INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue X October 2025
Page 3372 www.rsisinternational.org
Teacher Job Satisfaction in China, 2021 To 2025: Roles,
Determinants, and Outcomes Across Primary, Secondary, and
Tertiary Education
Ma Yumei., Dr. Cheok Mui Yee
Universiti Tun Abdul Razak
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.910000276
Received: 14 October 2025; Accepted: 21 October 2025; Published: 10 November 2025
ABSTRACT
This systematic review synthesizes 42 China based empirical studies published in English from 2021 to 2025
across preschool, primary, secondary, and higher education. We map how teacher job satisfaction is defined,
measured, and positioned as outcome, mediator, moderator, or predictor. Narrative synthesis shows consistent
drivers in leadership, professional learning communities, school climate, autonomy, and social support,
alongside strain from workload, hindrance stressors, and burnout. Satisfaction links to instructional quality,
engagement, knowledge sharing, life satisfaction, professional development intention, and lower turnover
intention. Tier comparisons highlight role differences for homeroom and subject teachers, and distinct higher
education dynamics involving work family conflict, ostracism, and technology shaped climate. We outline levers
and propose measurement standardization and longitudinal evaluation to guide policy and practice.
Keywords: Teacher job satisfaction, China, K-12 and higher education, Leadership and professional learning
communities, School climate, Turnover intention
INTRODUCTION
Teacher job satisfaction in China affects classroom practice, staff retention, and institutional capacity. Evidence
links higher satisfaction with stronger instructional quality through better teacher–student relationships
(Harrison, King, & Wang, 2023). Satisfaction aligns with engagement under specific stressor profiles in
universities and with kindergarten work engagement via vocational delay of gratification (Xu, Guo, Zheng, &
Zhang, 2023; Zang & Feng, 2023). It supports knowledge sharing when burnout is contained (Wang, Li, Liu, &
Zaggia, 2023). Lower satisfaction connects to burnout and multiple forms of turnover intention among university
and junior high English teachers (Zhang, Li, & Gamble, 2022; Zhang, Shi, & Teng, 2024). Rural surveys report
21 percent teacher dissatisfaction, which signals risk to staffing in compulsory education (Wang et al., 2022).
Across preschool, K-12, and higher education, determinants recur in leadership, PLCs, climate, autonomy, and
social resources, while workload, hindrance stressors, and family pressures often reduce satisfaction (Liu,
Keeley, Sui, & Sang, 2021; Zhang, Huang, & Xu, 2022; Zhang, Yin, & Wang, 2023; Han, Xu, & Xiao, 2022;
Peng, Wu, & Guo, 2022; Hong, Liu, & Zhang, 2021; Su & Jiang, 2023).
The recent literature also shows job satisfaction in multiple empirical roles that vary by tier and context.
Leadership and PLCs raise satisfaction through autonomy, collaboration, vigor, and identity, while climate, trust,
and psychological well-being reinforce these pathways in schools and universities (Liu et al., 2021; Zhang,
Huang, & Xu, 2022; Yiming, Yan, & Jinsheng, 2024; Zhao, Lu, Cheng, & Li, 2022). Autonomy links to mental
health through teaching efficacy and satisfaction; personality shapes autonomy-supportive teaching that
enhances satisfaction among young teachers (Peng et al., 2022; Li, Yao, Liu, & Zhang, 2023). Workload and
role differences matter in middle schools, and challenge versus hindrance stressors differentiate engagement
routes in higher education (Zang, Cao, Zhou, Jiang, & Li, 2022; Xu et al., 2023). This review synthesizes 2021–
2025 evidence to map how satisfaction is measured and positioned, and to integrate determinants, mediators,
moderators, and outcomes across China’s tiers for actionable guidance.
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Problem Statement
Teacher job satisfaction shows persistent vulnerabilities across tiers, with consequences for instruction quality
and retention. Rural surveys report 21 percent dissatisfaction among teachers, which signals widespread risk to
staffing and continuity (Wang et al., 2022). Studies link low satisfaction with exhaustion, burnout, and turnover
intention in middle schools and English faculties, which undermines engagement and classroom quality (Zang
et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2024; Harrison et al., 2023). Policymakers have launched major initiatives, including
the 2021 Double Reduction policy and 2024 nationwide campaigns to cut non-teaching burdens, yet
implementation gaps remain in schools facing compliance and administrative load (MOE China, 2024). Ensuring
salary parity with civil servants is a stated requirement, although local fulfillment varies and pressure persists in
lower resourced regions (MOE China, 2021). The urgency is high for ministries, local bureaus, principals, and
teacher educators who must stabilize workforce morale and protect instructional quality and student outcomes
across China.
Research Objectives
1. To map measurement approaches and empirical roles of teacher job satisfaction across Chinese primary,
secondary, and tertiary education, 2021 to 2025.
2. To synthesize determinants, mediators, moderators, and outcomes of teacher job satisfaction, and
compare patterns across tiers and contexts in China.
Research questions
1. What measurement approaches and empirical roles of teacher job satisfaction are reported across
Chinese primary, secondary, and tertiary education, 2021 to 2025?
2. What determinants, mediators, moderators, and outcomes of teacher job satisfaction show consistent or
divergent patterns across tiers and contexts in China?
