Choosing teaching as a career: perspectives of male and female Malaysian student teachers in training

Abstract

This paper is motivated by concern about the decline in the numbers of males entering the teaching profession in Malaysia. It seeks to explore first year student teachers’ views of teaching as a career choice and to determine the factors that influenced their decision to enter the teaching profession. A total of 425 student teachers completed a questionnaire in which they were asked to rate factors that influenced their decision to become teachers following which a comparison by gender was made. The findings of the study reveal that male and female student teachers have similar motives in selecting teaching as a career. Generally, both groups emphasise altruistic and extrinsic factors. This paper discusses the findings in relation to wider issues concerning gender, and draws conclusions which may be helpful to policy-makers and institutions in the recruitment of students into pre-service teacher training.

Keywords:

• beginning teachers
• pre-service teacher education
• sex differences
• teaching profession

Acknowledgements

The research was carried out in 2006 with Dr Mohammed Sani Ibrahim as the co-researcher. The author wishes to thank Dr Sani for his support and assistance in the survey.