Empowering Early Childhood Workforce: Understanding Well-being and Job Attitudes in Head Start Educators

How to retain ECE professionals has been a critical topic, given the ongoing staff shortage crisis and the increasing need to provide high-quality care and education for young children. Within this context, Head Start educators face unique challenges when working with children and families who are primarily from marginalized communities and require more extensive support. Therefore, it is critical to understand the workplace experiences of these educators and how that might connect with their consideration of leaving in order to develop effective retention strategies and retain a high-quality Head Start workforce. Drawing upon the Ecological Holist Early Childhood Educators’ Well-being Model, the current dissertation examined the distinct dimensions of Head Start educators’ well-being, work environment, and professional attitudes. The first study demonstrates the significant associations between educators’ perceptions of psychological distress, physical safety, and their professional commitment and satisfaction. The second study indicates that educators’ professional well-being plays a critical role in educators’ turnover intentions. While workplace discrimination did not moderate the relationships between these two factors, it was significantly associated with educators’ turnover intentions. The third study identified four distinct profiles of well-being and job attitudes among Head Start educators based on their experiences of professional well-being, psychological well-being, and turnover intentions. It also suggests the interplay between educators’ demographics and health-related lifestyles, such as meals, sleep, as well as financial situations, in relation to their profile membership of well-being states and job attitudes.

The second and third studies in the dissertation are supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award (Grant #: 90YR0154) and the Head Start Dissertation Grant (Grant # 90YR0193), which are 100 percent funded by ACF/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, ACF/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements.