Relatively deprived teachers: how social comparisons with other teachers and similarly educated professionals reveal inequities

This article examines the way in which teachers who were also leaders in the unprecedented wave of 2018–2019 US K-12 teacher protest strikes described experiences of social comparison and relative deprivation in their school districts. It also analyses the inequities revealed by these comparisons. This article uses data generated from analyses of 35 semi-structured interviews to reveal that teachers consistently described experiencing relative deprivation to other teachers (near and far) and similarly educated professionals (which they linked to sexist devaluing of the teaching profession). This article is important because it helps to unpack the lived experiences of striking teachers behind the prevalent relative deprivation focused statements on protest signs that were visible around the country during the protest strikes.