace resources, adverse experiences of work, and poor mental health and intentions to leave. These findings provide insight into some of the key aspects of work and health that policymakers and researchers should focus on to promote the health and sustainability of the Australian government school workforce. The onus lies with policymakers and systems administrators to work with teachers and their representatives to develop a coherent, robust framework to understand the challenges that teachers face and take a proactive role in reimagining and restructuring the conditions in which our teachers work. This study, rooted in the Australian context, contributes to the global discourse on teacher retention, underscoring the universal relevance of psychosocial factors in the teaching profession. The methodical and conceptual approaches of this study, together, establish a foundation for the statistical modelling of the critical elements that affect teachers’ intentions to remain in or leave their profession, providing insights for crafting targeted retention strategies.