Demographic and personal factors influencing teacher wellbeing in the Chinese Universities of the Third Age

This paper investigated the demographic and personal factors influencing teacher wellbeing in the Chinese Universities of the Third Age (U3As). Using a mixed-methods approach, it first surveyed 561 teachers. Welch’s t-test and ANOVA analyses identified significant wellbeing differences across gender, employment status, educational qualifications, and subject areas, while there are no statistically significant differences associated with age, teaching length or school type. Follow-up interviews with 31 purposely selected teacher participants revealed a multifaceted range of influences on teacher wellbeing. Gender differences can be primarily attributed to the socio-cultural norms. Female teachers benefit from the working flexibility in the U3A and the female-dominated learning environments, while male teachers face tension between their low salaries and high financial expectations from their families. Employment status also plays an important role. Part-time teachers, motivated by intrinsic factors, report higher satisfaction than their full-time counterparts who can be burdened by administrative tasks and stricter management. Educational qualifications reflect divergent priorities. Higher-degree holders often feel frustrated by unclear promotion pathways, while those with lower qualifications thrive on the joy of active classroom engagement. Subject-specific differences are related to teachers’ perceived values in the teaching subject and control in the classroom. The findings underscore the need to address U3A teachers’ varied levels of wellbeing, develop targeted policies to support their success, and ultimately enhance the sustainable development of U3As in the Chinese mainland.