Limitations
This review has three manageable boundaries. First, it covers studies published in English between 2021 and
2025, which may omit relevant Chinese language work and pre-2021 foundations. Second, it synthesizes
empirical findings across diverse designs and measures, so effect sizes are not pooled, and conclusions
emphasize patterns and robustness checks rather than precise magnitudes. We did not conduct a meta-analysis,
so quantitative statements reflect vote-counts rather than pooled effect magnitudes Third, the corpus centers on
China and three tiers of education, which supports contextual depth but reduces generalizability beyond China.
Last, rural, western provinces, and certain subjects remain underrepresented, which limits the precision of rural–
urban and subject-specific contrasts. These choices keep scope focused, enable transparent coding of roles,
determinants, mediators, moderators, and outcomes, and provide timely insight that stakeholders can apply
across comparable settings. Methodological heterogeneity across instruments, samples, and analytic choices
constrains cross-study comparability; our narrative tallies reflect this diversity
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept and Measurement of Teacher Job Satisfaction in China (2021–2025)
Across Chinese preschool, K-12, and higher education, teacher job satisfaction is operationalized through survey
scales embedded alongside leadership, autonomy, climate, identity, stress, burnout, engagement, and turnover
constructs. Measures draw on large datasets and researcher-administered instruments: TALIS 2018 samples
inform national patterns (Liu et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2023), the China Education Panel Survey supports
longitudinal analysis (Zang et al., 2022), and university or sectoral surveys are delivered via platforms such as
SoJump or Wenjuanxing (Xu et al., 2023; Chen et al., 2022). Studies also recruit through WeChat in higher
education climate work (Yiming et al., 2024). Sector-specific contexts include kindergarten and preschool (Xia
et al., 2023; Yang et al., 2022; Zang & Feng, 2023), rural and VET settings (Wang et al., 2022; Fang & Qi,
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2023), polytechnic and clinical training environments (Xiaoqing & Ye, 2021; Chen et al., 2022), and university
faculties across disciplines (Meng, 2022; Xu et al., 2023).
Empirically, job satisfaction plays four roles. It is a dependent outcome in leadership, PLC, climate, autonomy,
personality, values, and technology studies (Liu et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2022; Xia et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2021;
Li et al., 2023; Fute et al., 2022; Fang & Qi, 2023; Yiming et al., 2024). It mediates links from job load to
exhaustion, burnout to turnover, climate to identity, autonomy to mental health, and ostracism to knowledge
sharing (Zang et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022; Han et al., 2022; Peng et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2023). It moderates
effects in burnout models and role-based comparisons (Lu et al., 2022; Zang et al., 2022). It acts as a predictor
of engagement, instructional quality, turnover intention, life satisfaction, and PD desire (Xu et al., 2023; Harrison
et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2024; Meng, 2022; Qi & Derakhshan, 2023).
Theoretical Lenses and Mechanisms
Studies ground mechanisms in well-established frameworks that clarify how work conditions shape satisfaction
and downstream outcomes. A JD-R and Social Exchange lens shows burnout and engagement pathways, with
perceived organizational support buffering strain that erodes satisfaction (Chen et al., 2022). A transactional
stress–coping model explains how challenge and hindrance stressors affect engagement, with job satisfaction
suppressing or mediating effects (Xu et al., 2023). SCCT highlights career calling driving satisfaction through
occupational self-efficacy among ideological and political teachers (Shang et al., 2022). Self-Determination
combined with SCCT links basic psychological needs to self-efficacy and then to job and life satisfaction in
universities (Meng, 2022). Conservation of resources theory clarifies how workplace ostracism depletes
resources, raising burnout and reducing satisfaction that then lowers knowledge sharing (Wang et al., 2023).
Conservation logic also frames work–family conflict effects on satisfaction via burnout, moderated by perceived
organizational support (Su & Jiang, 2023). Herzberg’s two-factor tradition informs polytechnic work using
motivation–hygiene constructs (Xiaoqing & Ye, 2021).
Mechanisms appear as mediators and moderators that position job satisfaction within chains. Mediators include
self-efficacy, professional identity, work engagement, perceived organizational support, coping, and vocational
delay of gratification (Han et al., 2022; Lu et al., 2022; Chen et al., 2022; Yang et al., 2022; Zang & Feng, 2023).
Moderators include teacher role, proactive personality, perceived support, and technological influence at the
organizational level (Zang et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022; Su & Jiang, 2023; Yiming et al., 2024). As an outcome
or driver, satisfaction links to instructional quality, engagement, knowledge sharing, mental health, and turnover
intention across tiers (Harrison et al., 2023; Xu et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023; Han, 2022; Zhang et al., 2024).
Determinants by Domain
Leadership and professional communities feature prominently. Distributed leadership is positively related to
teacher autonomy, collaboration, and job satisfaction, with autonomy and professional collaboration mediating
effects (Liu, Keeley, Sui, & Sang, 2021). Transformational leadership strengthens all five PLC components,
which in turn predict job satisfaction, while leadership also shows a direct positive link to satisfaction (Zhang,
Huang, & Xu, 2022). Empowering leadership for kindergarten teachers improves vigor and affective
commitment that then enhance satisfaction (Liu, Yang, & Huang, 2021). School culture directly promotes
preschool teacher satisfaction, with curriculum autonomy mediating the effect (Xia, Wang, & Zhang, 2023).
