05/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/01/2024 07:38
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - A new report from RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, has found that pre-K-12 teachers worked more than desired during the COVID-19 pandemic at higher rates than non-teachers. The report also reveals sharp disparities in the experiences of female, Black and Hispanic teachers during COVID-19.
"While we already knew teachers really struggled during COVID-19, our paper shows that the burden was not equally shared among teachers," said Erin Dunlop Velez, Ph.D., a director of education research at RTI who led the analysis.
The findings revealed that teachers reported working more than desired due to the pandemic at higher rates than non-teachers (31% vs. 26%). Teachers also pursued additional training due to the pandemic at higher rates than non-teachers (19% vs 13%). These longer hours and additional training may have been to learn how to provide remote instruction and navigate increased student and administrative demands, Velez and her co-authors note.
Additionally, the data showed that teachers were more likely than non-teachers to postpone having children (10% vs. 7%) and to delay enrolling in additional education (19% vs 12%) due to the pandemic.
The research team also uncovered various gender and racial disparities within the profession:
Velez and her colleagues write that these findings "might be related to the disproportionate numbers of Black and Hispanic teachers serving school districts with fewer resources…as well as racial inequities in the teacher labor market disparities that were likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic."
To produce the report, the research team used data from the U.S. Department of Education's 2016/20 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of bachelor's degree completers during their final year of undergraduate enrollment (as part of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study) and one and four years after graduation.
Learn more about RTI's education and workforce development research