Improving the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority teachers: What is the evidence on the best approach?

This paper reports on the findings of a comprehensive structured review of the factors that can help explain and perhaps improve the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority teachers in schools. This issue has been a policy concern in several countries. The review followed a conventional protocol, beginning with a search of key educational, psychological, and sociological databases, followed by intensive screening and weighting the strength of evidence of each included report. Fifty-one studies relevant to the research question were finally included in the review. There is strong evidence that the ethnic match between school leaders and teachers is strongly linked to the hiring and retention of minority ethnic teachers. Although there is some evidence that the student ethnicity of the school may be an important factor in the retention of ethnic minority teachers, this chiefly applies to Black teachers in the studies found from the US. The entry qualifications and assessment criteria for certification to teach were deemed potential barriers to ethnic minority prospective teachers entering teaching. There is no good evidence that alternative certification of teachers increased the probability of ethnic minority teachers being hired or retained, but there are certain supportive features of alternative pathways that could improve their chances.