In Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), recruiting and retaining qualified personnel is challenging. This literature review examines ECEC employment difficulties, notably recruiting and selection. ECEC skills are in high demand, although the field often struggles with a lack of attractiveness as a career choice. The global gap in qualifications, recognition, and salary affects skilled professional recruitment and retention. Early childhood teachers’ well-being and education quality are affected by low remuneration. Research also indicates that working in underdeveloped or economically disadvantaged locations also leads to professional isolation and a lack of resources and infrastructure.
Recruiting new professionals is difficult since many perceive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) not to be a popular career choice. ECEC services are in high demand in Indonesia, especially in remote regions where managers typically dismiss qualifications and focus on motivation and willingness to teach at low salaries (Risna & Nur, 2021). Data show that many ECEC teachers lack diplomas or bachelor’s degrees, resulting to a professional deficit (Risna & Nur, 2021). OECD countries also struggle to recruit ECEC professionals due to their poor status and compensation (Fenech et al., 2022; Clarke & Antonela, 2019). ECEC staff qualifications and recognition are improving, although pre-primary and care-oriented sectors still differ in pay, working conditions, and professional identity (Clarke & Antonela, 2019). Unmet expectations, inadequate support, and limited career opportunities increase teacher attrition and disappointment in the ECEC system (Ciuciu & Robertson, 2019; Clarke & Antonela, 2019). Financial restrictions hinder recruitment and retention, especially in care-oriented industries, despite scholarship programs and marketing campaigns to attract talent and improve public opinion (Clarke & Antonela, 2019). Aligning pre-primary teacher wages with primary education standards is progress, but ECEC wage inequalities remain. Demographic changes and rising ECEC demand worsen staffing shortages, requiring extensive recruitment, retention, and professional development initiatives. Indonesian recruitment issues include accepting anyone to teach ECE, regardless of qualifications (Risna & Nur, 2021). The cultural emphasis on teaching as a form of devotion to God and a recognized profession overlooks background issues, making hiring and keeping teachers in rural areas with poor facilities difficult (Risna & Nur, 2021). Low salaries and poor circumstances reduce the number of ECEC professionals available for recruitment and retention (Fenech et al., 2022; Clarke & Antonela, 2019). Scholarship programs are used to recruit people since financial incentives affect job choices (Fenech et al., 2022). Despite efforts to improve ECEC personnel qualifications and recognition in OECD nations, problems persist (Clarke & Antonela, 2019). The sector’s poor status and career appeal are generally related to low-skilled jobs, making it hard to attract skilled workers. Increasing staff qualifications is one strategy to elevate ECEC workers, coinciding with some countries’ requirements for pre-primary teachers to have primary teaching degrees (Clarke & Antonela, 2019). Many ECEC workers are financially insecure, making resource constraints a major obstacle to salary improvements (Clarke & Antonela, 2019).
Due to low pay, early childhood teachers have difficulties attracting and retaining skilled professionals. Working conditions, including wages and fringe benefits, affect job happiness and performance, and research shows that attractive working conditions attract highly competent workers (Gibson et al., 2020). Insufficient compensation reduces employee motivation, quality, turnover, and service quality. A recent Australian study found that in the early years, educators are among the lowest-paid workers in the country, with large salary gaps between primary school and center-based child care teachers (Gibson et al., 2020). In early childhood education and care, low status, recognition, and compensation are global difficulties, according to the OECD (Clarke & Antonela, 2019). Low pay affects early childhood education quality and stability beyond finances. Competitive pay helps attract and retain top talent, reduces financial stress, and lets educators focus on their core mission of educating young minds, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (McLean et al., 2019). Being undercompensated causes significant turnover, care continuity issues, and poor children’s holistic development (McLean et al., 2019). Research shows that poor remuneration for early educators makes them economically vulnerable and hinders high-quality teacher-child interactions that help children learn (McLean et al., 2019). Race/ethnicity and gender intersect to exacerbate pay disparity difficulties for early childhood educators (Liu et al., 2023). In Hawaii, low wages, unsupportive working conditions, and limited professional development opportunities lead to high turnover and low retention of early educators (Karoly et al., 2022). Hawaii providers, like those worldwide, are drawn to the field to serve children and families. Low pay still hinders recruitment and retention, mirroring a global trend (Karoly et al., 2022).
