Factors Influencing the Turnover Intention of 

Rural Preschool Teachers in the 

Context of Rural Revitalization: 

An Analysis Based on a Moderated 

Mediation Model

Tao Wang, Mengzhuo Li, Shanhuai Liu, Xue Zhang  

 
China Institute of Rural Education Development, Northeast Normal 

University, Changchun 130024, Jilin, China 

Abstract: The retention of teachers is critical to the development of rural 
preschool education in China. We conducted a sample survey of 3790 

rural kindergarten teachers from 22 counties (or cities) of 10 provinces 

and examined the effects of work stress and job apathy on the turnover 
intention of rural preschool teachers using the work stress, job apathy 

and turnover intention scales. According to the research findings, work 
stress can significantly predict rural kindergarten teachers’ turnover 

intention; job apathy plays a mediating role between job stress and 

teacher turnover intention, and the indirect effect is greater than the 
direct effect; Bianzhi membership can moderate the direct effect of work 

stress on teacher turnover intention and the mediating effect of job 

apathy. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2022; 11(2):1523-1527. 

Doi: 10.15354/bece.22.ab005. 

How to Cite: Wang, T., Li, M., Liu, S., & Zhang, X. (2022). Factors influencing the 

turnover intention of rural preschool teachers in the context of rural revitalization: 

An analysis based on a moderated mediation model. Best Evidence in Chinese 

Education, 11(2):1523-1527. 

Keywords: Rural Preschool Teacher, Turnover Intention, Work Stress, Job Apathy, 

Bianzhi, Membership 

 

 

 



Wang et al. (Jilin). Turnover Intention of Rural Preschool Teachers in China. 

BECE, Vol.11, No.2, 2022 1524 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Correspondence to: Shanhuai Liu, China Institute of Rural Education Development, Northeast Normal University, 
Changchun 130024, Jilin, China. E-mail: liush477@nenu.edu.cn  

Conflict of Interests: None. 
 

© 2022 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. 

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the 

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License 

(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of 

the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. 

mailto:liush477@nenu.edu.cn
http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/


Wang et al. (Jilin). Turnover Intention of Rural Preschool Teachers in China. 

BECE, Vol.11, No. 2, 2022 1525 

Introduction 

The development of high-quality education is essential to rural revitalization and pre-

school education has a perennial effect on the overall development of rural students. A 

stable preschool teacher supply is an essential prerequisite for the progress of rural pre-

school education. Nevertheless, the loss of rural kindergarten teachers has become a 

prevalent concern of the community, and retaining preschool teachers in rural nursery 

schools is getting increasingly difficult. Numerous studies revealed that the high turno-

ver rate of rural preschool teachers is mainly due to high job pressure and that heavy 

work burden leads to their negative emotional reactions. In addition, rural kindergartens 

employ a large number of teachers without Bianzhi (a system of officially budgeted 

posts in China) membership, who feel underpaid compared with their colleagues with 

the membership. Scholars have reached agreement that rural preschool teachers’ turno-

ver intention is affected by work pressure and job apathy as well as the disparity in 

Bianzhi membership among them. To further clarify the relationships among work 

pressure, job apathy, Bianzhi membership, and rural preschool teachers’ turnover inten-

tion, this study used job apathy as a mediating variable and Bianzhi membership as a 

moderator variable to examine the effect of work stress on teacher turnover intention, 

with the objective of offering recommendations to policy makers on how to retain rural 

kindergarten teachers. 

Research Methodology 

The research team conducted a sample survey on rural kindergarten teachers from 22 

counties (or cities) in China’s10 provinces in August 2020, using online questionnaires. 

A total of 3,790 valid questionnaires were recovered. Rural preschool teacher work 

stress scale, job apathy scale, and turnover intention scale were adopted as measurement 

tools. SPSS24.0 and AMOS20.0 were utilized for data analysis, which followed four 

steps: first, to use Amos20.0 to test the common method biases between various re-

search dimensions; second, to employ SPSS24.0 to test the reliability and validity of the 

teacher work stress scale, job apathy scale, and turnover intention scale; third, to con-

struct structural equation modelling to test the direct and mediating effects among the 

variables of work stress, job apathy, and teacher turnover intention; and fourth, to use 

PROCESS to test the moderated mediation model. 

Research Data 

The Common Method Bias Test 

There were no significant common method biases between the research dimensions, and 

the coefficient estimation incurs no errors affecting the authenticity of research results. 

Convergent Validity, Composition Reliability and Dis-

criminant Validity 



Wang et al. (Jilin). Turnover Intention of Rural Preschool Teachers in China. 

BECE, Vol.11, No. 2, 2022 1526 

There was a positive correlation between work stress and rural preschool teachers’ 

turnover intention (r = 0.568, p < 0.001); work stress was positively related to rural pre-

school teachers’ job apathy (r = 0.372, p < 0.001); There was a positive correlation be-

tween job apathy and teacher turnover intention (r = 0.288, p < 0.001). 

