The Association Between Early Childhood Education Professionals’ Perception of Workplace Spirituality and Their Intention to Stay in Their Current Program

Turnover in the US early childhood education (ECE) workforce is associated with worse outcomes for children. Greater workplace spirituality, or the perception of meaningful work, sense of community, and alignment with organizational values, is associated with reduced turnover. However, this association has not been examined in ECE professionals. We administered an online survey to 265 ECE professionals in Pennsylvania (US) in the spring of 2021. Respondents were asked about their intention to stay in their current program, if given the option to leave. Workplace spirituality was measured with a 21-item scale assessing the dimensions of meaningful work, sense of community, and alignment with organizational values. The survey was completed by 246 (92.8%), and data were analyzed for 232 respondents. Of these, 94.8% were female, 54.4% were non-Hispanic White, and 70.7% had a bachelor’s or graduate degree. The prevalence of intention to stay was 33.2%. After adjusting for all covariates, including gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, job position, workplace stress, and economic hardships, the prevalence (95% confidence interval [CI]) of intention to stay increased across tertiles of workplace spirituality from low to medium to high: 16.4% (7.9%, 24.9%) to 38.6% (28.4%, 48.8%) to 43.7% (32.1%, 55.3%), respectively. ECE professionals who perceived greater workplace spirituality were more likely to report they intended to stay in their current program. Turnover in the ECE workforce could potentially be reduced through efforts to increase a sense of meaning and community at work and to align the values of ECE programs with those who work in them. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10643-023-01506-7.