Stress and Self-Belief: How Urban Classrooms Shape Teachers’ Confidence and Careers

A new study by Erasmus University Rotterdam, the University of Oxford, and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences has offered fresh insights into how aspiring teachers navigate the realities of urban classrooms. Tracking 386 preservice teachers across four Dutch training programs for 18 months, the researchers examined how “diversity-related stress”, the strain of managing cultural differences, language barriers, and inclusive teaching demands, interacts with teaching self-efficacy and intentions to leave the profession. The backdrop of this research is Amsterdam and Rotterdam, two of the Netherlands’ most diverse cities, where teachers face the daily challenge of educating children from varied cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The study highlights a pressing issue with global resonance: how the pressures of inclusive education affect whether new teachers will stay in or leave the profession.

A Double-Edged Role for Stress

At the heart of the research lies a paradox. Predictably, preservice teachers who reported consistently higher stress levels felt less capable in their roles and were more likely to consider quitting. Those with stronger self-efficacy, meanwhile, displayed greater commitment and resilience. But when the data was examined within individual teachers over time, the picture grew more complex. Temporary spikes in stress sometimes coincided with higher self-efficacy, suggesting that challenges do not always erode confidence. In some cases, confronting difficulties in diverse classrooms appeared to strengthen teachers’ skills and belief in their abilities. Stress, the study argues, can be both corrosive and constructive: undermining when constant and overwhelming, but empowering when navigated with support and reflection.

The Reciprocal Loop of Confidence and Doubt

This dual effect underscores the complex relationship between stress and teaching self-efficacy. The findings suggest that confident teachers often take on tougher classroom situations, exposing themselves to higher stress, which in turn can reinforce their sense of capability. Yet the cycle can also spin in the opposite direction. Preservice teachers who began to contemplate leaving the profession in their first year experienced noticeable declines in self-efficacy by the second year. Doubts about whether they belonged in the profession sapped the confidence they needed to succeed. Such findings highlight the precarious balance of early teacher identity formation, where resilience and self-doubt often coexist.

Urban Classrooms as Pressure Cookers

The study situates this dynamic firmly in the urban Dutch context. Classrooms in Amsterdam and Rotterdam reflect the realities of migration, social inequality, and multicultural coexistence. Many teachers reported stress not just from heavy workloads but from feelings of cultural distance and uncertainty about handling sensitive issues. Implicit biases toward migrant children, difficulty in engaging parents, and the perception that urban teaching demands a broader skill set than rural teaching all added to the sense of strain. The researchers defined diversity-related stress as the cognitive and emotional reaction that arises when the demands of teaching in such contexts exceed perceived resources, skills, or support systems. Interestingly, women reported slightly higher levels of stress at the outset, though gender overall played a minor role in shaping outcomes compared with the broader challenges of the urban environment.

Lessons for Teacher Training Programs

For those responsible for preparing the next generation of teachers, the message of this study is both sobering and hopeful. Stress during the first year of training should not automatically be treated as a danger to be minimized. Instead, it can be reframed as a developmental opportunity. With proper mentoring, peer support, and exposure to positive role models, preservice teachers can learn to see stress as a catalyst for professional growth. Structured opportunities to share experiences and reflect on challenges may help trainees avoid isolation and develop realistic expectations of the profession. By understanding that difficulties are common and surmountable, novice teachers may become more persistent and committed. The researchers suggest that embracing the tension of early teaching experiences, rather than shielding preservice teachers from it, could ultimately strengthen both self-efficacy and long-term retention.

The study acknowledges its limitations. Reliance on self-reported survey data may have inflated correlations, and the general measure of self-efficacy used may not fully capture the nuances of specific subjects or teaching contexts. Moreover, the statistical models explained only a modest share of the variance in stress and efficacy, pointing to the importance of additional factors such as socioeconomic background or prior teaching exposure. Future research, the authors argue, should include interviews, observations, and more tailored measures to deepen understanding.

Nevertheless, the implications are significant. Teacher attrition remains a global problem, with up to 40 percent of preservice teachers abandoning the profession before starting full-time teaching. In the Netherlands, attrition in the first year of training already sits between 20 and 25 percent. By unpacking how stress, confidence, and quitting intentions intertwine, this study provides valuable guidance for policymakers and teacher educators. Supporting novice teachers in reframing stress as part of the learning curve, rather than as a signal of failure, could improve both teacher quality and retention. Ultimately, the research paints teaching as a profession forged in tension, where stress and growth coexist. Whether early-career teachers remain in the classroom may depend on how effectively their training institutions help them navigate this delicate balance.