Low pay, high workload, and low status undermine teacher recruitment and retention: new U21 report shows
7 August 2025
New joint report led by Universitas 21 identifies critical gap in teacher recruitment strategy evaluation across four countries.
A new international report led by Universitas 21 (U21), a global network of leading research-intensive universities, reveals that low pay, excessive workload, and diminished professional status continue to undermine efforts to recruit and retain teachers in the UK, Sweden, Australia, and the United States. The newly-published report also highlights a critical gap in evaluating the effectiveness of current policies and strategies designed to address these issues.
The report, Teacher recruitment and retention: Challenges and Opportunities, was developed by the U21 Deans of Education Group and funded by the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, to present a cross-country analysis on teacher supply issues and emerging solutions across four national contexts: Australia (New South Wales and Victoria), Sweden, the UK (England and Scotland), and the USA (Connecticut and Maryland).
It draws on an extensive desktop review of government reports, teacher associations, union publications, academic research, and media coverage, providing a valuable global perspective on a worsening education crisis.
Key findings
- Low pay, high workload, and poor status persist as systemic barriers: Teacher shortages are being driven by financial constraints, excessive workloads, and a lack of professional recognition. Teachers in all four countries report high levels of stress and a lack of flexibility alongside well-being concerns.
- Countries are deploying various interventions without strong evidence of impact: Current strategies being deployed to tackle teacher shortages primarily focus on salary increases, incentive payments, bursaries, and workload reduction initiatives. However, these responses vary widely by region and lack consistent evaluation.
- A major gap exists in evaluating what works: Despite widespread investment in teacher recruitment and retention strategies, the report highlights a critical gap in there being no systematic evaluation of their effectiveness. This hinders evidence-based policymaking and risks perpetuating ineffective or inequitable approaches.
The report also underscores the deeply local nature of a global problem. Teacher shortages disproportionately affect marginalised and underserved communities, particularly in rural areas and in STEM subjects and special education.
Lead researcher Marian Mahat, Associate Professor of Learning Environments, University of Melbourne said: “The focus of this report is timely and urgent as a sustainable supply of high-quality teachers is essential for improving student outcomes. Without reliable strategies, the capacity of education systems to meet their goals—especially in vulnerable regions—is significantly compromised.”
Professor Toby Greany, Co- researcher added, University of Nottingham, commented: “It is striking that all the jurisdictions included in this report are wrestling with a similar challenge – how to recruit and retain high quality teachers, in particular for schools in the most disadvantaged communities. For the first time, this report draws together the range of approaches being adopted across different contexts, providing a basis for potentially rich policy learning.”
The report offers vital insights for policymakers, education leaders, and researchers, emphasising the urgency of building an evidence base to inform future efforts.
Teacher recruitment and retention are global concerns, but their effects are experienced most acutely at the local level. Although initiatives are being implemented, the lack of robust evaluation limits our ability to scale what works. Developing effective, context-responsive strategies is vital to addressing the complex and persistent teacher supply challenge.”
-Professor Robin Shields, Chair of the U21 Deans of Education and Head of the School of Education at the University of Queensland.
Find out more:
- Find out more about authors of the report Professor Marian Mahat, University of Melbourne , Toby Greany, University of Nottingham and Dr Christopher Bradbeer, University of Melbourne.
- Find out more about U21’s Deans of Education Group
- For media enquiries, please contact Chloe Brough, Marketing & Communications Manager, U21