Beyond the 9 to 5: A study of family work life balance of female agricultural educators in Georgia

Abstract

This study had a purpose to examine the family work life balance of female school based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers in Georgia. The research objectives included describing the personal characteristics of female SBAE teachers in Georgia, describing the perceived support from local administration for female SBAE teachers in Georgia, describing the correlation between mental health and the experience of female SBAE teachers in Georgia, describing the level of job satisfaction of female SBAE teachers in Georgia, and identifying the support systems that have aided female SBAE teachers in Georgia to find longevity in the classroom. Participants within this study were current female school based agricultural educators in Georgia for the 2020-2021 school year. This was a quantitative research study that was conducted through an Internet based research survey administered using Qualtrics. The conclusions of this study were that SBAE teachers in Georgia are not that diverse, SBAE teachers seem to find work life balance, and SBAE teachers with more experience felt less administrative support. Furthermore, job satisfaction is not a major concern for SBAE teachers and mental health increased with experience. Recommendations for practice included for collegiate teacher training programs to help to close the knowledge gap of preservice teachers so they are aware of challenges and future workloads before entering the field. Practitioners also need to teach stress coping mechanisms to SBAE educators throughout their careers. Future research and program development should focus on the barriers that exist in today’s society, qualitative research into family work life balance, and potential culture changes that could help teachers find resiliency and longevity through increased job satisfaction. Finally, it was recommended that a study of toxic positivity might exist in SBAE culture.