PLC characteristics in Shanghai, including collective inquiry, shared purpose, supportive leadership, and
organizational structure, show positive associations with satisfaction (Zhang, Yin, & Wang, 2023).
School climate and organizational conditions are consistent drivers. A positive school atmosphere predicts
satisfaction, with professional identity as a mediator and a chain pathway involving psychological capital and
identity, although psychological capital alone does not mediate (Han, Xu, & Xiao, 2022). In VET, school climate
increases self-efficacy and satisfaction, with self-efficacy mediating the climate–satisfaction link (Fang & Qi,
2023). Organizational trust lowers turnover intention among rural kindergarten teachers through teaching
efficacy and job satisfaction as chain mediators (Zhao, Lu, Cheng, & Li, 2022). Perceived organizational culture
correlates strongly with job satisfaction in a Henan polytechnic sample (Xiaoqing & Ye, 2021). In higher
education, organizational climate and psychological well-being raise satisfaction, and technological influence
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strengthens the climate–satisfaction relationship (Yiming, Yan, & Jinsheng, 2024). Clinical training contexts
show satisfaction differences by gender, department, and title, highlighting management levers such as content,
conflict balance, leadership attention, and subsidies (Chen, Jin, Zhou, Chen, & Wang, 2022).
Job design, personal resources, and strain also matter. Teacher autonomy links to mental health through teaching
efficacy and job satisfaction as sequential mediators (Peng, Wu, & Guo, 2022). Work values raise satisfaction
through work engagement during COVID 19 (Fute, Oubibi, Sun, Zhou, & Xiao, 2022). Job load predicts later
exhaustion via reduced satisfaction among subject teachers, with role differences relative to homeroom teachers
(Zang, Cao, Zhou, Jiang, & Li, 2022). Challenge stressors relate positively to engagement, hindrance stressors
relate negatively, and satisfaction both suppresses and partially mediates stressor–engagement effects (Xu, Guo,
Zheng, & Zhang, 2023). Burnout reduces satisfaction among rural generalist teachers, with perceived
organizational support and work engagement as sequential buffers (Chen, Zhou, Zheng, & Wu, 2022).
Personality affects satisfaction via autonomy supportive and controlling teaching styles (Li, Yao, Liu, & Zhang,
2023). Workplace ostracism increases burnout and reduces satisfaction, which lowers knowledge sharing, with
burnout and the burnout–satisfaction sequence mediating (Wang, Li, Liu, & Zaggia, 2023). Learning
organization dimensions also predict commitment through satisfaction (Wang & Rashid, 2022).
Family–work interface and social resources shape satisfaction and related intentions. Work overload and
parenting stress reduce satisfaction via work–family conflict among female preschool teachers teaching online
during COVID 19 (Hong, Liu, & Zhang, 2021). For female university teachers, work–family conflict lowers
satisfaction through burnout, moderated by perceived organizational support (Su & Jiang, 2023). Social support
raises kindergarten teacher satisfaction, with positive coping as a mediator (Yang, Lu, Ban, & Sun, 2022).
Satisfaction predicts desire for professional development alongside organizational commitment (Qi &
Derakhshan, 2023). Satisfaction relates to instructional quality through student–teacher relationships (Harrison,
King, & Wang, 2023), and to turnover intention with differentiated patterns across satisfaction facets and burnout
among English teachers (Zhang, Shi, & Teng, 2024). Doctoral lecturers and international high school teachers
report satisfaction–turnover links and management related antecedents in local contexts (Jing & Photchanachan,
2021; Mo & Morris, 2024). University samples connect basic psychological needs and self-efficacy to job and
life satisfaction (Meng, 2022), and teaching self-efficacy mediates job stress effects on satisfaction across
subgroups (Liu, Yi, & Siwatu, 2023). Art teachers’ satisfaction reflects leadership, culture, collaboration,
efficacy, and exhaustion within an integrated model (Deng, 2025). Rural prevalence data underscore baseline
risk for dissatisfaction that amplifies these determinants (Wang et al., 2022).
Mediators and Moderators Involving Job Satisfaction
Mediation evidence is extensive. Autonomy and professional collaboration transmit distributed leadership to
satisfaction (Liu, Keeley, Sui, & Sang, 2021). PLC components carry transformational leadership to satisfaction
(Zhang, Huang, & Xu, 2022). Vigor and affective commitment convey empowering leadership to kindergarten
teachers’ satisfaction (Liu, Yang, & Huang, 2021). Professional identity mediates school atmosphere to
satisfaction, with a chain via psychological capital and identity, while psychological capital alone is not a
mediator (Han, Xu, & Xiao, 2022). Self-efficacy mediates climate to satisfaction in VET (Fang & Qi, 2023),
and positive coping mediates social support to satisfaction in kindergarten settings (Yang, Lu, Ban, & Sun,
2022). Work engagement mediates work values to satisfaction during COVID 19 (Fute, Oubibi, Sun, Zhou, &
Xiao, 2022), and teaching style mediates personality to satisfaction among young teachers (Li, Yao, Liu, &
Zhang, 2023). Satisfaction mediates burnout to turnover intention in universities (Zhang, Li, & Gamble, 2022),
links autonomy to mental health in a chain with teaching efficacy (Peng, Wu, & Guo, 2022), and sits in serial
paths from burnout through perceived support and engagement (Chen, Zhou, Zheng, & Wu, 2022). Ostracism
reduces knowledge sharing through burnout, and sequentially through burnout and satisfaction, while
satisfaction is not directly related to ostracism (Wang, Li, Liu, & Zaggia, 2023). Satisfaction connects to
instructional quality via teacher–student relationships (Harrison, King, & Wang, 2023), and to life satisfaction
through self-efficacy (Meng, 2022). Challenge and hindrance stressors influence engagement with satisfaction
acting as suppressor or partial mediator (Xu, Guo, Zheng, & Zhang, 2023).
