Retaining teachers and trainers in vocational education and training (VET): motivating career-changers to remain as VET educators

ABSTRACT

Recruiting and retaining vocational education and training (VET) educators is an increasing challenge in countries across the world. So understanding their transition and retention is vital to the development of a sustainable workforce. This paper draws on interviews with senior administrators of Australian training providers and survey data from practising VET teachers and trainers to identify factors that most influenced these educators to remain in what was, for most of them, a second or later career. The research found that the major influences on retention of new educators in VET were partly extrinsic, including employment conditions, lifestyle balance and support for professional development, and partly intrinsic, including a supportive culture and job satisfaction through enjoyment of teaching and giving back to industry. The findings provide training providers with a clear indication of what encourages educators to make a long-term commitment to VET teaching and what motivates them to perform at their best once they have made the transition.

KEYWORDS:

• Vocational education and training
• further education and training
• VET teacher retention
• second career transition
• VET educators
• training providers

Introduction

Recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of vocational education and training (VET) teachers to meet the current demand is a challenge world-wide. Specifically, the OECD (2021, 4) identified significant shortages in countries such as England, Denmark, Portugal and Türkiye, and acknowledged that ‘VET teacher supply is estimated 80% of the demand in Germany, 70% in Korea and 44% in Sweden’. In Australia, Smith (2023) has argued that VET teacher shortages are not sufficiently quantified in the literature and that perceptions of such may relate to a general workforce shortage post-COVID. Yet, even without quantification, developing the Australian VET teaching workforce is an ongoing issue – the Australian National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) recently commissioned research into the issue. NCVER argued:

VET faces a workforce problem because of the aging of VET teachers, the high level of casualisation, industry currency, potential impacts of COVID-19, and the need to increase the capacity of trainers, as the VET sector responds to critical national workforce development needs.

(NCVER 2020, 2)

It is evident that the sector worldwide struggles with the demand for specialised skills and experience in vocational fields. Associated with this challenge is finding educators with both teaching and/or training qualifications and practical industry expertise. The position is further compounded when competition for employing skilled professionals between training providers and industry is also considered.

This paper is underpinned by the premise that encouraging industry experts to move into VET is one strategy for enhancing the size and capacity of the VET teaching workforce. But once VET educators are employed, the challenge is to motivate them to remain in teaching.

As suggested above, one of the distinguishing features claimed for teachers and trainers in vocational education and training (VET) is that they bring to their role both vocational and pedagogical expertise, i.e. they are ‘dual professionals’ (Dymock and Tyler 2018; Plowright and Barr 2012). Typically, VET teaching is a second or later career – educators mostly move into it after a period of working in a trade or profession (Hof and Strupler Leiser 2014; IfL Institute for Learning 2014), and often there is a minimum mandatory period of workplace experience in a relevant vocational area before they can take up employment in VET as an educator. In order to maintain this dual professionalism after employment, VET educators have to show they have industry currency, this is in addition to VET teachers and trainers having to keep up to date with pedagogical developments. In Australia, providing or supporting this professional development is a requirement for training providers and is part of their government registration process (Australian Government 2019).

Within these sorts of parameters, becoming and remaining a dual professional in VET requires a sustained commitment, particularly from those who may have spent a considerable time building careers in other fields. In countries with a high regulatory component, as in Australia, meeting administrative compliance requirements adds another challenging and sometimes stressful dimension to VET teaching (Misko 2015). So, it is important that those who make the transition into VET are supported to stay there.

Hence, what follows is guided by the research question: What are the factors that are most likely to influence VET educators to stay in their role?

This paper reports on part of an Australian study that drew on the experiences of a sample of VET training providers and of VET educators in order to identify the most significant factors that assisted the transition from industry and influenced educators to remain in their new profession. Although educator retention in VET is the focus of the paper, there is a similar issue in retaining teachers in primary and secondary schools, as both VET and school teachers share some common challenges. The literature review therefore includes research associated with school teacher retention before moving on to the conditions that impact upon VET educator retention.

Literature review

In the OECD (2011, 9) position on what makes teaching an appealing career, salary and employment conditions served as part of the answer. As part of a wider response, the OECD argued that improving ‘teachers’ self-image of their work and their importance as role models for students’ were just as important. So too was ‘the relevance of working with young people’ (9), the exercising of autonomy, and the nature of collegial working relationships. The development of teacher knowledge and skills was considered an anchor to teachers’ lifelong learning (11). The rewarding of exemplary performance, for example, by ‘sabbatical periods, opportunities for school-based research and support for post graduate study’ (15) was considered as general motivators for teachers to stay. The provision of induction programmes with mentored support and reduced workloads were identified as retention strategies for new teachers. These, of course, were also considerations for policy.

