Work ethic of teachers : a comparison of teaching levels, genders, and Generation X and Baby Boomers

The present study was conducted to investigate the work ethic of educators, at different teaching levels, the work ethic of men and women, the work ethic of educators in Generation X and Baby Boom generations. Due to the current need for teachers, understanding the work attitude or work ethic of teachers is important for reasons of recruitment, training, and retainment. This researcher designed this study to determine if any differences in work ethic existed among educators in different teaching levels, different genders, and different generations. The subjects for this study were teachers from the Bradley County School System who were present on a in-service day on January 18, 2002. The Occupational Work Ethic Inventory, designed by Dr. Greg Petty, was used to determine the work ethic of each of the subjects. The OWEI is broken down into four factors. These four factors are: cooperative, dependable, ambitious, and considerate. Testing statistics were run after all data were collected. Running a Tulcey-Post Hoc test the data were analyzed and the means were compared. The results indicated some significant differences existed. The researcher found a significant difference between elementary teachers and middle school and high school teachers in the areas of dependable and cooperative. Also a slight significant difference resulted between men and women teachers in the areas of dependable and cooperative. No significant difference in the work ethic between Generation X and Baby Boom generations of teachers. Conclusions were discussed based on the findings.