Moderation sharpens boundary conditions. Teacher role differentiates the job load to exhaustion pathway
through satisfaction in middle schools (Zang, Cao, Zhou, Jiang, & Li, 2022). Subject specificity matters. English
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and EFL samples show clear satisfaction–burnout–turnover pathways and PD intentions, while middle-school
analyses differentiate subject teachers from homeroom teachers on job-load routes to exhaustion via satisfaction.
Clinical and art teacher samples reveal management and culture levers that generalize as role-sensitive routes to
satisfaction. Proactive personality strengthens the satisfaction to turnover intention link (Zhang, Li, & Gamble,
2022). Perceived organizational support weakens the work family conflict to burnout path that precedes lower
satisfaction among female university teachers (Su & Jiang, 2023). Technological influence strengthens the
organizational climate to satisfaction relationship in higher education, with psychological wellbeing as mediator
(Yiming, Yan, & Jinsheng, 2024). College teaching self-efficacy mediates job stress to satisfaction, and the
mediation does not differ by experience, ranks, gender, or workload (Liu, Yi, & Siwatu, 2023).
Outcomes Associated with Teacher Job Satisfaction
Evidence links satisfaction to core instructional and professional outcomes. Teachers’ job satisfaction associates
with higher instructional quality, partly through stronger teacher–student relationships, across Eastern and
Western settings (Harrison, King, & Wang, 2023). Teaching engagement relates to stressor profiles, with
satisfaction suppressing the effect of challenge stressors and partially mediating hindrance stressors on
engagement (Xu, Guo, Zheng, & Zhang, 2023). In kindergarten, satisfaction correlates positively with work
engagement, with vocational delay of gratification mediating the link (Zang & Feng, 2023). Knowledge sharing
among university teachers rises with higher satisfaction and lower burnout in a pathway initiated by reduced
workplace ostracism (Wang, Li, Liu, & Zaggia, 2023). Satisfaction participates in health pathways, linking
autonomy and teaching efficacy to improved mental health in primary and secondary samples (Peng, Wu, &
Guo, 2022). In universities, self-efficacy relates to life satisfaction through job satisfaction, indicating broader
well-being effects (Meng, 2022). Satisfaction also predicts desire to attend professional development alongside
organizational commitment (Qi & Derakhshan, 2023).
Turnover intention represents a prominent downstream outcome. Among English teachers, facets of satisfaction
and burnout differentially predict intentions to leave the current school, the junior high sector, or the profession
(Zhang, Shi, & Teng, 2024). University faculty show a pathway where satisfaction partially mediates burnout to
turnover intention, with proactive personality strengthening the satisfaction to turnover link (Zhang, Li, &
Gamble, 2022). Organizational trust reduces rural kindergarten teachers’ turnover intention through a chain of
teaching efficacy and job satisfaction (Zhao, Lu, Cheng, & Li, 2022). Doctoral lecturers display negative
associations between satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intention (Jing & Photchanachan, 2021).
International high school evidence highlights shifts from early satisfaction to later dissatisfaction that raise
retention concerns (Mo & Morris, 2024). System-level surveys report notable dissatisfaction rates in rural
schools, underscoring staffing risks that amplify these outcomes (Wang et al., 2022)
Tier and Context Comparisons
Preschool and kindergarten studies consistently show relational and resource pathways into satisfaction.
Empowering leadership increases vigor and affective commitment, which raise satisfaction among kindergarten
teachers (Liu, Yang, & Huang, 2021). School culture directly improves preschool teachers’ satisfaction, with
curriculum autonomy as mediator (Xia, Wang, & Zhang, 2023). Social support predicts higher satisfaction
through positive coping style in kindergarten settings (Yang, Lu, Ban, & Sun, 2022). Female preschool teachers
who taught online during COVID-19 reported lower satisfaction through work–family conflict driven by
overload and parenting stress (Hong, Liu, & Zhang, 2021). Rural kindergarten turnover intention falls when
organizational trust strengthens teaching efficacy and satisfaction in a chain pathway (Zhao, Lu, Cheng, & Li,
2022). Rural–urban patterns vary. Rural settings show higher dissatisfaction prevalence and stronger climate–
efficacy–satisfaction chains, while urban PLC cases (for example, Shanghai) report denser collaboration and
direct leadership effects on satisfaction. These contrasts suggest different levers for climate and PLC design
across locales. These patterns highlight leadership, autonomy, support, and family pressures as early tier levers.
