Further Education Teachers’ Wellbeing: A Discussion of Equal Opportunities and Career Progression

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between wellbeing, career aspirations and equal opportunities prospects among FE teachers and support staff expectations. An online questionnaire asked further education (FE) teachers to comment on items of: - Emotional Labour, Teachers’ Emotional Labour, Teachers’ Emotional Labour Strategy and Burnout. Further Education teachers also noted the number of stressors they generally encountered. Although female teachers experienced more stressors, their wellbeing was relatively higher than male teachers. Furthermore, wellbeing was higher for the majority ethnic group (White British) FE teachers. The importance of this research is that an association is made between the wellbeing of FE teachers and that it influences the choices they make for continual professional development (CPD). This has consequences for staff retention in FE colleges. Thematic analysis of focus group interviews suggests that equal opportunities for FE teachers require further investigation as well as career progression across ethnicities among U.K. FE colleges.