Science teacher shortages are reaching critical capacity across the United States and New Jersey. Emerging teacher identity research highlights the impacts that subject matter plays in the development and retention of today's teachers. Strong personal and professional connections to the content area of science directly impact a person's decision to teach in a science content area. The purpose of this study was to examine the ways that identity serves to influence a person's decision to teach in a science and to determine if the tenets of science teacher identity can be used to identify the most effective recruitment strategies. The study was quantitative in nature and was conducted through survey research. The survey was distributed to secondary science teachers in 5 suburban, middle to upper middle-class school districts in New Jersey, and undergraduate pre-service science teachers in one private suburban New Jersey university. The survey instrument was adapted with permission from the original survey based on Chi's 2009 study. Ninety-three participants volunteered to complete the survey. Research data revealed that science teacher identity becomes stronger with increasing years of experience, but no significant differences were found in the responses of males versus females. This data supports and encourages recruitment strategies that are centered around early and frequent science content immersion and fostering a sense of belonging to a community of science professionals. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]