Primary and lower secondary evidence emphasizes climate, roles, and workload. School atmosphere predicts
satisfaction through professional identity, with a chain involving psychological capital and identity, while
psychological capital alone is not a mediator (Han, Xu, & Xiao, 2022). Teacher autonomy supports mental health
through a chain with teaching efficacy and satisfaction in primary and secondary samples (Peng, Wu, & Guo,
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2022). Rural generalist teachers show burnout that reduces satisfaction, buffered by perceived organizational
support and work engagement as sequential mediators (Chen, Zhou, Zheng, & Wu, 2022). Job load predicts later
exhaustion via reduced satisfaction for subject teachers, with homeroom teachers showing different patterns
(Zang, Cao, Zhou, Jiang, & Li, 2022). Rural surveys report 21 percent dissatisfaction, which signals staffing risk
in compulsory education (Wang et al., 2022).
Cross tier K-12 leadership and community structures align toward positive satisfaction. Distributed leadership
relates positively to autonomy, collaboration, and satisfaction, with autonomy and professional collaboration as
mediators (Liu, Keeley, Sui, & Sang, 2021). Transformational leadership strengthens PLC components that
predict satisfaction and also shows a direct effect (Zhang, Huang, & Xu, 2022). In Shanghai, teacher centric and
organization centric PLC features associate with higher satisfaction (Zhang, Yin, & Wang, 2023). Distributed
leadership also lifts commitment through PLCs and satisfaction in a northern city sample (Xiu, Liu, Yao, & Liu,
2022). Satisfaction links to instructional quality through better teacher–student relationships, which underscores
classroom relevance of attitudinal conditions (Harrison, King, & Wang, 2023). TALIS based multilevel work
confirms both school level and teacher level correlates of satisfaction, which supports system and classroom
targets (Liu, Keeley, & Sui, 2023).
Higher education studies show diverse organizational and psychological levers. Challenge stressors raise
engagement while hindrance stressors reduce it, with satisfaction acting as suppressor or partial mediator (Xu,
Guo, Zheng, & Zhang, 2023). Workplace ostracism lowers knowledge sharing through burnout and sequentially
through burnout and satisfaction, while satisfaction is not directly related to ostracism (Wang, Li, Liu, & Zaggia,
2023). College teaching self-efficacy mediates job stress to satisfaction across subgroups (Liu, Yi, & Siwatu,
2023). Professors report moderate satisfaction shaped by work environment and job nature, with higher ranks
more satisfied (Chen, 2023). Learning organization predicts commitment through satisfaction among lecturers
(Wang & Rashid, 2022). Work–family conflict lowers satisfaction via burnout among female university teachers,
moderated by perceived support (Su & Jiang, 2023). Organizational climate and psychological wellbeing raise
satisfaction, with technological influence strengthening the climate link (Yiming, Yan, & Jinsheng, 2024).
Personality shapes teaching style that then predicts satisfaction among young teachers (Li, Yao, Liu, & Zhang,
2023). EFL studies connect job satisfaction and resilience to wellbeing and to desire for professional
development with organizational commitment (Han, 2022; Qi & Derakhshan, 2023). Specialized contexts extend
these patterns. Polytechnic teachers show strong culture–satisfaction correlations (Xiaoqing & Ye, 2021).
Clinical teachers report satisfaction differences by gender, department, and title that point to actionable
management levers (Chen, Jin, Zhou, Chen, & Wang, 2022). International high school and public university
cases reveal early satisfaction that later declines with leadership changes, workload, and unmet conditions, and
they flag differences between home and expatriate staff (Mo & Morris, 2024; Morris & Mo, 2023). Full time art
teachers present an integrated model where leadership, culture, collaboration, efficacy, and exhaustion shape
satisfaction (Deng, 2025).
Synthesis and Gaps
Table 1: Synthesis
Mechanism Main pathway Tiers
Leadership,
PLCs
Leadership or PLCs → autonomy, collaboration, vigor, identity →
satisfaction
K–12, preschool
Climate, trust Climate or trust → identity or efficacy → satisfaction K–12, VET,
kindergarten
Autonomy,
health
Autonomy → teaching efficacy → satisfaction → mental health Primary, secondary
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Stressors,
burnout
Workload or hindrance → burnout or conflict → lower satisfaction
→ turnover, lower engagement
Secondary,
preschool,
university
Social resources Support → positive coping or engagement → higher satisfaction Kindergarten,
university
Technology
context
Organizational climate → satisfaction, strengthened by technology;
PW mediates
University
Personality, style Big Five → teaching style → satisfaction Young teachers
Ostracism,
sharing
Ostracism → burnout → satisfaction → knowledge sharing University
Instructional
quality
Satisfaction → teacher–student relationships → instructional quality Cross settings
Source: Author, 2025
Across tiers, convergent mechanisms appear. Leadership and PLCs enhance autonomy, collaboration, vigor, and
identity, which lift job satisfaction. School climate, organizational trust, and supportive culture feed professional
identity and self-efficacy that raise satisfaction. Autonomy links to teaching efficacy and then to mental health,
with satisfaction in the chain. Stressor profiles sort clearly: challenge stressors can coexist with higher
engagement, while hindrance stressors, workload, and burnout depress satisfaction and related outcomes. Social
resources matter: perceived support and positive coping increase satisfaction and buffer work–family strain. In
universities, organizational climate and psychological well-being predict satisfaction, and technological
influence strengthens this climate link. As an outcome or conduit, satisfaction aligns with instructional quality
via teacher–student relationships, knowledge sharing when burnout recedes, engagement, PD intentions, life
satisfaction, and lower turnover intention.
