Research Brief
Discrete choice experiments
Feb 9, 2021
Maintaining an adequate supply of teachers is a challenge in the education sector and an area of significant concern. RAND Europe was commissioned by the UK Office of Manpower Economics (OME) to measure the impact of pay, rewards and other working conditions on the retention of teachers using a quantitative survey containing two discrete choice experiments. The study was based on 2,210 teachers' survey responses.
Using a discrete choice experiment to measure teacher retention in England
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Maintaining an adequate supply of teachers is a challenge in the education sector and an area of significant concern. Previous evidence shows that pay is deemed to be one of the most important factors influencing a teacher's decision to stay in a role, together with the workload and flexibility of working hours. However, up until now, no study has measured the relative importance of the different factors that could influence teacher retention or quantified the impact that changes to these factors could have. RAND Europe was commissioned by the UK Office of Manpower Economics (OME) to measure the impact of pay, rewards and other working conditions on the retention of teachers using a quantitative survey, containing two embedded discrete choice experiments (DCEs). The information provided from the DCEs was supplemented with other background information collected in the survey. Over 2,200 teachers in England participated in the survey. Our study shows which job characteristics matter most to teachers in England, the trade-offs they would be willing to make between pay and other characteristics of the work environment and provides knowledge into subgroups of teachers who may be more or less responsive to different changes. Using the DCE model outputs, an accompanying forecasting model provides unique insights into the relative effectiveness of different policy interventions which could be used to strengthen or highlight relevant characteristics of the employment environment that are valued by teachers.
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
Evidence review and discrete choice experiment design
Chapter Three
Survey data collection and sample characteristics
Chapter Four
Choice model analysis
Chapter Five
Conclusions
Annex A
Main survey questionnaire
Annex B
Sample characteristics
Annex C
Discrete choice modelling analysis
Annex D
Longlist of factors
The research described in this report was prepared for the UK Office of Manpower Economics and conducted by RAND Europe.
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