Undergraduates' Views of Teaching as a Career Choice

This study explored undergraduates' views of teaching as a career choice. A total of 298 students completed a questionnaire in which they were asked to rate the importance of 20 factors in influencing their choice of career, and then the extent to which they thought teaching as a career offers these factors. A comparison was made between the views expressed by three groups of students: those who were definitely not considering teaching (N = 102), those who were seriously considering teaching (N = 40), and those who were undecided (N = 155). All three groups rated 'a job that I will find enjoyable' as the most important factor influencing their choice of career. However, as we move from the 'definitely not considering teaching' group towards the 'seriously considering teaching' group, there was a shift towards rating as important in their choice of a career those factors which teaching more evidently offers and a more favourable rating that teaching offers these factors (e.g. 'a job which gives me responsibility', 'a job where I can contribute to society' and 'job mobility'). The students who reported that they could be encouraged to consider teaching as a career were also asked to consider measures that might do so. The most highly rated measure was 'an increase in the quality of resources for teaching'.