Back to Basics with Teacher Recruitment: what do STEM undergraduates want?

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This qualitative study explores which aspects of teaching attract and deter undergraduate STEM students from entering the profession, and which aspects of the vocation are unknown to undergraduates. Findings from this study suggested that participants were primarily attracted to teaching by the perceived emotional rewards of supporting young people, and that the tangible benefits (e.g., holidays and job stability) made the career desirable. However, participants also felt that there was an imbalance between the pull and push factors of teaching, and, at times, between the pulls of teaching and the pulls of other careers. Workload and negative treatment of teachers were seen as the central deterrents to considering a teaching career; however, we also found that there was a significant knowledge deficit about what teaching entails as a career.