Despite positive changes, arguably associated with OECD policy, teacher shortages continue to be a serious concern worldwide (Dee and Goldhaber 2017; Garcia and Weiss 2019; UNESCO 2015). There are studies that focused on the unique approaches individual schools have taken to help recruit and retain teachers – some with success (Arinaitwe and Corbett, 2022; O’Doherty and Harford, 2018). Others, for example, Olitsky, Perfetti and Coughlin (2020) offered ideas to incentivise teachers to remain in the classroom. These arguably align with OECD policy.

In regard to the retention crisis associated with school teachers in Australia, the Australian Education Union (2023) announced that fixed workloads and fixed salaries keep teachers teaching. Whilst a compelling headline, a granulated perspective is warranted.

One Australian perspective is exemplified by an industry report published by the University of Melbourne (Dadvand et al. 2021). The ‘Career-Changers’ report was a response to high teacher turnover and teacher shortage nationally. The report states that,

shortage problems are likely to persist if education systems fail to address systemic issues relating to relatively low pay, insecure employment, heavy workloads, inadequate ongoing support and ever-increasing administrative requirements and bureaucratic duties in teaching (Dadvand et al. 2021, 5).

While there is some overlap, to apply this scenario to VET educators does not sufficiently take into account their dual professional role, as well as the diversity of pathways into VET teaching. The importance of a nuanced perspective for VET educators is supported by Blayney and Deagon (2022, 17) who attested to the need for tradespersons to ‘crack the code’ of learning and attain ‘street cred’ as experienced professionals in teaching. Unlike most school teachers, VET educators come into the role later in life, taking it up as a second or later career.

Industry professionals transitioning to VET

Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia operates through a network of public, private and enterprise-based registered training organisations (RTOs) which provide nationally accredited and monitored training. However, the public providers, Technical and Further Education (TAFE) ‘institutes’, are funded by the governments of the States and Territories in which they are located. VET educators in Australia come from diverse backgrounds, each bringing a unique blend of expertise and experience to their roles (Knight, White, and Granfield 2020; Tyler and Dymock 2019). While there isn’t a single ‘typical’ VET teacher, several characteristics are often observed among those in this profession, for example, they have hands-on experience in a particular industry before transitioning to teaching; typically, they hold professional qualifications and or related industry vocational certification; and they tend to have established relationships with industry stakeholders.

However, distinct from most other countries, where VET teachers normally require a professional teaching qualification in addition to their industry expertise and experience, Australia sets a vocational certificate as a minimum requirement. Some professionals hold the qualification before they transition, others complete it in the initial stages of their teaching. This qualification has been problematic from the time of its introduction in the mid 1990s (Smith 2022; Tyler and Dymock 2021).

As dual professionals, the challenge for VET newcomers is to maintain the balance of remaining up-to-date in their trade or professional field while also continuing to develop their teaching expertise (Avis and Orr 2014; Robson, Bailey, and Larkin 2004). The extent to which teachers commit to balancing their capacities and capabilities in their trade/industry and their teaching practice is likely to affect their attitude to professional development and to staying in VET (Avis and Orr 2014). For example, Berger and D’Ascoli (2012) suggested that maintaining strong industry links after moving into VET (including the meeting of currency requirements) allowed individuals to make the transition to combine diversification of their career, without moving out of their area of expertise. On the other hand, the lack of a continuing strong connection may influence a VET educator to return to their industry (Avis and Orr 2014).

Another motivation for VET educators is an opportunity to pass on their expertise to another generation (Berger and D’Ascoli 2012; IfL Institute for Learning 2014) in a manner that Orr (2019) called, ‘affection for their trade’. Köpsén (2014) found that VET teachers in Sweden also saw their responsibility as not only developing students’ trade and professional skills, but preparing them for a future workplace. This meant the teachers had to stay in touch with industry developments, moving back and forth between the classroom and the workplace, an interchange that has been called ‘boundary crossing’: ‘figuratively bringing the practice of work into the practice of education’ (Berner 2010, 28).

Mičiulienė and Kovalčikienė (2023) reported the importance of such intrinsic motivations in sustaining VET teachers’ second career choice. Legault (2016, 3) pointed out that, ‘[i]ntrinsic motivation is a natural human tendency – in other words, people will actively strive towards doing the things they find interesting or enjoyable’ and that this creates the personal benefit of positive psychological well-being (Deci and Ryan 2008).

