Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics - IEA

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TEACHER PAY AND STUDENT MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT
Norway
Composition of the teacher labor force
Nearly 73% of the teaching force at the primary and the lower-secondary levels of the
education system are female. This proportion changes at the upper-secondary level,
where the percentage of male teachers—at least of full-time teachers—is higher than
that of female.
There is a general shortage of qualified teachers in mathematics, English, and Norwegian
at the compulsory school level. While there is also some shortage in the natural sciences,
the impact of this is felt mainly at the upper-secondary level. Regional shortages of
teachers also exist, especially in the three northern-most counties of the country. The
age structure of the teaching profession is skewed toward people nearing retirement, so
there is concern that the supply of teachers will not be able to keep pace with demand
(Lyng & Blichfeldt, 2003). The problem of aging teachers is more acute in uppersecondary
schools, where approximately 50% of the teaching force is 50 years of age
and over. The corresponding figure at the compulsory school level is 36.5%.
Not all qualified teachers choose to teach, and this is a problem, especially at the uppersecondary
level. Only 67% of those teachers with extensive post-secondary-school study
(at least five to six years at university) enter the teaching profession. Teachers with this
level of qualification are particularly attractive to other professions, which makes their
decision to choose or not choose teaching sensitive to changes in the labor market (Lyng
& Blichfeldt, 2003). Sensitivity to labor market conditions is not seen at the compulsory
schooling level, where there has been a steady increase in the proportion of graduates
from teachers’ colleges (four years of post-secondary education) who actually choose
to teach.
Nearly 90% of eligible teachers opted for early retirement in 2001/2002. This figure
contrasts sharply with retirement figures for other public-sector professionals. A large
percentage of early teacher retirees (36.5%) are those who take up the option in their
employment contracts that allows for early retirement at age 62. Research in this area is
limited, but existing studies suggest that a significant percentage of teachers who leave
the profession do so because of better labor market opportunities (Lyng & Blichfeldt,
2003).
There was a net outflow of teachers 45 years of age and over in 2006, and a considerable
increase in early retirement between 2001 and 2006. The average early retirement age in
schools is 63 years, and those who leave at this time do so with a full pension. However,
teachers are staying longer in their jobs than previously. The mean age of retirement
among all employed in schools increased from 57 years in 2001 to 60 in 2006, and
health-related early retirement dropped between 2001 and 2006.
In 2006, approximately 11,000, or about 20%, of employed teachers were working
in sectors other than schools (or kindergartens). Among new teacher graduates in
1999, 92% had found employment within six months of graduating (Arnesen, 2002).
Of this group, only 7.6% were working outside the school sector. As we noted above,
the extent to which teachers move out of the teaching profession and into other
occupations is affected by labor-market conditions. A recent and unpublished study by
three Norwegian economists shows that a reduction in unemployment in local labor
markets tends to reduce the availability of qualified teachers (Ministry of Education
and Research, 2009).