Education jobs are the most fulfilling in the UK according to a survey of education professionals carried out by specialist recruiter, Randstad Education.
When asked which industry they thought they would have the highest job satisfaction, 41% of teachers said education.
The results stood in stark contrast to those of the general population who were surveyed as part of the Randstad Fulfilment@Work Report. By far the largest portion of the general population (23%) said a career in health or social care would be the most professionally fulfilling. Just 11% of the British public said education would be the most fulfilling career – less than health, social care, the arts, entertainment and publishing.
What do you think is the most fulfilling sector to work in?
- Health & Care (including: Doctors, Nurses + Social Workers): [a] 23%, [b] 11%
- Arts, Entertainment & Publishing: [a] 12%, [b] 5%
- Education: [a] 11%, [b] 41%
- Public Sector (excluding: Health, Care, and Education): [a] 10%, [b] 14%
- Professional services (eg: Law, Accountancy): [a] 7%, [b] 4%
- Engineering & Manufacturing: [a] 6%, [b] 4%
- Telecoms, Media & Technology: [a] 5%, [b] 4%
- Hospitality, Leisure and Hotels: [a] 5%, [b] 3%
- Financial Services (including bankers): [a] 4%, [b] 3%
- Support Services & Administration: [a] 4%, [b] 7%
- Fashion, Retail & Wholesale: [a] 4%, [b] 1%
- Construction, Building & Property: [a] 3%, [b] 1%
- Transport: [a] 2%, [b] 1%
- Utilities, Water, Mining, Oil & Gas: [a] 2%, [b] 0%
- Food & FMCG: [a] 2%, [b] 0%
- Tobacco: [a] 0%, [b] 0%
[a] British employees, [b] Education professionals
Jenny Rollinson, managing director of Randstad Education, said: “Other than doctors, nurses, and bankers, almost everyone in the UK regards their own profession as the most fulfilling career available. But educators are particularly prone to view their own sector as a haven for job satisfaction and professional fulfilment with 41% saying teaching is the most fulfilling profession you can have. Only engineers champion their sector more.
Length of tenure in education jobs
While British employees said they could work in the same profession for 13.9 years before their professional fulfilment began to dip, education professionals said they felt could last 15.1 years – much longer than average.
However, teachers said they could only face working in the same school for 12.2 years – slightly below the national average of 12.5 years. And education professionals said they would find it hard to work in exactly the same job for more than 10.2 years, significantly lower than the UK average (12.2 years).
"The number one factor that would make teachers more fulfilled was 'higher pay'"
Jenny Rollinson added: “Teachers say they could work in the same field for over 15 years before becoming less fulfilled. That’s a credit to the profession. But they don’t think they could work in the same role for as long as most workers. When it comes to education, variety is clearly the spice of life.”
The results also found that although teachers see the career they have chosen as fulfilling – they are more critical about their current job satisfaction. When asked, “How satisfied are you, in general, working for your current employer?” just 66% of teachers said they were satisfied with their school.
I am satisfied, in general, working for my current employer:
- Property: 88%
- Healthcare (e.g. doctor): 79%
- Allied health professionals: 70%
- Construction: 68%
- Social care: 67%
- Education: 66%
- Engineering: 65%
- Finance: 65%
- Technology and IT: 64%
- Legal: 58%
Jenny Rollinson said: “No one would deny that education is a hugely rewarding profession. But if you are working in the wrong school trying to be a square peg in a round hole, it’s going to be hard to maintain your morale. The mismatch between how long teachers want to stay in the profession and how long they are happy working in the same school illustrates this.
”Fortunately, for anyone needing a change, there are currently plenty of opportunities at a secondary level teaching maths, science, technology, English, geography and history. SEN teachers are also in demand as are primary school teachers and teaching assistants.”
Making education more fulfilling
When asked “What would make you more fulfilled at work and encourage you to stay longer in a particular role or place of work?” teachers were much more likely to say, “I would feel more satisfied in a job that substantially improves either the psychological or physical well-being of others” (23%) and “If the job had lived up to my original expectations” (19%) than people working in other professions (both 13%).
The number one factor that would make teachers more fulfilled was “higher pay” (46%) – although this was cited less frequently by teachers than by the average British employee (54%). Teachers were much less likely to say they would be more fulfilled given greater “job security” (16%), and “more challenging work” (11%) than other professions (22% and 18% respectively).
For more information, download our fulfilment report