In addition to this concept of ‘giving back’ to industry, UK research found that tradespeople and professionals were attracted into VET by the profile and diversity of the learners, the opportunity for career progression, flexibility in teaching hours, and the ethos of the sector (IfL Institute for Learning 2014). However, when the reality did not meet the expectation, teachers left the training sector. For example, one study found that lack of support for newly arrived teachers in UK colleges resulted in low staff morale, burnout and a lack of commitment to students (Bathmaker and Avis 2005). In another study, an FE college principal in the UK said: ‘Perhaps some still perceive teaching to be a simple and less stressful job than the one they have just left, and are unpleasantly surprised by the reality of low pay and long hours’ (quoted in Ryan 2018, 5324).

Sometimes the ‘low pay’ (relatively) was not the major deciding factor: even when financial incentives were offered to encourage movement from industry to VET, it was a supportive workplace culture that kept them there (CooperGibson Research 2018; See et al. 2020). New teachers needed to be drawn into colleges’ socio-cultural practices in order to feel valued and respected (Bathmaker and Avis 2005). In a related area, Cairns (2023, 273) concluded from her research into the motivations of artists teaching in UK adult and community learning that it was primarily not about how much they earned but more that ‘the artist-teacher is altruistic and is extrinsically motivated to affect others positively’.

Other considerations for the retention of VET staff are opportunities for professional development (as required as part of Registered Training Organisation (RTO) registration in Australia) and of career progression. Rasmussen (2016, ii) noted the lack of a national strategy in Australia for VET teacher capability-building or for continuing professional development, and the absence of a national approach or documented framework that articulates and measures engagement in a teacher’s ongoing professional learning against their vocational competency, currency, pedagogical skills and knowledge’. The importance of individually tailored continuing professional development is underlined by Goldhawk and Waller’s (2023, 489) comment that a potential cause of disaffection among UK Further Education educators was the introduction in recent years of ‘one-size-fits-all’ professional development which teachers perceived to be ‘disconnected’ from their every-day practices.

Career progression has also been cited as a factor in VET teacher retention (Guthrie and Loveder 2009; Harris, Simons, and Clayton 2005). In Australia, one of the confounding factors for developing clear career paths is that not only do VET educators come into the field via numerous pathways, but they are employed casually, part-time and full-time by a range of private and government training providers (Knight, White, and Granfield 2020; Tyler and Dymock 2017). These registered training organisations (RTOs) come in all sizes and therefore with a variety of financial and other resources and capacity to support staff long-term.

This review of literature shows that the transition and retention of teachers and trainers is a continuing issue in contemporary VET. It is affected in the minds of industry professionals by such direct factors as salary comparisons with industry and the educational qualification required, and also by their perceptions of the relative status of VET as a profession, and of the culture of the employing body. That work culture is itself influenced by training providers’ attitudes towards the provision of opportunities for professional development and career progression and in supporting teachers and trainers to maintain their links with the industry they are transiting from.

As part of a wider study, in order to provide support for more effective transition and retention of VET teachers and trainers, the authors interviewed professionals at a senior RTO organisational level about their issues and strategies in that regard, and surveyed current VET teachers and trainers about their experience in making the transition and staying in the sector.

Method and procedures

The research was conducted in three phases, all of it underpinned by strict ethical practice and methodological rigour. An exploratory mixed method approach was adopted, commencing with the qualitative, followed by quantitative procedures for the gathering and analysis of data. The exploratory design was used to capture a richer and fuller understanding of the investigated issue (i.e. retention of VET educators) from both employers’ and employees’ perspectives. Interpretation of the sequentially collected data facilitated a two-fold objective. It firstly provided the capacity to view the alignment between the institutional policies and practices against the varying needs of VET training providers and educators. Then, from a consideration of the views of VET educators, it allowed the identification of factors that may influence effective retention strategies.

Data collection

Data collection was based on a cascading approach. Phase 1 comprised discussions with the then six Skills Service Organisations (which covered all vocational areas and developed and maintained training package content nationally) to help scope the project by identifying possible areas of particular educator shortage and specific Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) in those areas. The data collection proper began in Phase 2, when interviews were conducted with CEOs and managers of RTOs identified in Phase 1 (n = 27). There were six questions and prompts in the interview protocol to guide the informants during these interviews. The purpose was to gain insights into i) their organisations’ background, ii) their ‘model’ of employment, iii) industry sectors identified to be harder or easier to recruit into, iv) factors influencing recruitment of prospective educators, v) recruiting, and vi) retaining strategies.

