Daily Grind: Assessing Gender and Experience-Based Differences in Agricultural Educators’ Perceived Job Satisfaction

Teacher retention and attrition are among the most significant threats to agricultural education’s impact. Approximately 41% of teachers leave in their first five years of service for reasons such as a lack of confidence in teaching the curriculum, burnout, student behavior, long work hours, and low salaries compared to similarly educated professionals. This study assessed gender and experience-based differences in agricultural educator job satisfaction. This study utilized a five-point Likert scale along with the Abridged Job Descriptive Index (AJDI) to evaluate the job satisfaction of educators in four states– Oklahoma, Montana, Virginia, and Louisiana. The three research objectives were analyzed using central tendencies, an independent samples t-test, and an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Overall, the analysis suggested statistically significant differences in how male and female agricultural educators perceived their job satisfaction, with females ranking their satisfaction significantly lower in Classroom/Lab Instruction, FFA, and SAE than their male colleagues. Specifically, female agricultural educators rated their satisfaction lower in the areas of coworkers and professional promotion. Additionally, the analysis revealed that mid-career educators were significantly less satisfied with their compensation than late-career educators. Based on these findings, we recommend activities that promote interdisciplinary relationship-building between teachers in the school and find events that encourage relationships between female educators in the profession. Furthermore, in a world of limited resources, we recommend professional development to assist mid-career professionals with personal financial management to help build satisfaction around their compensation.