Short research paper: An updated look at depressive symptoms and job satisfaction in first‐year women teachers

This report updates a longitudinal study (Schonfeld, 1992) of the effects of working conditions on newly appointed women teachers. The update included a later graduating cohort and additional outcome measures. Moreover, women who were not fully exposed to work stressors (e.g. part‐time work, change of schools) were now excluded from the analyses. Among the 184 teachers, work environment measures were more highly correlated with future depressive symptoms, self‐esteem, job satisfaction, and motivation to teach than with pre‐employment counterparts of the outcomes. Regression analyses underlined the effects of the work environment on each outcome. Serious problems with depressive symptoms and job satisfaction among teachers exposed to the most adverse work environments were found.