Georgia Agricultural Teachers' Perceived Ability to Balance Family and Career.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the issue of career and family balance for Georgia agricultural teachers by gender. The research objectives included describing career and family responsibilities, exploring barriers to fulfilling career and family responsibilities, and perceived abilities of teachers to maintain the balance of career and family expectations. The study was conducted as a census of all Georgia agricultural teachers on an extended day/extended year contract via an online survey. It was determined that Georgia agricultural teachers are working an average of 57 hours per week and 39 days per summer, with both genders being similar in the amount of time spent on the job. Teachers carried out traditional gender roles in family responsibilities, with females handling the majority of the housework and childcare and males handling the majority of farm and yard work. Both males and females viewed their job responsibilities to be significant barriers to fulfilling family responsibilities and one third of respondents found it was always difficult to balance career and family. It was concluded that Georgia agricultural teachers are feeling torn between meeting job expectations and spending adequate time with their families, with females feeling the strain slightly more than males.