DETERMINANTS OF TEACHING AS A CAREER

Beng Huat See[1]

University of York

Heslington

YO10 5DD

Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Manchester, 16-18 September 2004

ABSTRACT

This paper tries to uncover the long and short term determinants of selecting teaching as a career. A questionnaire based upon evidence collected via preliminary focus group and e-mail interviews was employed to identify the key social and economic determinants of the individual’s choice whether to be a teacher or not. A total of 1,845 students and trainees from four tertiary institutions in South-west England and Wales were involved. The study differs from much research in this area by including an explicit comparison between students intending to be teachers and those intending to pursue other careers. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the data collected. The study concludes that the key determinantsof an individual’s likelihood to teach are their family background, the factors they valued in a job and their perceptions of teaching. Financial incentives, although effective in getting those already interested in teaching to take up training, are limited in their impact. Those who are committed to teaching are more likely to be motivated by intrinsic rewards. Those who have never seriously considered teaching, on the other hand, are more likely to be motivated by extrinsic rewards, and to report a negative experience of school. Negative perception of teachers’ pay and their job status are not likely to put off those who are committed to teaching but is a potential deterrent to those who have no inclination to teach.

Financial incentives to train have little influence on those already committed to other careers. In the long run policies could consider the personal characteristics of individuals. For example, publicity campaigns to recruit new teachers could highlight the extrinsic values of teaching. Currently they invariably highlight only the intrinsic appeal of the job. To be maximally effective such campaigns should also highlight those factors which people actually consider important in their career choice. This study reminds us that merely introducing financial incentives to recruit teachers is not enough. Individual decisions to teach depend, to a large extent, on the values attached to a job and perceptions of teaching.

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this paper is to identify important determinants of becoming a teacher. It examines the influence of demographic background, the values people attached to a job and their perceptions of teaching on their career choice. Of interest is the impact of financial incentives for initial teacher training recruitment on people’s choice of teaching as a career. The study involved undergraduates, both teacher trainees and others, and postgraduates, both teacher trainees and those on other professional training routes, in South-west England and Wales.

Many current policies to increase teacher supply have assumed that teacher numbers can be increased by monetary incentives, such as better pay and other financial incentives to recruitment. While these may be effective in the short term, there is evidence that as many as 40% who enter training do not continue to teaching anyway (STRB, 1999). Moreover, these measures are largely based on a ‘universal’ human capital theory of motivation, which does not adequately explain the under-representation of men and people from certain social class and ethnic groups in teaching. Evidence from previous studies suggests that peoples’ choice of career is, to a large extent, influenced by their socio-economic and cultural background and by a relatively permanent view of what is ‘appropriate’ for them (Gorard and Rees, 2002). These social determinants differ from economic and practical factors in being longer term and, therefore, less amenable to a short-term technical fix. They have so far not been explored in previous studies on teacher shortages. For these reasons, this study examines the influence of social-economic background, as determined by parents’ occupations and educational qualifications, sex, ethnicity and type of school attended, each of which might be regarded as formative of their values and norms. Geographical mobility and whether individuals had close family members and friends who are/were teachers were also considered, as was the extent to which current financial inducements in teacher training had an impact on teacher trainees’ decision to go into teaching.

Besides these social determinants, an individual’s decision to go into teaching or not is also believed to be influenced by what they value in a job and their perceptions of teaching (Kyriacou et al., 2002). If we are able to identify those factors which individuals consider important in their choice of career, and highlight the factors in teaching which match these, then we might hope to persuade better qualified students to consider teaching. As Johnson and Birkeland (2003) noted, it is essential to understand people’s concerns and responses, otherwise policymakers and practitioners will continue to introduce what they believe to be promising recruitment and retention strategies with no real effect.

To attract and retain new teachers, a comprehensive strategy that addresses the full range of new teachers’ concerns is required. In this way, under-represented groups such as men, ethnic minority groups and those in shortage subjects can be effectively targeted. This involves a consideration of the career choices made by prospective and potential teachers, as well as by those who have rejected the possibility of teaching. The views of the latter are key in acting as a corrective to the majority of relevant research in this area based only on consideration of teachers and potential teachers - for example, Reid and Caudwell (1997), Bloomfield and Selinger (1994), Fraser et al. (1998), Smithers (1990), Lock (1993), Newson (1993) and Heafford and Jennison (1998). More recent studies on teacher supply by Robinson and Smithers (1998) and Howson (1999) were concerned with student teachers’ reasons for not taking up teaching posts. These studies focused on the motivations of those who had previously made the decision to become school teachers. Few studies have investigated individuals’ reasons for not choosing teaching as a career in the first place. Even fewer studies looked into barriers to entering teaching (e.g. Wellington, 1982; Smithers and Hill, 1989; Finch, 1986). The views of undergraduates who have yet to take up teacher training and who might be attracted by the incentives are usually not sought in UK educational research. This could easily give a very misleading impression about why individuals do not become teachers. In general, the majority of the educational participation literature is based, for very pragmatic reasons, on studies of existing participants, often in the same institution as the researcher. This can give misleading results about the causes of non-participation (Gorard and Rees 2002). Non-participants in any educational endeavour are, ironically, also routinely excluded from research about their non-participation.

