"Don't Put Me Here To Meet A Quota": A Qualitative Descriptive Study Of Black Male Teacher Retention

The national teacher shortage has reached a fever pitch and can be accurately described as a crisis. Teacher vacancies in South Carolina (SC) have reached an all-time high since the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and advancement began tracking the teacher shortage in 2001. Further, the phenomenon surrounding the exodus of Black teachers is understudied. Currently, no agency or organization tracks demographic turnover among the teacher workforce in South Carolina. I utilized a qualitative descriptive design informed by an improvement science framework to identify motivating factors for teacher mobility among current and past Black male educators in SC public schools. A lack of autonomy and post-pandemic burnout, along with views participants perceived school administrators and colleagues held about Black male educators as disciplinarians impacted their teaching experience. This study also found that Black males struggled to build meaningful relationship with their colleagues in their work settings. Participants were motivated to stay in their position because of a love of teaching. Finally, participants valued school leaders who supported their career advancement. Recommendations to increase retention include tiered interventions for school leaders, and district and state officials. Among others, interventions include creating spaces for networking, faculty professional development and training, mentors and partnerships, and comprehensive induction programs. Educational leadership can create and implement interventions based on this study’s recommendations to support the retention of Black male educators.