Year of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Name

Educational Leadership

Other Degree Name/Area of Focus

International Educational Leadership

Department or School/College

Phyllis J. Washington College of Education

Committee Chair

William McCaw

Commitee Members

John Matt, Erica Allen, Daniel Lee, Marina Denny

Keywords

Adult Education, Adult Educator, Commitment, Motivation, Retention, Satisfaction

Publisher

University of Montana

Abstract

This qualitative case study focused on career commitment in two types of professional adult educators, extension agents and missionaries. Past research studying extension agents and missionaries had documented decades of early career attrition. Research documented the issues, explored causes, and proposed solutions. Yet, the problem persists. Much of the research has been quantitative.

This comparative case study maximized the differences between participants within and across the two professions; conducted in depth semi-structured interviews with participants; and had participants create a drawing of their career commitment attitudes and experiences and describe the drawing during the interview. Extension agents and missionaries were selected because they both provide non-formal adult education by embedding in communities, building trust, identifying needs, and working and learning with community members; all for the purpose of improving the lives of individuals and the community. There are differences as well: the educational foundations are different, missionaries almost always work cross-culturally, missionaries in this study experience a calling where extension agent may or may not, and their funding streams are different in source and stability.

This research established two cases, one for each profession, and conducted semistructured interviews to determine how participants entered their profession, the relevant experiences they had and the resulting attitudes, and how career commitment was impacted. Special attention was given to the presence, absence, and strength of a calling and its impact on career commitment.

The results indicate participants in both cases thrive on helping people become more successful and to have a better life. They get discouraged when their organization is topdown, overly bureaucratic, or omits them from any part of the educational process. They also became frustrated when interpersonal conflict cannot be resolved.

All participants identified their role as a calling, or between a career and calling. However, extension agents’ callings were personal and more temporal and originated from within themselves. Missionaries’ calling was also personal. Their calls originated before they entered their roles. Their calling was spiritual and from God. This deeper calling resulted in different attitudes about difficulty on the job. Missionaries were confident they could work through or withstand the difficulties they faced because they were called of God.

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© Copyright 2023 Steven Dale Siegelin