Are teachers increasingly leaving the profession?

Abstract

Changes in teachers’ work, often labelled intensification, have raised concerns that teachers are leaving the profession at an increasing rate. The present paper uses high-quality data from Norwegian administrative registers to examine the trends in attrition across three decades. These data allow for a comprehensive examination of changes in attrition, taking teachers’ education, school level, and demographic characteristics into account. Results show that early career attrition has declined over time, whereas the incidence of early retirement increased.