In Phase 3 of the cascading approach, those RTO interviewees then facilitated access to VET educators via an online voluntary and anonymous survey that collected both quantitative and qualitative data (n = 333). The survey items were derived from the RTO interview data and a review of relevant literature, and comprised 16 closed questions and four open-ended ones.

Participants

The RTOs identified for Phase 2 interviews serviced a wide variety of industry sectors, and were comprised of private (n = 14), government (n = 10) and enterprise (n = 3) organisations, representing all states and the ACT. In this paper, quotes from RTOs are identified by a pseudonym – either P, G or E (Private, Government, Enterprise) and an allocated number. Enterprise RTOs are those that operate as part of an existing industry or organisation whose principal business is not training and development. In the survey, the majority of the 333 VET Educators (86.2%) were aged 40 years or older, with the years of experience in industry reflecting this older cohort: almost 80% of respondents had 11 years or more experience in industry. Most respondents (92%) were employed in a teaching or trainer/assessor role, with the balance identifying themselves as having a tutoring role or that they were solely assessors. All quotes in relation to the survey data are from Australian employed VET educators, and are not represented by individual identifiers.

Data analysis

The transcripts from the interviews with RTO representatives and the open-ended questions associated with the survey of educators were analysed thematically. Six-phase thematic analysis, using a hybrid approach of inductive and deductive analysis (Braun and Clark 2006; Clarke, Braun, and Hayfield 2015), was conducted to identify i) barriers and enablers for training organisations to retain industry experts in the VET teaching profession; ii) effective strategies in supporting these industry experts, and iii) those intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence VET educators to stay in the job. This is, a combination of ‘theory-driven’/’analyst-driven’ (i.e. deductive – producing codes relative to a pre-specified conceptual framework or codebook, such as, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation indicators (Legault 2016) and ‘data-driven’ (i.e. inductive – producing codes solely reflective of the content of the data) approaches were adopted. The responses to quantitative questions in the survey underwent univariate descriptive analysis (Lehman et al. 2013). The response patterns across Likert-scaled items were hierarchically ranked using mean scores (i.e. the averaged responses) and percentages.

Results

Organisation Perspectives (based on interviews with senior personnel of 27 RTOs)

For the training providers that took part in the study reported here, there were some common factors that influenced the transition and retention process, and some that depended on the nature of the organisation.

Competing with industry for salary levels was a constant challenge across the VET sector, but not insurmountable, as this TAFE Head of School noted,

You get paid extremely well for the hours of work that we do. So anyone who’s been a chef as part of their career would know that your hours are from 6 am until midnight and somewhere in between that you get time off. Whereas here it’s very set you know, you might start at 7:30 and you’re finished at 5:00. … plus your ten weeks off a year. You don’t get that in industry, so for the job that we’re doing, we get paid very well (G8).

Very few private RTOs had full-time staff, mainly because the demand for courses fluctuated and they could not necessarily guarantee continuity of work. However, several providers said they employed training staff full-time simply to ensure their availability when training opportunities arose. ‘I can’t afford to put them off because we’ll never get them back,’ one private RTO principal said. (P5). For public training providers, casual employment tended to be in specialised areas, such as cyber security, where the training need was short term and the trainers preferred to retain their industry positions.

With career progression, public providers tended to have a more structured approach, so that those who chose to, could advance their careers. One TAFE representative commented: ‘With higher qualifications, you can get to what we call an advanced skills lecturing position and there’s two levels in that as well.’ (G6) On the other hand, a private provider said: ‘You’re a VET practitioner whether you start today or you’ve been here 15 years. There’s no career progression.’ (P10)

One of the pervasive themes arising from this research is the need to ease the transition for trainers moving from industry. One public RTO leader commented: ‘We’re certainly making people from industry feel really included and really welcome and really supported and I think that’s critical.’ (G1) Another public provider noted how establishing such an environment was important in the training sector, where both renumeration and allocation of teaching hours could become significant factors for staff: ‘It’s not just about how much I get paid and how many hours I’m doing this week. Culture is number one and then everything flows from there.’ (G2). A lead trainer in an Enterprise RTO noted the importance of respect for colleagues and maintaining industry link for those taking on a training role:

It is the culture, it is a great dynamic team that all respect one another for their different capabilities … So that real team culture is really important. So, there’s a really strong supportive base. And also the interest – they’ve all got a strong interest in the type of work. So they are still actively involved in real world problems and projects (E1).

