ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1635130
Network Analysis of Burnout Pathways Among In-Field and Out-of-Field Math-Major Teachers in Rural China
Provisionally accepted
- Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
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Teacher burnout poses a significant threat to educators' well-being and instructional quality, particularly in under-resourced rural settings. Despite growing concerns, little is known about how burnout differs between in-field and out-of-field teaching among educators with the same academic training. This study employed network analysis to examine the interconnections among job demands, job resources, personal resources, and burnout symptoms in two groups of mathematics-major teachers in rural China: those teaching mathematics (in-field) and those teaching other subjects (out-of-field). The sample included 1,879 teachers, 1,682 in-field and 197 out-of-field teachers. Results showed that emotional exhaustion was the most central burnout symptom in both networks, with slightly higher centrality and stronger connections to job demands variables in the out-of-field group. Job satisfaction consistently acted as a key protective factor, especially in reducing depersonalization. Although the overall network structure was similar between the two groups, differences in node centrality and bridging pathways highlight the need for tailored interventions. These findings underscore the importance of alleviating non-instructional burdens and supporting professional identity and efficacy to mitigate teacher burnout in order to improve the educational quality in rural schools.
Keywords: job demands-resources, Job burnout, math major, in-field teachers, out-of-fieldteachers, Network analysis
Received: 27 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ming Huo, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
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