Rural Leadership Preparation Associated with Higher Job Satisfaction

Authors

  • Aaron Drummond Flinders University
  • R. John Halsey Flinders University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v24i3.691

Keywords:

leadership preparation, job satisfaction, training

Abstract

The retention rates of principals in rural areas are lower than in urban contexts, and the preparation of such leaders is often lacking (Clarke, Stevans, & Wildy, 2006; Gates, Ringel, Santibañez, Guarino, Ghosh-Dastidar & Brown, 2006). Rural school leaders who do not receive early preparation may be less able to perform in their jobs and hence experience poorer job satisfaction. Herein we investigate whether rural school leaders who received preparation prior to their appointment experience higher levels of job satisfaction in their roles than those who received no such preparation. Across 658 rural school leaders, we find a small increase in job satisfaction for rural principals who received formal preparation prior to the commencement of their leadership position than those who did not, even after controlling for demographic and school factors. The increased satisfaction for prepared principals remained statistically significant even after we statistically controlled for the number of years they had been an educational leader. Formal preparation of rural principals may result in long lasting small increases in job satisfaction, and may play a role in larger strategies to increase rural school leaders’ job satisfaction.

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Published

01-11-2014

How to Cite

Drummond, A., & Halsey, R. J. (2014). Rural Leadership Preparation Associated with Higher Job Satisfaction. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 24(3), 43–48. https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v24i3.691

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