Factors influencing teacher job selection of a rural school district for employment.

Abstract

Recruitment of excellent teachers for employment in rural school districts is highly competitive. Human resource decision makers become more competitive by understanding factors that influence job selection. A targeted, strategic approach to employing teachers is informed by understanding and applying these factors. In this study, job choice theory (Behling, Labovitz, and Gainer, 1968) was used as a theoretical framework to examine recruiting in the context of the human resources department at the rural, Rural Independent School District. The empirical data for this study was gathered through an internally developed online survey that measured factors of job choice theory. Survey factors linked to the objective factors, subjective factors, and critical contact theories from the job choice theory were ranked to determine their perceived degree of influence on the employment choice process for teachers. Factors (e.g., climate and culture) associated with the subjective factors theory were noted as having the greatest influence on the job choice process for teachers in the Rural Independent School District. The value of this information to the district’s human resource department is that they can better understand what influences candidates in teaching positions for this rural district and develop corresponding recruiting plans grounded in this information.