Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators that influenced the decision of public school speech pathologists to stay in their jobs in the face of increased workload and reduced resources. Methodology: The sample population in this study was the 278 public school speech pathologists from unified school districts in Orange County, California. Subjects responded to an online 18-item survey (Likert-scale statements). Speech pathologists rated the influence specified intrinsic and extrinsic motivators had on their decision to stay at their jobs. Participants were also asked to respond to an open-ended qualitative statement: "Please identify any other factors contributing to your decision to stay at your current job." Findings: Examination of quantitative and qualitative data from the participants revealed that 4 of the 5 motivators with the highest mean were intrinsic. Speech pathologists were generally more influenced by intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, motivators to stay at their jobs. Salary and benefits were the only motivator with a significant difference between speech pathologists with 0–3 years and those with 9 or more years of experience. Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, intrinsic motivators are a slightly stronger influence on the retention decision of public school speech pathologists than extrinsic motivators. Even during this economic downturn, when employees are concerned about salary cuts, it is the intrinsic motivators, or how they feel about themselves in relationship to their job, that have the most influence to stay in their current jobs. Recommendations: Further research is advised: This study could be conducted using narrower bands of years of experience. By specifying 4 or less years of experience, 5–9 years of experience, 10–14 years of experience, 15–19 years of experience, 20–24 years of experience, and 25 or more years of experience, one could determine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators influential at various stages of a speech pathologist's career. A similar study could be conducted investigating public school special education directors' perceptions of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators influencing the retention decision of their speech pathologists.