The role of career exploration and subject satisfaction in predicting study subject changes within the first-year of pre-service teacher education

Many pre-service teachers change their study subjects during their first year of higher education, yet little research examines these changes, limiting insight into their educational and career paths. This study, which is theoretically anchored in the social-cognitive model of career self-management, examines how career exploration, including self- and environment exploration, relates to satisfaction with study subjects and to subject changes during the first academic year. The sample of the longitudinal study consisted of N = 1 364 first-year pre-service teachers in Germany. The results from the path analysis indicated that self-exploration prior to entering higher education is positively associated with initial satisfaction of the major and minor subject, while environment exploration is positively associated with changes of the major subject during the first academic year. This study enhances understanding of how career exploration before higher education relates to later major or minor subject changes among pre-service teachers.