ABSTRACT This paper examines teachers’ preferences for working conditions that affect job satisfaction. It addresses the credibility crisis facing the teaching profession in many nations due to low wages and poor working conditions. Beyond income, teachers appreciate other elements that can compensate for their relatively low pay, potentially relieving the strain on national budgets compared to wage increases. Using the discrete choice experiment methodology, this study investigated teachers’ preferences for job-related characteristics that policymakers can directly alter and incorporate into the compensation system. Teachers demonstrated a strong preference for access to equipment, private medical treatment, theatre tickets, and free public transit, valuing these attributes higher than their current market price, suggesting promising policy avenues. These findings may provide evidence for drafting effective teachers’ contracts and use the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) as the school-level tool for motivation management.
Read full abstract