Teachers sprint into new careers, amid a 66% rise in school-job departures
Stop by Sam D’Souza’s desk, and traces of his earlier career as a fourth-grade teacher are everywhere. He drinks coffee from an oversized mug labeled “Teacher Fuel.” The showcase piece of art on his back wall is a giant, student-crafted collage made of pencils.?
But D’Souza has stepped away from the classroom for keeps, handing in his teacher badge last May. As much as he loved the “lightbulb moments
Now D’Souza works for ServiceTitan, a software company serving heating, plumbing and other trades. He’s a business-development specialist, operating out of his Chicago home, where he covers a sales territory
In his best months, D’Souza beats his sales quota
Across the United States, thousands of other long-time teachers are walking away from the field they loved for a long time, in favor of fresh starts in areas ranging from healthcare to software engineering.?
As seen in the chart above, these career pivots
Then something snapped. In November 2021, the K-12 teachers’ separation rates surged to 66% above the levels 12 months earlier, according to a comprehensive analysis of member profile updates by LinkedIn’s Economic Graph team. That’s part of a broad acceleration since July 2021.
“People are just tired,” Rodney Lewis, an assistant superintendent of schools in St. Charles, Mo., told EducationWeek recently. Many teachers’ early willingness to try online teaching tools has withered in the face of low student engagement. And when on-site teaching does resume, it brings its own stresses, ranging from disputes about mask-wearing policies — to growing concern about students who’ve fallen behind their current grade-level norms..?
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Rebecca Bosley, a former science and engineering teacher in Utah, still cherishes happy memories of dedicated parents and the thrill of teaching students how to solder. But she’s now pursuing a career as a project manager,? figuring that this new field will better match what friends call her “knack for getting things done.”
Overall, K-12 teachers are finding that their core skills
LinkedIn data highlights 10 of the most common such career pivots, starting with transitioning to be instructional coaches, software engineers, administrative assistants, self-employed business owners or mental health specialists known as interventionists. Also on the top-10 list, as summarized in this Wall Street Journal article, are: real estate agent, program coordinator, program manager, behavioral health technician and salesperson.?
“I’m looking to go into something involving math,” says former high-school math teacher Joseph Winiarski. He’s already lined up some math-textbook editing work with a major publisher, and he’s thinking about opportunities as a financial analyst or actuary, too.
For many former teachers, memories of their old careers are a bit like the nostalgia associated with college dorm life or a year abroad. They amount to special chapters in one's job history, but aren’t the completion of? life quests.
As Sam D'Souza, the teacher-turned-software-specialist, puts it, "I'm earning enough now to support a family. And that's essential."?
Methodology
?LinkedIn examined millions of member profile updates from January 2020 through November 2021 to track the proportion of K-12 teachers starting new non-teaching jobs. LinkedIn researchers then calculated the year-over-year change in this rate.
LinkedIn data scientist Carl Shan contributed to this article.
Curriculum Developer & Facilitator┃Creativity Consultant┃EdTech Enthusiast┃ A Passion For Building Environments that Allow Diverse Learners to Grow ??
3 年I appreciate this as I am in this struggle right now. But rather than roll over, I am trying to be the change by completetimg my E.d.D. Degree!!! ????????
English Teacher (Freelance) | Conversation Classes, Language Lessons
3 年I'm from Argentina and makes me happy to read all these comments and this article. I'm struggling at this moment, trying to look out for new opportunities to keep on working outside the classrooms. Here, we are currently being oppressed my society, government, parents and so on. These are sad says for us as not only our own society mistreat us but also we have been under payed for so many years. Our dedication and hard work haven't been enough and many of us are looking for different path to continue with our dedication. However, I can see that I'm not the only one and that gives me strength to carry on.
SAG-Aftra member, Bilingual Voice Over Talent, Actress, Singer-songwriter member BMI Music, EdTech
3 年I totally agree, I couldn't take the lack of support any longer.
Accomplished Educator & Financial Analyst | Accounts Payable/Receivable | Risk Assessments | Coaching & Mentoring | Data Analysis | Financial Reporting | Driving Accuracy, Efficiency, and Financial Insight
3 年Teaching is my second career, entered into at the age of 45. I often think about the salary I would have been making had I stayed on the corporate track. Bottom line, is I love working with kids and watching them grow. These past few years however, have taken a toll on my mental well being. Lack of leadership, lack of parent involvement in their child's education, low pay, an obvious student learned behavior of helplessness, and 60+ hours of work make me ask, am I still an effective teacher if I am burnt out. Leadership that continue to put more things on our plates, continue to question why data looks the way it does, state assessments, and looking at learning in with a "status quo" mindset are causing many teachers to vacate. Now, at the age of 61, I am ready to move on, back to my first career, but with a new set of challenges, primarily, age discrimination.
The quest for success through education.
3 年Its a good thing that the education culture refuses to change. They are very successful you know. First they ruin student success in school and now they have ruined teacher success too. Oh well, at least the funded comes back year after year.