Dedication and distinction: How reputational and branding pressures influence teacher work effort

Dedication and distinction: How reputational and branding pressures influence teacher work effort | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Dedication and distinction: How reputational and branding pressures influence teacher work effort Dag Yngve Dahle This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8063381/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Educational reforms have driven a neoliberal turn and marketization in Norwegian upper secondary schools, increasing reputational concern and brand-congruent behaviour among teachers. While marketization is justified by promises of higher quality and efficiency, this study examines whether it also increases teachers’ work effort. Analyses of survey data (N = 823) indicate that reputational concern and brand-congruent behaviour directly stimulated work effort. Promotive voice, but not psychological safety, mediated these effects. Yet psychological safety mediated most links between marketization variables and voice, suggesting serial mediation: both reputational concern and brand-congruent behaviour boosted effort via psychological safety and promotive voice. In sum, reputation and branding pressures seem to raise work effort directly and indirectly through voice and, to some extent, psychological safety. Ensuring avenues for voice and psychological safety can help channel this effort into constructive school improvement. School marketization work effort employee voice psychological safety reputation branding Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Appendix.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8063381","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":558726145,"identity":"4c6eef0c-be41-484a-85b4-95c7b47a5d25","order_by":0,"name":"Dag Yngve Dahle","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCA0DMw3BAhoG9sRHCJlYLDwPPwQZStUgkgNmEAd8BHgOGNzV3ePglHzcc/MFwWIafgffgA3xaJIFaGOcce8YjOTux4TAPw2EeyQa+ZAN8WgyAWph52A7zGNwGamEAagGKmEkQ1vLvMI/9zYNghxGphbcNqFKCseEADzFaJA+zFRyc23eYR+IMyC8G6TySzTzGeP3Cd7x544M33w7L8bcff/jwR4W1PT97j+EDfFoYmDkMDiC5EySCVz0IsOM3chSMglEwCkYBAwCSiEgm+7qrZgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Oslo","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dag","middleName":"Yngve","lastName":"Dahle","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-08 10:53:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8063381/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8063381/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107652021,"identity":"9277b85f-77dc-4ecd-ac1c-11f2cbb4bc2b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-23 15:11:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":577465,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptanonymous.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8063381/v1_covered_4b312b2e-6a67-4890-815f-f5609afb3266.pdf"},{"id":103938712,"identity":"3d54321f-5eb4-43d1-8232-6cb49495a122","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-04 18:36:14","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":19287,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendix.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8063381/v1/d6353256115c9e1d3d9504ab.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Dedication and distinction: How reputational and branding pressures influence teacher work effort","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"School marketization, work effort, employee voice, psychological safety, reputation, branding","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8063381/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8063381/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eEducational reforms have driven a neoliberal turn and marketization in Norwegian upper secondary schools, increasing reputational concern and brand-congruent behaviour among teachers. 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