Part of the development of an appropriate culture in training organisations is in helping newcomers and experienced trainers alike feel that they’re valued as employees, as this private RTO owner explained:

Training people so they can leave, treat them so they don’t want to, is really what it’s all about. So it’s being supporting, it’s being collaborative … It’s all about providing people what they need. And also there’s a bit of psychological support involved in that as well (P1).

Providers also stressed the need for similar support in the orientation phase. A senior TAFE manager said: ‘I would say good induction is critical. Induction is key. If you induct them well, they stay. If they’re not inducted well, … they’re not as likely to stay.’ (G3)

This same TAFE facility also provided a ‘supervised’ probationary period:

Six months for educators but we will check in on them on the way through. We do formal check-ins on people and we do a formal probation period and a lot of feedback. … They’re working closely with new educators. Teaming them up with the experienced ones (G3).

A TAFE leader in another state also stressed the importance of induction, along with a ‘buddy system’, they said,

[H]ere’s a full induction programme, there’s orientation, there’s online and one-on-one training. We generally will provide a buddy for that person or a subject matter expert where they’re teaching particular units of competence that we can help them through. So there’s lots of support around them (G4).

One public provider attempted to overcome the limitations of those arriving with limited technological expertise, a vital skill for modern teachers:

We have massive support, so we’ve got in-house trainers that will help people with computer skills. … So the older person that might not use a computer when they first come in, they definitely get a lot of support going through and then also the support network (G3).

One RTO executive member noted the importance of such support in retaining staff: ‘We’ve lost people who have been here for a couple of weeks who think, “Gee, it’s just too hard. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ll go back to doing what I was doing before.”’ (P2)

For those trainers who do stay on, the next question is how to maintain industry currency; for the RTOs, it’s a question of the extent to which they see themselves as having a role in this process.

In the current Australian VET environment, ensuring professional development is undertaken and industry currency maintained is an RTO responsibility for provider registration purposes, not an individual educator one. So, while RTOs are required to certify they are providing or supporting professional development for that purpose, the nature of that support and the extent to which educators remain industry current, in reality, varies across the sector, as these quotes from principals of two private RTOs shows:

We also have a system where they need to be doing work within their trade, within the industry. So they actually go out on the tools and do electrical work or plumbing work or something like that. If that can’t happen, we will help on our side of the business and help place those trainers for a week with a host employer or something along those lines as well. (P3), and

Currency doesn’t have to be hands on tools. Currency can be done by lots of things, forums, newsletters, attending things that I do. I could say I’m current in individual support, never stepped foot inside one but I listen to all the training package webinars. I get newsletters from the industry, Australian Resuscitation Council. I get all that stuff. There’s lots of ways to be current, hands-on (P4).

The state of play with professional development in VET in Australia is also summed up in this comment about maintaining industry currency from a head of school in a major TAFE institution:

I think from my perspective we absolutely do that through the construct of our professional learning community, such as state-wide for each of the known portfolio areas. Whether they’re highly effective or not I’m not one to say. But I’d say at least moderate (G5).

A TAFE head of school in another state emphasised the need to support professional learning for the individual:

I think that’s a bit of a poor area, professional development, I don’t see much of it. There’s little bits and pieces, I think more can be done. … but I think it has to be relevant professional development, to the person not to the establishment (G6).

In addition to the organisational perspectives, the researchers also sought the views of educators, teachers and trainers about processes that facilitated their transition into VET and the factors that encouraged them to remain in their new profession.

Educator perspectives

Table 1. Ranked participant’s responses the question ‘to what extent does each of the following influence you to stay in the job as a VET educator?’.

	% of responses
Influences	NI	SI	MI	VI	EI	VI+EI	Rank
Finding satisfaction in the teaching/training role	0.3	3.8	7.3	37.7	50.9	88.6	1
Giving back to the industry by developing next generation of workers	5.1	4.1	14	34.6	42.2	76.8	2
Supportive peer work culture	9.6	12.4	25.5	35	17.5	52.5	3
Working conditions in VET	10.8	11.1	26.1	36	15.9	51.9	4
Level of remuneration	11.2	18.3	36.9	22.4	11.2	33.6	5
Professional development provided or paid for by the RTO	24.6	13.1	31.6	20.1	10.5	30.6	6
Being ‘off the tools’/away from stress/away from physical challenges of job	27.5	19.2	23.6	19.8	9.9	29.7	7

NI = Not at all influential, SI = Slightly influential, MI = Moderately influential, VI = Very influential, EI = Extremely influential.

