This study aims to fill a gap in our understanding of the relationship between two major topics in educational research: higher education choices and students' conceptions of employability. It explores, first, the balance between vocational calling, instrumental considerations and chance in subject choice and, second, the relation between…

This study examined the roles of hard variables and soft variables in determining college teachers' intentions to pursue a special education career and education majors' actual decisions to major in special education. This study surveyed 243 college students taking special education courses at a state university, including 213 education majors.…

The decision to choose teaching as a career is a commitment fewer people are making and a decision that is rife with complexity. The current state of teacher shortages and attrition both nationally and internationally impels us to investigate this situation. Within the area of career decision-making, the concept being researched most focuses on…

The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives on childhood, coping methods and reasons for deciding to major in education among undergraduates with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While the experiences of children and adolescents with ADHD have been the focus of much research, empirical evidence is lacking regarding the…

This study is an attempt to uncover the factors leading students to study in the majors they dislike. Using a qualitative design, the study aims to explore the forces that cause students to make career choices against their will, and to investigate their future plans during their struggles with their parents and disliked majors. The study was…

The purpose of this investigation was to acquire a better understanding of the decision-making process of Thai pre-service music education students and their expectations of their post-graduation professional activities. Demographic data was gathered as well as self-reported participant influences regarding choosing to major in music education. A…

This study was designed to investigate the characteristics and motivations of students entering teacher training by examining the relationship between selected student characteristics and the influences or reasons given for choosing to become a teacher. The sample of 266 students beginning an introduction to education course was found to be…

Preservice teachers could conduct indepth interviews with one or more experienced teachers during the undergraduate program to obtain realistic information about the first year of teaching and the personal and professional changes teachers undergo as they continue to teach. This information would be useful to the preservice teachers in confirming…

Compared academic proficiency levels of high school seniors indicating intention to major in education and seniors intending to major in other areas. Data from the 1992 National Educational Longitudinal Study indicated that seniors choosing education had similar academic abilities to students choosing all other areas. Gender, race, and…

The effects of 15 factors on 81 students' selection of concentration areas in special education were investigated. Six factors were consistently rated high regardless of year and concentration area: ages served, prior work and volunteer experience, curriculum content, site visits provided prior to concentration area selection, job availability,…

To study gender and cohort differences, surveys of male and female preservice elementary and preschool teacher education majors (N=326) examined vocational choice, factors influencing their decision, comfort with that decision, and professional aspirations. Results indicated that males and females were similar in their reasons for selecting…

A major change which has taken place in Singapore is the introduction of full-time teacher training programs to replace part-time programs. This study compared characteristics and motives for teaching of full-time students admitted into the teacher education program in 1981 with those of part-time students of the late 1960s. A background of the…

Changes that occurred between 1972 and 1980 in the intended field of study and occupational aspirations of high school seniors were investigated, along with how successfully seniors attained their aspirations. Background, personal, and school variables associated with selecting each occupation and field among the 1980 seniors were analyzed…

Baseline data were gathered from 316 students in 3-year training programs at 6 New Zealand colleges of education in order to determine why the students chose to go into early childhood education, what early childhood service they expected to work in, and where they would be employed after they completed their training. Of the students who…

This study assessed the differences in Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) scoring patterns among various expected teaching majors for freshmen women enrolled in a required College of Education course designed to aid in their vocational decision-making as it relates to a professional teaching career. The theoretical basis for the VPI centers…