US teachers experience job stress at twice the rate of general workforce: survey

Story at a glance

• The State of the American Teacher and the American Principal survey, conducted in January, asked questions around five aspects of well-being.

• “Two-thirds of the teachers we interviewed reported taking on extra responsibilities during the pandemic like covering classes or taking additional students in their own classrooms as the result of staff shortages,” the lead author added.

• The survey found that many teachers dealing with mental health challenges lacked access to resources to address them.

Educators in the U.S. are experiencing job related stress at twice the rate of the general working population, according to a new survey from the RAND Corporation.

The State of the American Teacher and the American Principal survey, conducted in January, asked questions around five aspects of well-being, including frequent job-related stress, ability to cope with job-related stress, burnout, and symptoms of depression.

“Two-thirds of the teachers we interviewed reported taking on extra responsibilities during the pandemic like covering classes or taking additional students in their own classrooms as the result of staff shortages,” Elizabeth D. Steiner, lead author of the report and a policy researcher at RAND, said in a news release.

“Teachers told us that their dedication to working with students kept them in their jobs, even though pandemic conditions have made teaching more challenging,” Steiner continued. “Teaching conditions – not the work of teaching itself – are what they find to be stressful.”

The survey found that many teachers dealing with mental health challenges lacked access to resources to address them. Around 20 percent of principals and 35 percent of teachers surveyed said they did not have access to employer-provided mental health resources or were not aware if they had such access.

Teachers of color were more likely than their white peers to report symptoms of depression, and women were more likely than men to report frequent job-related stress.  

“For many principals and teachers, available mental health supports were not helpful or convenient or were too limited to address their needs,” said Sy Doan, coauthor and an associate policy researcher at RAND. “District leaders should avoid the appearance of treating wellness as a superficial or short-term problem and offer mental health and well-being supports tailored to educators’ needs.”

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Still, the survey found that teachers’ well-being is directly tied to administrative support on the job, while a majority of the groups surveyed who work in supportive environments said they plan to stay in their positions.

The survey’s release follows recent polling that shows widespread burnout among educators in the workforce, especially in grades K-12.

A Gallup poll published on Monday K-12 workers exhibited the highest rate of burnout in the American workforce. Forty-four percent of K-12 workers surveyed said they “always” or “very often” feel burned out.

The Gallup poll measured the responses of 12,319 respondents surveyed between Feb. 3-14.

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