Occupational recognition and teachers’ retention intentions: A latent profile analysis informed by recognition theory

Vollständiger Abstract

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Abstract Teacher retention is often explained through workload, job satisfaction and burnout, but these accounts have examined less systematically whether teachers experience their profession as socially and institutionally recognised. Drawing on recognition theory, this study examines how occupational recognition is configured across material and employment conditions, proximal relationships and societal‐policy status, and how these configurations are associated with retention‐related intentions. Using IBM SPSS Statistics and Mplus, we analysed weighted responses from 2686 lower secondary teachers in Shanghai, China, from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024. Latent profile analysis used three theory‐derived composites. Manual Bolck‐Croon‐Hagenaars analyses compared profiles on wished years to continue teaching and five possible reasons for leaving, adjusting primarily for age group and using total teaching experience as a sensitivity covariate. A three‐profile solution comprising low (12.4%), moderate (70.2%) and high (17.4%) recognition profiles was the most stable and interpretable. Age‐adjusted means for wished years to continue teaching were 13.96, 16.20 and 17.42; all pairwise contrasts met the Bonferroni‐adjusted threshold. Differences in the likelihood of leaving for non‐teaching education positions and jobs outside education also remained, whereas the retirement difference attenuated after age adjustment. Experience‐adjusted and class‐specific‐slope models supported the main wished‐years and active job‐change conclusions, although personal or family reasons were sensitive to the life‐cycle covariate. Recognition‐related retention patterns therefore remain visible in Shanghai, where average perceived teacher status exceeds the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) average, while life‐cycle composition and subnational context remain essential to interpretation.