Table 1 reports the quantitative results from the VET educators’ (n = 333) responses to the survey question, “To what extent does each of the following influence you to stay in the job as a VET educator (full-time, part-time or casual)?’, using a five-point Likert scale as shown below the table. The responses were ranked based on the aggregated percentage of responses to Very and Extremely influential options. The following discussion complements the table data with examples of participants’ accompanied qualitative comments.

These responses show that VET educators are motivated by the satisfaction they obtain from their teaching. Over 88% of respondents nominated this influencer as Very influential or Extremely influential. The following quotes, two general claims and the other relating to a particular trade, indicate the importance for these teachers of their engagement with students: ‘[I]Enjoy the satisfaction and rewards involved in encouraging and facilitating students to develop their professional skills’, ‘I have always wanted to teach Hairdressing at TAFE and would have completed whichever qualification was required in order to achieve this’, and ‘I was a guest lecturer at a private RTO, enjoyed the student interaction and sharing of knowledge and took the next step into long term career move’.

Some comments added to responses on the satisfaction obtained from teaching included self-identification with being a professional. The interactions these VET educators reported connected with their sense of professional fulfilment. Two examples of this are:

At the time of entering the VET space, it was as an hourly paid instructor. It was an opportunity to extend my skills and further career options. When I moved into TAFE the same applied. It has nearly always been more important to me to be fulfilled and challenged professionally,

and ‘Being a professional Trainer and Assessor in TAFE is the best job I have ever had’.

Giving back to one’s trade to enable the next generation of tradespeople was a motivator for about 80% of respondents; over 42% of respondents rated this motivator as Extremely influential. ‘Ever since working as a technician, I have always wanted to be able to provide others with the vast amounts of knowledge I had gained’, ‘I wanted to be able to empower the future generations into an industry that I am so passionate about’ and ‘I always wanted to train others by also sharing my experiences, it was also my long-term goals which I have been able to achieve’, are examples of added comments related to this motivator.

In Table 1, the responses to ‘getting off the tools … ’, an option for obtaining a career which had less physical demands, was nominated as an influencer to less of a degree when compared to the influencers of satisfaction from teaching, and giving back to their trade.

There have been anecdotal perspectives that most VET educators were motivated to get off the tools in response to workplace exhaustion/stress/injury, but this appears a myth given respondents’ perspectives. A third of participants indicated that this influencer was the least important consideration for becoming a VET educator. 10% of respondents indicated that it was Extremely influential. One of these respondents reported, ‘I could no longer work on the tools due to a couple of spinal injuries. I needed to find a way to utilise my existing trade knowledge and skills in an easier working environment’. On the other hand, it is possible that respondents were reluctant to identify getting off the tools or away from stress as a motivator for taking up teaching because it might be seen as an ‘escape’ from industry.

In regard to the work conditions that these teachers found in VET, these results tell that they are quite influential in teacher considerations with 26.1% indicating moderate importance and 52% rating them as Very or Extremely influential. Some respondents indicated that the conditions of employment as a VET educator were amenable to them being able to juggle the responsibilities of family life. Some educators indicated that their move into VET was influenced by their need to obtain a better work life balance, for example, ‘I was looking for a better work life balance while still being able to practice what I was passionate about’. Other contributions were educators who indicated their need for flexibility in undertaking direct caring responsibilities for their children and that VET employment offered flexibility, for example,

As a freelance photojournalist – it has been great for me to have regular income from my TAFE employment to help buffer to ups and downs of freelancing. Also – when I started working with TAFE, I was a new Mum and the job supported a healthy work-life balance,

And, ‘Was working as a nurse, work able to fit into family life and is flexible’. Whilst others noted that generally work conditions were not necessarily better in VET, but better renumeration helped, for example, ‘Large pay increase, and I struggled with physical labour of working in a clinic. I would not agree that the working conditions are BETTER at VET, but they suit me better’.

These respondents did not indicate directly what they needed as support from their employer organisation to do their job apart from the above general references to conditions. What a small number did respond with were those experiences that detracted, particularly during their initial encounters. These were instances where the new employee was left without clear directions and experienced poor orientation into their new job. One respondent reported the following, ‘Day one I was given a USB with PowerPoint presentations on it and told to go into the classroom and deliver it’.

