{"title":"Factors Influencing Audiology Job Changes and Attrition: An Interview Study.","authors":"Diana C Emanuel","doi":"10.1044/2025_AJA-24-00209","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study examined the lived experiences of former audiologists to examine career journeys within and after audiology. The long-term goal of this research is to help academic audiologists create optimal ways to recruit future audiologists who will thrive in the profession and help the profession improve the lived experience of audiologists in the workplace, to improve retention.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A qualitative (grounded theory) approach was used. Virtual interviews were completed by 28 participants (25 former audiologists, three in the departure planning stage).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The theoretical model developed from audiologists' career stories includes Origin Story, Audiology Career Story, and Post-Audiology Story. Three main themes are described as part of the Audiology Career Story: Link Between Family & Career, Confluence of Experiences, and Self-Evolution & Pondering Change. The Confluence of Experiences subthemes were as follows: Wanting More, Bad Management, Compensation, Lack of Desirable Jobs, Burnout & Workload, Desire for Flexibility, and Sales Emphasis. This model suggests there are complex and interconnected reasons why audiologists change jobs within audiology and leave the profession. The most common post-audiology position was that of full-time, at-home caregiver (<i>n</i> = 5). For those employed in the workforce, most stayed in health care-related professions and 73% reported post-audiology compensation was equal to or greater than compensation as an audiologist.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Personal and professional factors, and connections among these factors, influence the lived experiences of former audiologists. Awareness of former audiologists' career stories provide insights that may help the profession improve recruitment and retention.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.29089475.</p>","PeriodicalId":49241,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Audiology","volume":" ","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Audiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_AJA-24-00209","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"AUDIOLOGY & SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: This study examined the lived experiences of former audiologists to examine career journeys within and after audiology. The long-term goal of this research is to help academic audiologists create optimal ways to recruit future audiologists who will thrive in the profession and help the profession improve the lived experience of audiologists in the workplace, to improve retention.
Method: A qualitative (grounded theory) approach was used. Virtual interviews were completed by 28 participants (25 former audiologists, three in the departure planning stage).
Results: The theoretical model developed from audiologists' career stories includes Origin Story, Audiology Career Story, and Post-Audiology Story. Three main themes are described as part of the Audiology Career Story: Link Between Family & Career, Confluence of Experiences, and Self-Evolution & Pondering Change. The Confluence of Experiences subthemes were as follows: Wanting More, Bad Management, Compensation, Lack of Desirable Jobs, Burnout & Workload, Desire for Flexibility, and Sales Emphasis. This model suggests there are complex and interconnected reasons why audiologists change jobs within audiology and leave the profession. The most common post-audiology position was that of full-time, at-home caregiver (n = 5). For those employed in the workforce, most stayed in health care-related professions and 73% reported post-audiology compensation was equal to or greater than compensation as an audiologist.
Conclusions: Personal and professional factors, and connections among these factors, influence the lived experiences of former audiologists. Awareness of former audiologists' career stories provide insights that may help the profession improve recruitment and retention.
期刊介绍:
Mission: AJA publishes peer-reviewed research and other scholarly articles pertaining to clinical audiology methods and issues, and serves as an outlet for discussion of related professional and educational issues and ideas. The journal is an international outlet for research on clinical research pertaining to screening, diagnosis, management and outcomes of hearing and balance disorders as well as the etiologies and characteristics of these disorders. The clinical orientation of the journal allows for the publication of reports on audiology as implemented nationally and internationally, including novel clinical procedures, approaches, and cases. AJA seeks to advance evidence-based practice by disseminating the results of new studies as well as providing a forum for critical reviews and meta-analyses of previously published work.
Scope: The broad field of clinical audiology, including audiologic/aural rehabilitation; balance and balance disorders; cultural and linguistic diversity; detection, diagnosis, prevention, habilitation, rehabilitation, and monitoring of hearing loss; hearing aids, cochlear implants, and hearing-assistive technology; hearing disorders; lifespan perspectives on auditory function; speech perception; and tinnitus.