Be true to your school? Teachers’ turnover intentions: the role of socioeconomic composition, teachability perceptions, emotional exhaustion and teacher efficacy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Teacher turnover negatively impacts educational quality. This study investigates whether schools’ socioeconomic composition (SES), teachers’ teachability perceptions, emotional exhaustion and teacher efficacy impact teachers’ intention to quit and transfer schools. Through multilevel analysis on data of 1247 teachers in 59 Flemish schools, our results indicate that teachers are more emotionally exhausted in low-SES schools, resulting in stronger intentions to transfer schools. This association is explained through the lower teachability levels that teachers ascribe to students in low-SES schools. Intentions to quit teaching do not vary across schools. Efficacious teachers show less intent to quit teaching partly due to less emotional exhaustion.