Table 2: List of gaps
Gap Why urgent What to do
Measurement
standardization and
invariance
Limits cross tier
comparability
Adopt common scales, test invariance by
tier and region
Causal and longitudinal
evidence
Cross sectional dominance
weakens inference
Use panels, experiments, or policy natural
experiments
Policy evaluation Implementation effects
remain unclear
Evaluate workload and salary policies with
difference in differences
Coverage of VET and
western provinces
Underrepresented contexts Target VET, rural upper secondary, west
regions
Student outcomes link Sparse China based links Pair teacher surveys with student learning
measures
Subgroup heterogeneity Role, gender, age, subject
effects
Pre register interactions and report
conditional effects
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Technology measurement School level tech context is
coarse
Add validated tech climate and use indices
Role clarity of satisfaction Mediator or moderator often
underspecified
Enforce temporal ordering and competing
model check
Source: Author, 2025
Heterogeneity by tier and context is consistent. Kindergarten and preschool pivot on empowering leadership,
school culture, support, and family pressures. Primary and lower secondary foreground climate, autonomy,
identity, workload, and role differences between homeroom and subject teachers. K–12 leadership and PLC
structures show coherent positive pathways. Higher education adds work–family conflict dynamics, ostracism
to knowledge sharing chains, personality to teaching style routes, and the moderating effect of organizational
technology. Rural and VET samples emphasize climate, efficacy, and support. International and clinical settings
surface management levers such as leadership attention, workload, and subsidies. Overall, job satisfaction
functions as outcome, mediator, moderator, and predictor within stable pathways that travel from context and
personal resources to classroom and retention consequences.
Research Methodology and Analysis Plan
We conducted a systematic literature review of 42 China based empirical studies published in English from 2021
to 2025. We report frequency tallies of effect direction and statistical significance by mechanism and tier. These
tallies complement the narrative synthesis and do not pool effect sizes. The dataset comprises preschool, primary,
secondary, and tertiary contexts, including VET, rural, polytechnic, clinical, and international school settings.
For each study we extracted tier, context, sample notes, instruments, and how job satisfaction was positioned as
outcome, mediator, moderator, or predictor. Besides, we coded design features for each study, including
sampling frame, tier, instrument source, and analytic approach, and summarize design spread by mechanism and
tier. We also captured reported determinants, mediators, moderators, outcomes, and the stated theoretical frames.
Where studies referenced TALIS 2018, CEPS, or surveys via Wenjuanxing, SoJump, or WeChat, we recorded
those features as part of measurement context.
Analysis followed a structured narrative synthesis that matches Sections 6.1 to 6.6 and the results in 8.0. We
organized evidence into matrices for measurement approaches, theoretical mechanisms, determinant domains,
mediator and moderator chains, outcomes, and tier comparisons. We mapped variables to JD R, Self
Determination, Social Exchange, Conservation of Resources, and SCCT, then summarized consistent and
divergent patterns by tier. We did not pool effect sizes. We built a pathway map and two concise tables, one for
synthesis and one for gaps, using only relationships explicitly reported by the included studies. Findings directly
answer both research questions and translate into levers for stakeholders across tiers, as presented in 8.0.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
Table 3: Summary of findings
Domain Finding Representative evidence Practical lever
Leadership
and PLCs
Leadership and PLC components
raise satisfaction through
autonomy, collaboration, vigor,
identity
Liu et al., 2021; Zhang, Huang, &
Xu, 2022; Zhang, Yin, & Wang,
2023; Xiu et al., 2022
Empowering and
transformational
practices, PLC
routines
Climate and
trust
Climate, culture, and trust lift
satisfaction via identity and
efficacy
Han et al., 2022; Fang & Qi, 2023;
Zhao et al., 2022; Yiming et al.,
2024
Climate audits,
identity support,
trust building
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Resources
and
autonomy
Autonomy improves mental
health through efficacy and
satisfaction
Peng et al., 2022 Protect classroom
autonomy and
feedback cycles
Stress and
workload
Hindrance stressors and load
reduce satisfaction and
engagement
Xu et al., 2023; Zang et al., 2022 Cut bureaucratic
load and redesign
tasks
Social and
coping
Support increases satisfaction
through positive coping
Yang et al., 2022 Mentoring and peer
support
Personality
and style
Adaptive teaching style links
personality to satisfaction
Li et al., 2023 Coaching for
autonomy
supportive style
Ostracism
and sharing
Ostracism lowers sharing through
burnout and satisfaction
Wang et al., 2023 Anti-ostracism
protocols and
support
Outcomes Satisfaction improves instruction,
engagement, PD, life satisfaction,
and lowers turnover intention
Harrison et al., 2023; Qi &
Derakhshan, 2023; Meng, 2022;
Zhang, Li, & Gamble, 2022;
Zhang, Shi, & Teng, 2024
Tie satisfaction
metrics to teaching
and retention plans
Source: Author, 2025
Question 1. What measurement approaches and empirical roles of teacher job satisfaction are reported
across Chinese primary, secondary, and tertiary education, 2021 to 2025?
