A report is given of a series of qualitative studies conducted to clarify the market patterns of career choice and expectation, recruitment and selection, turnover and mobility, and working conditions and career alternatives of public school teachers. A study of the career expectations of noneducation college students was also made. These studies…

A survey of preservice and inservice teachers in ten southeastern states was conducted to identify perceptions of teaching as a career opportunity. Differences in perceptions were calculated on the basis of sex, race, and grade level certification. Discriminating factors associated with preservice and inservice teachers were categorized on the…

A study sought to determine whether the perception of sex bias influences a woman's decision to teach vocational agriculture. Separate questionnaires were administered to female secondary vocational agriculture students, female university students enrolled in agricultural education, and female vocational agriculture teachers. Each of the…

A decrease in minorities in the teaching profession is likely to occur at a time when the school-age population will be more than 30% minority. If the decrease continues, young blacks will be deprived of role models and a special caring that is irreplaceable. (MLW)

Reflects on interviews with teachers who were asked reasons for choosing teaching as an occupation, their perceptions of teachers' major functions and purposes within the classroom, and how these coincide or conflict with their perceptions of self. (MLF)

This paper reports on a survey of approximately one-third of Jamaican teachers in training. The study factor analyzed the motivations these trainees gave for choosing the teaching profession. Results are compared with those of the last major survey 10 years earlier. To determine some possible reasons, 130 students were interviewed by staff members…

Three selection phases were found in a study investigating the selection process of students into the teaching profession: (1) self selection by the potential teacher; (2) admission to the teacher-training program; and (3) election to undergo the course of instruction. Results suggest that personality traits are more important than cognitive…

This 1977 replication of a 1972 survey sought to determine if recent improvements in teaching conditions and benefits had affected Nigerian high school graduates' attitudes toward primary teaching as a career. (SJL)

Using a variant of the life-history method, researchers examined employment patterns and career motives of 40 prospective late-entry teachers. Interviews indicated that subjects were drawn primarily by teaching's intrinsic rewards. Socioeconomic concerns and self-fulfillment accounted for most of the decisions to leave previous occupations. (SM)

This is essentially a qualitative study, a fact-finding activity to gather, analyze, and interpret evidence of student motivation in completing the terminal degree in Estonia. It uses a variety of interpretive research methodologies appropriate for a phenomenological approach. Thirteen doctoral candidates who defended their doctoral thesis…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal-Form S was a reliable and valid instrument to measure critical thinking for students pursuing a teacher career. The participants were 137 students enrolled in Educational Psychology. The data showed that the alpha for the total WGTA-FS was 0.76 and…

Any strategic plan to address the predicted shortage of teachers will have to include the promotion of the teaching profession as an attractive career. This will, however, depend largely on how successfully the campaign takes into account the favourable and less favourable opinions and perceptions of learners about the education system as a whole…

Findings of a study that determined factors of beginning teachers' work and career choice commitment and retention are presented in this paper. The data consisted of a nationally representative sample of first-year K-12 public and private, full- and part-time teachers derived from the 1987-88 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). The final subsample…

This research evaluated the desirability of science teaching as a career as rated by eighth grade students. An instrument was developed on which respondents placed their own choice of best and worst possible careers as endpoints on a 10 point scale. Forty-five additional careers, including careers in science teaching, science, and teaching of…

This paper describes a program, developed and instituted in the College of Education at Arizona State University, for entry-level education students which helps them assess themselves and their commitment, strengths, and needs related to teaching as a career. The self-assessment program contains several components including an…