The Direct Effect Test 

The non-standardized regression coefficient of the effect of work pressure on rural pre-

school teachers’ turnover intention was 0.59 (p < 0.001), indicating that the former had 

a positive influence on the latter. 

The non-standardized regression coefficient of the effect of work stress on job 

apathy was 0.39 (p < 0.001), signaling that the former had a positive effect on the latter. 

The non-standardized regression coefficient of the effect of job apathy on 

teacher turnover intention was 0.93 (p < 0.001), denoting that the former had a positive 

effect on the latter. 

The Mediating Effect Test 

Model fitness χ
2
/df = 25.989, GFI = 0.927, AGFI = 0.896, TLI = 0.936, cfi = 0.948, 

rmsea = 0.081, srmr = 0.049 was basically up to the model fitness index standard, indi-

cating that the mediating effect of job apathy on the relationship between work pressure 

and rural preschool teachers’ turnover intention had a good model fitness. 

Besides, work stress positively predicted job apathy (β = 0.39, p < 0.001), 

which in turn positively predicted teacher turnover intention (β = 0.43, p < 0.001). 

The Moderated Mediating Effect Test 

The Test of Moderating Effect of Bianzhi Membership 

The product term of work stress and Bianzhi membership significantly predicted job 

apathy and rural preschool teachers’ turnover intention (job apathy: β = −0.085, t = 

−3.721, Boot 95% CI = [−0. 130, −0.040]; turnover intention: β = −0.085, t = −2.712, 

Boot 95%CI = [−0. 146, −0.024]); The product term of job apathy and Bianzhi mem-

bership significantly predicted teacher turnover intention (β = 0.167, t = 4.259, Boot 95% 

CI = [0.090, 0.244]). Thus, it is concluded that Bianzhi membership can moderate the 

effects of work stress on teacher turnover intention, work stress on job apathy, and job 

apathy on teacher turnover intention. 

Stratified Analysis of the effects of Bianzhi Membership 

on Teacher Turnover Intention 

As per the data analysis results, there was a significant difference in turnover intention 

between teachers with Bianzhi membership and those without it (t = 3.026, p < 0.05), 

and the turnover intention of the former was considerably higher than that of the latter. 

Among teachers without Bianzhi membership, the turnover rate of young teachers was 

relatively higher than that of other age cohorts. Among the young kindergarten teachers 



Wang et al. (Jilin). Turnover Intention of Rural Preschool Teachers in China. 

BECE, Vol.11, No. 2, 2022 1527 

in rural areas, the share of teachers without Bianzhi membership was up to 59.11%, and 

the majority of them (a total of 77.35%) were working in town and village kindergar-

tens. 

There was no significant difference in turnover intention among young teachers 

with Bianzhi membership working in the county, town and village kindergartens, 

whereas young teachers without Bianzhi membership working in the town kindergarten 

had remarkably higher turnover intention than their counterparts working in the county 

and village kindergartens (F = 4.866, p < 0.05), which shows that the difference in 

school location also affects the resignation intention of young preschool teachers.  

The principle of “equal pay for equal work” has not been applied to rural kin-

dergarten teachers without Bianzhi membership, who had considerably lower satisfac-

tion in incomes, occupational status, workload, and career development potential than 

their colleagues with Bianzhi membership. Therefore, they tended to perceive inferiori-

ty in social status when comparing themselves to those officially employed teachers (t = 

− 6.918, p < 0.001). 

Conclusions and Suggestions 

This study comes to the following conclusions: first, work stress are positively related 

to job apathy and turnover intention of rural preschool teachers, and job apathy has a 

significantly positive correlation with their turnover intention; second, job apathy plays 

a mediating role between work stress and teacher turnover intention; third, the direct 

correlation of work stress with teacher turnover intention and the mediating effect of job 

apathy are both moderated by teachers’ Bianzhi membership; fourth, the gaps in age as 

well as salaries and other perks contribute to the difference in turnover intention be-

tween teachers with and without Bianzhi membership. 

The empirical results confirm that work stress, job apathy, and Bianzhi mem-

bership are major factors influencing the turnover intention of rural preschool teachers. 

In order to lower the turnover rate and ensure the supply of rural preschool teachers, 

local education departments should carry out an array of reforms including restricting 

the workload of teachers to a reasonable level, increasing salaries and compensation of 

teachers, creating a teacher-friendly environment, and allocating adequate Bianzhi 

memberships to rural kindergartens. 

 

 

The Chinese version of this article has been published in Journal of East China Normal University 

(Education Science), 2022, 40(6):82-96. The English version has been authorized for being publi-

cation in BECE by the author(s) and the Chinese journal. 

 

王涛, 李梦琢, 刘善槐, 张雪. 乡村振兴背景下农村幼儿教师离职倾向的影响机制研究—基于

有调节的中介效应分析. 华东师范大学学报 (教育科学版), 2022, 40(6):82-96.  

 

 

Received: 30 June 2022 

Revised: 11 July 2022 

Accepted: 15 July 2022 


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