School neighbourhood socio-economic status and teachers’ work commitment in Finland: longitudinal survey with register linkage

Abstract

The extent to which school neighbourhood affects teachers’ work commitment is poorly known. In the current study, we investigated whether school neighbourhood socio-economic characteristics predicted teachers’ organizational and professional commitment. Primary school teachers (n = 1042) responded to surveys in 2000–2001 (baseline) and 2004 (follow-up). Their responses were linked to records of the school neighbourhood income and unemployment levels obtained from nationwide registers. Teachers working in areas with a high income level and low unemployment rate had longer job tenure and higher probability of organizational (school) commitment at follow-up compared to teachers working in areas with a low income level or high unemployment rate. Less consistent associations were found for professional commitment. These findings suggest that school neighbourhood characteristics may affect teachers’ work commitment, especially their organizational commitment. Further research is needed to determine whether this increases inequalities in children’s learning opportunities.