METHOD

The study involved 1,845 undergraduate and postgraduate students in four institutions in South Wales and South West England. Four main subject groups (arts and humanities, social sciences, maths and science and vocational) were identified to represent the broad range of undergraduates. Vocational courses included law, accountancy, business studies and sports and leisure management. The overall response rate is 82%.[2] The sample was selected after a re-analysis of all available and historical statistics relating to teacher supply and retention in England and Wales, and of the annual UCAS census data (further details in See et al. 2004).

A self-administered questionnaire survey was used to identify the important factors influencing people’s decisions to go into teaching. The instrument was designed and piloted following a series of preliminary interviews (e-mail and focus group) with potential and trainee teachers. It gathered students’ retrospective life histories, and their reported career decisions, plans and motivations, placing the latter within the context of their longer-term educational and career trajectory.

Logistic regression analysis with forward stepwise entry of predictor variables was used to predict/explain the individual’s intention to be a teacher or not (dichotomous) using all background variables, factors influencing their career choice and their perceptions to teaching as likely predictors. The model is ‘hierarchical’, entering explanatory variables into the model in life order from birth (e.g. family background) through initial education (e.g. where lived at age 16) to the present (e.g. subject studied at university). In this way, each step can only work with the variance left unexplained from previous steps. The final step adds variables for awareness of financial incentives and other recent policies to encourage teacher recruitment.

Cross-tabulation procedures were also used to demonstrate the relationship between these predictor variables and individuals’ career decision. Because of the large sample size (Pallant, 2001) and because the population was not a random sample, a test of significance would not be relevant here (Gorard, 2003). Therefore, the ‘effect’ size was used to standardise differences between groups (Coe, 2002).

FINDINGS

This section is divided into three parts. The first part examines the influence of demographic characteristics on an individual’s decision to teach. The second part looks at the influence of career choice factors, such as the values people attached to a job and their perceptions of teaching. The third part analyses the influence of ITT (initial teacher training) recruitment financial incentives on career choice. The respondents were classified into three groups based on their responses to the question on their career decision:

  • Those who have considered teaching and wanted to be teachers also known as confirmed teachers (30%, N= 550)
  • Those who have seriously considered but decided not to teach, or marginal teachers (34%, N= 621)
  • Those who have never realistically considered teaching and would not want to teach, or non-teachers (37%, N= 674)

Background characteristics and decision to go into teaching

The three groups mean that the regression analysis is multinomial. For simplicity of presentation, I consider here only some of the possible comparisons, focusing on the differences between confirmed teachers and others. The analysis was robust in revealing that the background characteristics that explain most of the differences between groups were an individual’s sex, ethnicity, academic achievements and parental background (Table 1). The coefficients in the table give an indication of how likely someone is to be a teacher or non-teacher. For example, a male is, ceteris paribus, only 10% as likely as a female to be a confirmed teacher rather than a non-teacher, and those who described themselves as White are almost twice (1.8 times) as likely as non-White to be teachers than non-teachers.

Table 1 - Background characteristics differences between teachers and others

Background characteristics / Coefficients
Sex
  • Male
  • Female
/ 0.1
-
Ethnicity
  • White
  • Non-white
/ 1.8
-
Mothers’ qualifications
  • No qualification
  • O-level
  • A-level
  • Degree and higher,
  • Don’t know & no response
/ 1.4
1.2
0.8
0.8
-
Entry qualification
  • A-level
  • A-level and vocational
  • Access
  • Unclassifiable
/ 1.6
0.8
0.9
-
Degree result
  • 2:1 and above
  • 2:2 and below
  • Don’t know and no response
/ 2.0
3.9
-

Those whose mothers have an A-level and equivalent or higher qualification are less likely (0.8) to become teachers than those whose mother’s qualifications are unknown. In general, those with less educated parents are more likely to choose teaching as a career. Those with or expecting a degree graded at 2:2 or below are more likely to become teachers than those with a 2:1 or above, and those for whom no degree result is known. While a degree is now almost a requirement for teacher status, it is generally the least qualified of those eligible who are most likely to be teachers.

