Date of Conferral

3-30-2026

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

John Harrison

Abstract

The problem that was addressed through this study was the high percentage of novice teachers leaving the profession during the first 5 years of teaching in a Southwestern state. Grounded in Mitchell et al.'s job embeddedness theory, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore K-12 teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing their decision to remain in the education profession, as well as K-12 administrators’ perspectives on influencing novice teachers’ decisions to persist in the education profession in a Southwestern state. For this basic qualitative design, data were collected from 10 teachers and three administrators and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase inductive thematic analysis. With six themes emerging: relationship embeddedness as the primary foundation - reflecting strong interpersonal connections with colleagues, administrators, and students; teaching as identity and calling - viewing teaching as a core part of personal identity rather than simply employment; values and moral alignment - the alignment between personal beliefs about service and the moral purpose of education; daily student impact - the meaningful influence teachers experience through everyday interactions with students; moral and relationship loss - the emotional and relational sacrifices associated with leaving the profession; and lack of career mobility - perceptions that teaching skills and identity do not easily transfer to other careers. The implications for positive social change are that district leaders could focus on teachers as whole persons, personally, professionally, and morally. Improving teacher retention could benefit the entire school community, particularly students who thrive with consistent and stable relationships that experienced teachers provide.

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