Across tiers, job satisfaction is measured with multi item surveys embedded in large datasets or sector specific
instruments. National and city level analyses use TALIS 2018 to model satisfaction with leadership, autonomy,
climate, and discipline covariates (Liu, Keeley, Sui, & Sang, 2021; Liu, Keeley, & Sui, 2023). The China
Education Panel Survey supports panel style tests of job load, stress, satisfaction, and exhaustion with role
contrasts between subject and homeroom teachers (Zang, Cao, Zhou, Jiang, & Li, 2022). University and sectoral
studies deploy validated questionnaires via SoJump or Wenjuanxing, often with structural models that position
satisfaction within stress, engagement, and climate frameworks (Xu, Guo, Zheng, & Zhang, 2023; Chen, Zhou,
Zheng, & Wu, 2022). Higher education climate work samples through WeChat and models organizational
climate, psychological well being, technological influence, and satisfaction (Yiming, Yan, & Jinsheng, 2024).
Preschool and kindergarten studies apply scales for culture, social support, coping, autonomy, and satisfaction
in large samples (Xia, Wang, & Zhang, 2023; Yang, Lu, Ban, & Sun, 2022). Specialized contexts include clinical
teachers, polytechnic lecturers, and art teachers with samples linked to leadership, trust, collaboration, efficacy,
exhaustion, and satisfaction (Chen, Jin, Zhou, Chen, & Wang, 2022; Xiaoqing & Ye, 2021; Deng, 2025).
Empirically, satisfaction assumes four roles. It serves as an outcome in leadership, PLC, climate, identity, work
values, personality, and technology studies (Liu et al., 2021; Zhang, Huang, & Xu, 2022; Han, Xu, & Xiao,
2022; Fute, Oubibi, Sun, Zhou, & Xiao, 2022; Li, Yao, Liu, & Zhang, 2023; Yiming et al., 2024). It mediates
links from job load to exhaustion, burnout to turnover, climate to identity or efficacy, autonomy to mental health,
and ostracism to knowledge sharing (Zang et al., 2022; Zhang, Li, & Gamble, 2022; Fang & Qi, 2023; Peng,
Wu, & Guo, 2022; Wang, Li, Liu, & Zaggia, 2023). It moderates associations such as identity to burnout and
role based differences in workload pathways, and it strengthens or weakens turnover paths by personality (Lu,
Luo, Chen, & Wang, 2022; Zang et al., 2022; Zhang, Li, & Gamble, 2022). It predicts outcomes that matter for
schools and universities, including instructional quality, engagement, PD intentions, life satisfaction, and
reduced turnover intention (Harrison, King, & Wang, 2023; Xu et al., 2023; Qi & Derakhshan, 2023; Meng,
2022; Zhang, Shi, & Teng, 2024).
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
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Question 2. What determinants, mediators, moderators, and outcomes associated with teacher job
satisfaction show consistent or divergent patterns across tiers and contexts in China?
Determinants converge on leadership, climate, resources, and strain. Distributed and transformational leadership
improve autonomy, collaboration, PLC components, vigor, and identity that raise satisfaction in K 12 settings
(Liu et al., 2021; Zhang, Huang, & Xu, 2022; Zhang, Yin, & Wang, 2023; Xiu, Liu, Yao, & Liu, 2022). School
atmosphere, culture, trust, and organizational climate predict satisfaction through professional identity, self-
efficacy, and psychological well-being, with technology strengthening climate effects in universities (Han et al.,
2022; Fang & Qi, 2023; Zhao, Lu, Cheng, & Li, 2022; Yiming et al., 2024). Autonomy increases mental health
through teaching efficacy and satisfaction, while work values lift satisfaction through engagement (Peng et al.,
2022; Fute et al., 2022). Challenge stressors can align with engagement, hindrance stressors and workload
depress satisfaction and engagement, and satisfaction can suppress or partially mediate stress effects (Xu et al.,
2023; Zang et al., 2022). Social support improves satisfaction through positive coping in kindergarten (Yang et
al., 2022). Personality shapes autonomy supportive teaching that improves satisfaction among young teachers
(Li et al., 2023). Workplace ostracism lowers knowledge sharing through burnout and then satisfaction in
universities (Wang et al., 2023). Effects are stronger in urban PLC-rich settings on autonomy and collaboration.
Rural schools display climate and support pathways with retention stakes tied to the documented dissatisfaction
rate.
Actionable guidance follows from these patterns and addresses the gaps. For preschool and kindergarten,
strengthen empowering leadership, curriculum autonomy, and social support, and mitigate work family conflict
to stabilize satisfaction and reduce turnover intention (Liu, Yang, & Huang, 2021; Xia et al., 2023; Yang et al.,
2022; Hong, Liu, & Zhang, 2021; Zhao et al., 2022). For primary and secondary schools, develop climate and
identity, protect autonomy, and manage workload since subject teachers are vulnerable to job load pathways,
and rural schools report 21 percent dissatisfaction that signals retention risk (Han et al., 2022; Peng et al., 2022;
Zang et al., 2022; Wang, Cousineau, Wang, Zeng, Sun, Kohrman, & Rozelle, 2022). For higher education, reduce
hindrance stressors, increase perceived support for female faculty, address ostracism, and leverage technology
enhanced climates to improve satisfaction, engagement, knowledge sharing, life satisfaction, and PD intentions
(Su & Jiang, 2023; Xu et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023; Yiming et al., 2024; Meng, 2022; Qi & Derakhshan,
2023). For VET, rural, polytechnic, clinical, international, and doctoral contexts, act on climate, leadership
attention, workload, and reward systems to lift satisfaction and reduce turnover risks, while recognizing
differences by gender, department, and title (Fang & Qi, 2023; Xiaoqing & Ye, 2021; Chen et al., 2022; Mo &
Morris, 2024; Morris & Mo, 2023; Jing & Photchanachan, 2021; Chen, 2023; Wang & Rashid, 2022; Deng,
2025). Future work should standardize measures and test invariance, run panels and causal designs, and evaluate
policy effects on satisfaction and retention. Findings should be read with design diversity in view. Cross-
sectional dominance and varied measurement reduce causal inference and limit comparability across tiers, which
aligns with the stated gaps.