Evident in Table 1, is that renumeration was reported as being a moderate influencer to 36.9% for respondents, with an almost balanced spread of numbers either side of this response, for example 11.2% indicated Not at all influential and Extremely influential. Comments revealed the theme of receiving degrees of satisfaction from still earning a wage from performing their trade, but in a different context, for example, ‘I was looking for a better work life balance while still being able to practice what I was passionate about’.

As mentioned in the literature review, current continuing professional development practices and the entry qualification, a certificate qualification in training and assessment, are under scrutiny as being suitable for VET educators. Nevertheless, both have been important factors in the minds of VET educators, and can be considered to act as motivators. The results shows that employer supported professional development is a moderate influencer for 31.6% of respondents, yet for 24.6% it was not at all influential.

For some, those who nominated the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment¹ as their professional development, it was a worthwhile challenge and a means through how to learn to do their job better. As one VET educator put it,

I enjoyed my industry, so I wanted to help others love it too. I saw the Cert IV as a big effort but a requirement. It did not put me off. I looked forward to learning how to do my job better and preparing myself for the job.

Of the near 75% that highlighted the varying positive influence of continuing professional development as a motivator. One VET educator put it this way, ‘[It] gave me the ability to not only engage with my industry but research the latest technology, practices and principles and implement them in my teaching and engagement with clients and students’. Another, who saw industry release as professional development said, ‘Cert IV TAE provided me with entry level understanding required by a VET educator. By far the greater benefit has been gaining experience on the job, regular PD’.

Discussion

As newcomers to VET, tradespeople and professionals alike must adjust to an environment where the core business is now teaching and training, so they must adapt to a different culture. Even those who have had some training role in their industry, such as supervising trade apprentices or mentoring junior corporate colleagues, may find it confronting to move into that environment, often full-time and likely with larger numbers to teach. As Bathmaker and Avis (2005) found, the extent to which they are able to adapt is likely to determine whether they stay or not.

Analysis of data collected in this research from training providers and experienced teachers and trainers identified both extrinsic and intrinsic influences that encourage educators to remain in VET for the longer term. In this instance, extrinsic motivation is undertaking action that is conditional upon the attainment of an outcome that is separate from the act itself, and intrinsic motivation refers to engagement in behaviour that is inherently satisfying or enjoyable, and not conditional on an outcome that is separate to the behaviour itself (Legault 2016).

In general, training providers said they could not offer one particular extrinsic motivation – salaries competitive with those paid by industry. Instead, they tended to rely on other incentives to attract and retain staff – for example, a different lifestyle, a supportive culture, and a willingness to accommodate flexible working arrangements. This is in line with what CooperGibson Research (2018) and See et al., (2020) found in the UK. The success of this strategy is underlined by the fact that educators ranked remuneration fifth in the survey as an important factor in remaining in VET.

The change in lifestyle was mainly built around working conditions, including more regular working hours across a five-day week, and sometimes a change of location (for example, from an inland location to a coastal town) that a family could settle into. In the main, TAFE institutions and enterprise training providers in the sample generally employed full-time staff, which meant they were able to offer stability of employment and conditions such as generous annual leave and long-service leave that were conducive to teachers staying with the organisation. These are the sorts of features identified in Britain as attractive to Further Education educators (Institute for Learning 2014). Career progression opportunities, a long-standing issue in private RTOs (Guthrie and Loveder 2009), were also more prevalent among TAFE providers.

Private RTOs, unable in the main to sustain a full-time workforce, were sometimes able to encourage educators to stay by allowing them to work flexible hours that fitted with their other commitments, such as family responsibilities, a finding similar to that of CooperGibson Research (2018) in the UK. Such a strategy also allowed part-timers to retain their main employment, with the added bonus of maintaining their industry currency. Berger and D’Ascoli (2012) suggested such an arrangement allowed individuals, to combine diversification of their career without moving out of their area of expertise, what Köpsén (2014) referred to as ‘boundary crossing’. Full-timers too showed they wanted worthwhile opportunities to build themselves professionally through pertinent continuing development, as Rasmussen (2016) also found. Avis and Orr (2014) noted that educators who were unable to sustain such a connection may be inclined to return to their industry. The importance of providers tailoring professional development to individual needs is underlined by the rejection of a generic approach by FE educators in the UK (Goldhawk and Waller 2023).

On the face of it, providing a supportive culture is also an effective extrinsic retention strategy, but it is the educators’ perception of it, that is, whether they find it inherently satisfying or enjoyable (Legault 2016) that determines how effective it is in retaining staff.

