Teacher job satisfaction: International evidence on the role of school working conditions and teacher characteristics

Teacher job satisfaction is considered a crucial factor in retaining successful teachers in the workforce and for the general well-being of teachers. Understanding the relationship between school working conditions with job satisfaction is considered to be essential for enhancing teacher motivation, retention, and ultimately, student outcomes. Following the influential study by Toropova et al. (2021), the current study employs regression analysis of TIMSS 2019 data from 46 countries and benchmarking entities to investigate the relationship between school working conditions – school leadership, student discipline, and teacher workload – and teacher job satisfaction among secondary school teachers. The findings shed light on the specific aspects of school working conditions that are significantly associated with teacher job satisfaction. The findings highlight a notable association between leadership support and student discipline with teacher job satisfaction in various countries. Furthermore, our findings indicate that, on average, female teachers report higher job satisfaction than male teachers across most countries, although country-specific workforce compositions may play a role in shaping this relationship, and professional development was found to be positively correlated with teacher job satisfaction. The effects of years of teaching experience, majoring in mathematics, and majoring in mathematics education yielded inconsistent results. The results contribute to the existing research on teacher job satisfaction and provide practical implications for policymakers, school administrators, and educational stakeholders to create supportive and conducive working environments for teachers and contribute to the professional well-being of teachers worldwide. • Improving working conditions in schools is a promising approach to address the global teacher shortage, both in terms of keeping teachers in the profession as well as in providing attractive positions for the new generation of teachers. • We find that better teacher working conditions, as measured by effective school leadership, better student behavior, and lower perceived workload, are found to be linked with greater teacher job satisfaction. • Investing in leadership training and mentorship programs and implementing strategies to promote positive student behavior and support classroom management can be productive initiatives to improve teacher job satisfaction.