Analysis by demographic characteristics shows that students’ decision to teach or not was also found to be related to their subject of study at university. For example, social science students were two and a half times more likely than those doing science and maths to choose teaching as a career. Vocational students in courses other than education were, unsurprisingly, the least likely to have considered teaching. This finding is consistent with that of the Institute for Employment Studies, which found that those in financial subjects, economics, science or law had a lower propensity to enter teaching (House of Commons, 1997, Appendix 5).

Career choice factors and the decision to go into teaching

Careers choice factors refer to those characteristics people look for in a job, and their perceptions of teaching as a career. These are withheld from the model above because they are a current snapshot rather than a reliable retrospective account, and because the causal model linking choice factors and revealed choice is unclear. The logistic regression analysis shows that we can predict/explain with 90% accuracy who are likely to be teachers rather than non-teachers than a non-teacher once these factors are included in the model.

Table 2 shows the career choice factors that explained differences between groups. The factors are listed in descending order starting from the one which explains the most difference between confirmed teachers and non-teachers. These factors are the chance to share knowledge, job satisfaction, length of holidays and the chance to continue in the subject of interest. The coefficient for ‘chance to share knowledge’ means that those who indicate that the chance to share knowledge as quite important are 3.4 times more likely to be teachers than those who did not think it is important. Similarly those who indicate chance of share knowledge as very important are 3.42 (11.6 times) more likely to be teachers than those who think it is not.

Table 2 – Choice factor differences between teachers and others

Factors influencing career choice / coefficients
Chance to share knowledge / 3.4
Job satisfaction / 3.1
Length of holidays / 2.3
Chance to continue interest in own subject / 2.3
Job security / 1.8
Salary / 0.6
Working conditions / 0.5
Status of job / 0.5
Promotion opportunities / 0.5
Intellectual stimulation. / 0.4

Note: these choice factors were rated in importance on scale from 1 to 3 (most important)

Table 2 shows that confirmed teachers differed from non-teachers in the values they attached to a job. While confirmed teachers were more likely to report being motivated by intrinsic factors, such as job satisfaction, the desire to share knowledge and to continue interest in their subject, non-teachers were more likely to value extrinsic factors like salary, promotion opportunities, job status, good working conditions and intellectual stimulation. Other factors motivating confirmed teachers included job security and the length of holidays. These differences suggest that financial incentives, if properly applied, might have persuaded non-teachers to consider teaching as a career. Of course, there is also a danger for those already on vocational courses of rationalising their choice post hoc.

Analysis by subject groups indicates that social science students and teacher trainees were more likely to consider intrinsic factors as very important compared to maths and science and ‘other’ vocational students. Females were also more likely than males to regard these factors as very important. There was no difference between white and non-white. Maths and science and vocational students, on the other hand, were more likely than teacher trainees and social science students to regard extrinsic motivations, such as job status and public perception of job and salary as very important. This, perhaps, explains why students from some subject groups were less likely to want to teach. This is consistent with Smithers and Hill’s (1989) study which found that mathematics and science students were less likely to regard such intrinsic motivation as important in their career decision. They were also more likely to perceive teaching as offering intrinsic rewards and person-oriented satisfaction than extrinsic reward. Mixed science and arts students, on the other hand, were more likely to be people-oriented, and hence more likely to be attracted to teaching.

The three important perceptions of teaching that explained most of the differences between teachers and non-teachers were job satisfaction, teachers’ workload and career prospects (Table 3). Those who perceived teaching as rewarding were 4.5 times as likely as those who did not know or did not answer, and 4.52 (20 times) as likely as those who disagree to be confirmed teachers. Therefore, we might conclude that teaching appealed to confirmed teachers because they believed that teaching could offer them the values they looked for in a job. For example, confirmed teachers were more likely to perceive teaching as a rewarding career than their non-teacher counterparts. They tended to have a more positive perception of teaching. They were more likely to perceive teaching as offering job security, good career prospects and promotion opportunities. They were also more likely to agree that teaching offers the intellectual stimulation they looked for in a job. There is a danger of an element of tautology creeping into the model here. However, the same pattern also appears when the model is run with only that sub-sample who have yet to make a choice.