In the study reported here, comparison of responses from both providers and educators suggested the former sometimes have a rosier picture of their organisational culture than their employees do, as Bathmaker and Avis (2005) found in the UK. The considerable impact of the educators’ social environment at work was an important finding, particularly when consideration is made of the degree to which it influences intrinsic motivation (Mičiulienė and Kovalčikienė 2023), and its effect on autonomy and competence (Legault 2016). Supportive social environments that acknowledge autonomy through personal choice and acknowledge expertise (competency) and support efficacy (Girelli et al. 2018) appear very important to this cohort.

Among the extrinsic motivators identified by these VET educators were work conditions (also discussed by Ryan 2018), compatibility with family life, as IfL found (2014), and to a lesser extent physical exertion and risk, which tradespeople had earlier reported to Tyler and Dymock (2019). Intrinsic motivators that these VET educators identified as enabling them to remain in the VET sector included enjoyment of teaching, and exercising opportunities to give back to their trade. It is noteworthy that most of respondents nominated satisfaction with teaching as a prime motivator to keep them in VET (over 50% – Extremely important). This was despite what some saw as onerous non-teaching tasks and unpaid hours. In addition, more than 80% of the educators surveyed said giving back to one’s trade or profession to foster the growth of the next generation of workers was a significant motivator, with some 42% of respondents rating it as Extremely important. This is in line with findings from research by Cairns (2023), Tyler and Dymock (2021) and Köpsén (2014).

On the face of it, some of the issues identified in relation to school-teacher turnover are relevant to retention of VET teachers, for example, systemic problems, low pay, insecure employment, perceptions of overwhelming bureaucracy (Dadvand et al. 2021). However, the nature of VET provision – the concept of the dual professional, VET teaching as a second or later career, lack of a mandatory professional educational qualification (in Australia at least), and the diversity of providers in terms of size, resources and course offerings – makes any direct comparison, and therefore potential mutual solutions, problematic.

Conclusion

It is not unexpected that in response to the research question, the findings indicate that a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors are most likely to influence new VET educators to stay in their role. Using these findings thoughtfully will aid in addressing VET educator shortages.

Intrinsically, the sense of vocation is strong in these participants, with many keen to prepare the next generation of tradespeople and professionals for the industries the educators themselves have worked in. The culture of the workplace is also a solid factor, with educators understandably wanting to feel supported and valued by management and peers, especially when they first make the transition from industry.

Part of that extrinsic support by training providers is explicitly the fostering opportunities for educators to maintain industry currency, a practice that not only meets regulatory requirements, but also retains the educators’ links with their industry, and hence their ‘dual professionalism’. Other extrinsic factors that influence educators to remain in VET include promotional opportunities and attractive leave provisions, although not all providers, especially, private RTOs in Australia, are in a position to offer those in an employment package.

The importance of the educator viewpoints for training providers is that they are examples of what already employed educators find motivating. Intrinsic motivation comes from within an individual and is driven by personal interests, passions, and a sense of accomplishment. These VET educators begin the journey of building a new identity in which their professional and trade expertise acts as a springboard to enabling and enacting identity as a pedagogue. Importantly, when motivated by the rewards of work, employees tend to be more productive, committed and satisfied. This is something that possibly all who consider taking on a second career are seeking – opportunities to be more engaged in their employment, where they are more likely to be enthusiastic about their work, can demonstrate higher levels of effort, and contribute positively to their workplace’s culture.

These features need to be balanced by extrinsic motivators through initiatives by training providers, some of which were already in evidence from the organisations in this sample. The research findings provide training organisations with a clear indication as to what encourages educators to make a long-term commitment to VET teaching, and what motivates them to perform at their best once they have made the transition.

Limitations

Part of this research was undertaken with RTOs nominated by Service Skills Organisations (in Phase 1) as having particular issues with recruiting and retaining educators, so did not represent every industry. However, anecdotally there are indications that RTOs linked to other industries face similar issues, but further research is needed to confirm this. The sample of VET educators in Phase 3, while sufficient for statistical purposes and rich in providing data, were anonymous respondents to an online survey whose participation was facilitated by the RTOs in Phase 2. Therefore it is not known if the invitation to participate, which was distributed to employees by RTOs, impacted on how representative the sample was of such educators across Australia.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The research on which this article is based was funded by the Australian National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

Notes

1. The Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is a nationally recognised qualification in Australia designed for individuals who are involved in VET delivery and assessment. Completion of this qualification (or equivalent) is a requirement for obtaining formal accreditation as a VET trainer and assessor in Australia.