Recruiting and maintaining early childhood educators in underdeveloped or economically disadvantaged areas is difficult for several reasons. Teaching in rural or impoverished places is socially and professionally isolated, with less opportunities for engagement and career growth than in urban settings (See et al., 2020). The absence of infrastructure and resources makes recruitment and retention harder since educators feel a lack of professional development and advancement, which deters them from working in these settings (See et al., 2020). Rural areas have acute teacher shortages, making it hard to recruit and retain skilled teachers (Tran et al., 2020). Rural teaching has advantages including smaller class sizes and stronger community ties, hence new arguments recommend perceiving rurality as an asset rather than a deficit (Tran et al., 2020). Rural communities generally lack sufficient services and resources for early childhood care and education (ECCE) initiatives (Mwaipopo et al., 2021). High staff turnover in rural ECCE centers in Botswana perpetuates staff shortages and limited access to quality education by encouraging teachers to move to urban areas for higher-paying jobs (Mwaipopo et al., 2021). In some nations, private providers focus on urban regions, leaving rural communities unserved (Mwaipopo et al., 2021). Due to rural teaching’s perceived drawbacks, South Carolina’s Lowcountry has serious teacher shortages (Tran et al., 2020). Some nations are testing financial incentives and alternative certification programs to attract and retain teachers in hard-to-staff schools and disciplines (See et al., 2020). These initiatives have not improved the overall well-being of early childhood educators, who are dissatisfied and leave due to compensation and recognition concerns (Cumming & Wong, 2019). Thus, addressing the complex interplay of factors affecting recruitment and retention in underdeveloped or disadvantaged communities requires multifaceted strategies that recognize the unique needs and challenges of educators in these settings, leverage the potential benefits of rural teaching, and provide adequate support and resources to ensure the quality of ECCE programs worldwide.
References
Ciuciu, J., & Robertson, N. (2019). ” That’s what you want to do as a teacher, make a difference, let the child be, have high expectations”: Stories of becoming, being and unbecoming an early childhood teacher. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 44(11), 79-95. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1243248.pdf
Clarke, C., & Antonela, M. (2019). Good practice for good jobs in early childhood education and care. OECD: Paris, France. https://search.oecd.org/els/family/Good-Practice-Good-Jobs-ECEC-Booklet_EN.pdf
Cumming, T., & Wong, S. (2019). Towards a holistic conceptualisation of early childhood educators’ work-related well-being. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 20(3), 265-281. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1463949118772573
Fenech, M., Wong, S., Boyd, W., Gibson, M., Watt, H., & Richardson, P. (2022). Attracting, retaining and sustaining early childhood teachers: An ecological conceptualisation of workforce issues and future research directions. The Australian educational researcher, 49(1), 1-19. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Helen-Watt/publication/348409916_Attracting_retaining_and_sustaining_early_childhood_teachers_an_ecological_conceptualisation_of_workforce_issues_and_future_research_directions/links/60c4291fa6fdcc2e61364b0c/Attracting-retaining-and-sustaining-early-childhood-teachers-an-ecological-conceptualisation-of-workforce-issues-and-future-research-directions.pdf
Gibson, M., McFadden, A., Williams, K. E., Zollo, L., Winter, A., & Lunn, J. (2020). Imbalances between workforce policy and employment for early childhood graduate teachers: Complexities and considerations. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 45(1), 82-94. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1836939119885308
KAROLY, L. A., CANNON, J. S., GOMEZ, C. J., & WOO, A. (2022). Early Childhood Educators in Hawai‘i. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA1900/RRA1908-1/RAND_RRA1908-1.pdf
Liu, L., Joseph, G. E., Taylor, J. M., Hassairi, N., & Soderberg, J. S. (2023). Early Childhood Educators Pay Equity: A Dream Deferred. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1-14. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-023-01600-w
McLean, C., Whitebook, M., & Roh, E. (2019). From Unlivable Wages to Just Pay for Early Educators. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED597181.pdf
Mwaipopo, C., Maundeni, T., Seetso, G., & Jacques, G. (2021). Challenges in the Provision of Early Childhood Care and Education Services in Rural Areas of Botswana. African Educational Research Journal, 9(3), 753-761. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1324076.pdf
Risna, I., & Nur, M. (2021, March). Teacher Recruitment Negotiations: A Form of Early Childhood Education Strategy in Indonesia. In 5th International Conference on Early Childhood Education (ICECE 2020) (pp. 81-85). Atlantis Press. https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125954474.pdf
See, B. H., Morris, R., Gorard, S., & El Soufi, N. (2020). What works in attracting and retaining teachers in challenging schools and areas?. Oxford Review of Education, 46(6), 678-697. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03054985.2020.1775566
Tran, H., Hardie, S., Gause, S., Moyi, P., & Ylimaki, R. (2020). Leveraging the Perspectives of Rural Educators to Develop Realistic Job Previews for Rural Teacher Recruitment and Retention. Rural Educator, 41(2), 31-46. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1277657.pdf
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