Recruitment and Retention in the Post-16 Learning and Skills Sector

7.17 Respondents in further education colleges were more likely to agree thatthey do not feel valued or recognised for the work they do (32%), thanthose in voluntary sector organisations (23%), adult and communitylearning organisations (22%), sixth form colleges (22%), in-housetraining and private training organisations (20%). Teachers/trainers inscience (35%), engineering (28%), technology (28%), maths (27%) andICT (27%) were less likely to feel valued than those in other subjects.Personal Motivation7.18 Respondents were asked what motivates them to continue working inthe learning and skills sector (Table 7.4). The most common responsecited was helping people develop (51%), job satisfaction/personalachievement (43%) and working with people/learners (38%).Table 7.4: What motivates you personally to continue working in this sector?%Being part of a learning community 3Collegiality/teamwork 6Sense of vocation 7Working with people/learners 38Helping people to develop 51Giving something back to community/society 7My personal development/challenging myself 10Flexibility/variety of job role 4Job satisfaction/personal achievement 43Love of my subject 7Opportunities for promotion 1Opportunities for professional development 2Well paid 7Long holidays 2Good job security 2Hours fit with family/other commitments 2Lack of other options 1Nothing – I want to leave the sector 2Other 2Don’t know *Base: All 5492 respondentsSource: YCL/MORI quantitative survey of teaching/training staff, 20057.19 Qualitative evidence, relating to satisfaction supports these findings,indicating that the key benefits of working in the post-16 learning andskills sector are:• personal rewards gained from teaching;• rewards from working with adult learners;• the sense of positively contributing to the local community;• flexibility and autonomy;• supportive working environment.68