Abstract
Teacher attrition is a significant issue that has been the subject of much recent critical research and public debate. To address this crisis, the Australian Government has implemented a range of policy reforms and initiated a series of reports, including the Quality Initial Teacher Education (QITE, 2021) and the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan (NTWAP, 2022). Whilst these reforms and incentives aim to improve teacher education, supply, and retention, there is a gap in the research literature and the policies themselves, on the gendered nature of teaching and how this influences teacher attrition. Our research highlights the unique struggles female teachers face in the workforce, particularly in remote, regional, and rural (RRR) schools. As a historically female-dominated profession, women, particularly teacher-mothers face a distinctive set of barriers to career progression in schools. We apply a critical feminist lens to qualitative data generated from interviews with 21 teachers from six different schools in RRR locations in Western Australia. Data reveals a toxic intersection between teacher attrition, a lack of childcare, housing, career prospects and a culture of frontier masculinity. Our research has significant implications for education policy in the context of teacher attrition as it sheds light on why dedicated female teachers reluctantly leave the profession because of a lack of opportunity for themselves and their families.