Kathleen Amos, MLIS, Assistant Director, Academic/Practice Linkages, Public Health Foundation
Ever thought about what influences workers’ decisions to choose jobs in public health? Or what helps keep them in those jobs? The
Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice (Council on Linkages) has been interested in recruitment and retention within the US public health workforce for many years and has recently released a
new report that helps shed light on these questions.
Recruitment and Retention: What’s Influencing the Decisions of Public Health Workers? shares the results of a
national survey conducted by the Council on Linkages in 2010 to explore factors that influence individuals’ decisions to take and remain in jobs in the public health field, as well as their satisfaction with elements of the environments in which they work, including organizational leadership, management, and professional development. This survey built on earlier efforts of the Council on Linkages’
Pipeline Workgroup to identify ways to strengthen the public health workforce by better understanding how public health workers enter the workforce, their rationale for doing so, and what influences their decisions to continue working in public health. After reviewing literature, considering existing data and data sources, and convening experts to discuss ways to address worker shortages, the Pipeline Workgroup ultimately decided to directly survey individuals within the public health workforce to learn more about public health workers and their employment decisions.
Nearly 12,000 individuals took part in this survey and shared their experiences. Highlights from the results include:
- The factors that respondents valued in making employment decisions tended to be related to aspects of organizations, particularly the specific activities involved in positions, job security, competitive benefits, and identifying with the mission of the organization
- In general, the same factors influenced respondents’ decisions to begin and continue working for employers
- Healthcare settings and private industry may provide opportunities for recruiting workers into governmental public health
- Though one-third of respondents entered governmental public health directly from educational programs, relatively few entered from public health degree programs
- While overall majorities of respondents appeared satisfied with leadership and management within their organizations, there remains room for improvement in these areas
Details about these results and more related to factors of recruitment and retention and satisfaction with organizational environments, as well as information on the demographics of survey respondents, can be found in the
Council on Linkages’ report. The dataset containing responses from the 11,640 individuals who participated in this survey is also available for further research. Visit the newly revised
Recruitment and Retention section of this website to learn more!