RECOMMENDATION
Table 4: List of recommendations
Stakeholder Action Supported by Expected effect
School
leaders
Run PLC cycles and empower
teachers
Liu 2021; Zhang 2022;
Zhang 2023
Higher satisfaction and
retention
Principals Protect autonomy and manage
workload by role
Peng 2022; Zang 2022 Better mental health and
lower exhaustion
Rural
bureaus
Add POS, mentoring, trust
initiatives
Chen 2022; Zhao 2022 Lower turnover intention
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
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Deans Cut hindrance stressors, support
WFC buffers
Xu 2023; Su 2023 Higher engagement and
satisfaction
HR in HE Enforce anti-ostracism, invest in
climate and PW
Wang 2023; Yiming
2024
More sharing and well-being
Faculty dev. Coach autonomy-supportive
teaching, fund PD time
Li 2023; Qi 2023 Higher satisfaction and PD
uptake
Policy teams Standardize measures, start
panels
Liu 2023; Zang 2022 Stronger evidence for
decisions
Boards Align rewards and grievance
systems
Chen 2023; Wang &
Rashid 2022
Commitment and retention
boost
Source: Author, 2025
For preschool, primary, and secondary schools, prioritize leadership and community routines that lift autonomy,
collaboration, vigor, and professional identity. Implement distributed or transformational practices, and run PLC
cycles with shared purpose, deprivatized practice, and reflective dialogue (Liu, Keeley, Sui, & Sang, 2021;
Zhang, Huang, & Xu, 2022; Zhang, Yin, & Wang, 2023; Xiu, Liu, Yao, & Liu, 2022). Protect classroom
autonomy and curriculum discretion, which support teaching efficacy, satisfaction, and mental health (Peng, Wu,
& Guo, 2022; Xia, Wang, & Zhang, 2023). Manage workload with role-sensitive timetables because subject
teachers show job-load pathways to later exhaustion through lower satisfaction, and rural schools report 21%
dissatisfaction that signals retention risk (Zang, Cao, Zhou, Jiang, & Li, 2022; Wang et al., 2022). Build
perceived organizational support and peer mentoring, which buffer burnout and raise satisfaction among rural
generalist teachers and kindergarten staff through positive coping and trust pathways (Chen, Zhou, Zheng, &
Wu, 2022; Yang, Lu, Ban, & Sun, 2022; Zhao, Lu, Cheng, & Li, 2022).
For universities, audit stressor profiles and redesign work to reduce hindrance stressors while channeling
challenge stressors toward mastery goals since satisfaction suppresses or mediates their effects on engagement
(Xu, Guo, Zheng, & Zhang, 2023). Strengthen perceived organizational support to weaken the work-family
conflict to burnout path that precedes lower satisfaction among female faculty (Su & Jiang, 2023). Enforce anti-
ostracism norms and early burnout detection to protect satisfaction and knowledge sharing (Wang, Li, Liu, &
Zaggia, 2023). Invest in organizational climate with psychological well-being services, and use technology
affordances that reinforce the climate to satisfaction link (Yiming, Yan, & Jinsheng, 2024). Support young
teachers with coaching on autonomy-supportive teaching styles and structured PD time since satisfaction aligns
with PD intentions and adaptive styles (Li, Yao, Liu, & Zhang, 2023; Qi & Derakhshan, 2023). Improve work
environment and grievance systems that matter to professors, and develop learning-organization practices that
raise commitment through satisfaction (Chen, 2023; Wang & Rashid, 2022). Link satisfaction metrics to
instructional improvement because higher satisfaction relates to stronger teacher–student relationships and
instructional quality (Harrison, King, & Wang, 2023).
To close system gaps, standardize satisfaction measurement across provinces and tiers using validated
instruments already common in the corpus, including TALIS-referenced items and widely used survey platforms,
then test invariance across tiers and regions (Liu, Keeley, Sui, & Sang, 2021; Liu, Keeley, & Sui, 2023; Xu,
Guo, Zheng, & Zhang, 2023; Chen, Zhou, Zheng, & Wu, 2022). Build longitudinal panels that extend CEPS-
style tracking to rural, VET, and western regions to clarify temporal ordering and role clarity for satisfaction as
mediator or moderator (Zang, Cao, Zhou, Jiang, & Li, 2022; Fang & Qi, 2023; Wang et al., 2022). Integrate
satisfaction and turnover-intention dashboards into staffing plans for English teachers, doctoral lecturers, and
international-school staff to guide retention levers on workload, leadership attention, and rewards (Zhang, Shi,
& Teng, 2024; Jing & Photchanachan, 2021; Mo & Morris, 2024; Chen, Jin, Zhou, Chen, & Wang, 2022). Use
these data to target coaching and support where satisfaction predicts gains in engagement, knowledge sharing,
and instructional quality (Xu, 2023; Wang, 2023; Harrison, 2023).
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