Teacher shortage: an analysis of the rural teachers living subsidy policy on teacher attraction and retention in rural Western China

ABSTRACT

The teacher shortage is a critical issue in many rural areas around the world. This paper presents the findings of two studies that investigated the impact of financial incentives on teacher attraction and retention in rural schools in Western China. Using the theory of compensating wage differentials and a mixed-method approach, we found that providing living subsidies to student-teachers has an impact on teacher attraction but not retention, while tuition fee and loan reimbursements have a positive impact on both attraction and retention. For teachers already teaching in rural schools, the amount of the living subsidy, satisfaction with the policy, and identification of the policy are the key factors that affect the success of the policy. We argue that for the subsidy amount to be effective, it should be based on feedback from rural teachers and be at least 15% of their monthly salary.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher shortage
• rural teacher
• teacher attraction
• teacher retention

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the China National Social Science Fund Youth Project on Education, “The construction and application of China’s teacher status index” [grant number CFA210244].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The discussion of teacher supply is based on Rosen (1986) and McEwan (1999).

2. In economics, utility represents the satisfaction or pleasure that consumers receive for consuming a good or service. Utility function measures consumers’ preferences for a set of goods and services. Utility maximisation is a strategic scheme whereby individuals and companies seek to achieve the highest level of satisfaction from their economic decisions.

3. The China Labour Statistics Yearbook states that the average annual salary of primary school teachers in China in 2016 was 69,031 RMB. The proportion is approximately 284 × 12/69,031 = 4.9%.

4. The hukou variable is used to measure whether the student-teacher was born in a rural region.

5. Our study focuses on the impact of subsidy policies, so the estimations of the control variable are not reported in the tables.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China [CFA210244].

Notes on contributors

Jinqiu Jiang

Jinqiu Jiang is an Associate Professor at the College of Urban Economics and Public Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China. Her research area has consistently focus on the teacher labour market and has ranged across topics such as teacher attraction and retention, teacher status, and teacher wellbeing, especially in the context of rural schools.

Sun Yee Yip

Sun Yee Yip is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. Her research focuses on increasing teacher diversity and raising the status of the teaching profession. She has a keen interest in issues related to diversity, inclusion, and social justice and equity in education.