Gender in the Teaching Profession: University Students’ Views of Teaching as a Career

Abstract

The purpose of our research is to gain a better insight into what encourages young adults, in particular young women, to enter the teaching profession. The empirical part of the article is based on a pilot study including 132 students, with data collection being based on a survey approach using a questionnaire. The research attempts to address the context from whichthe desired characteristics of pre-service teachers with regard to their future employment arise. We have therefore tried to single out factors influencing the choice of teaching as a career, and to examine pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards the reputation of female and male teachers. The data obtained confirm the thesis that the predominance of women  in the teaching profession(s) is an effect of the harmonisation of the female respondents’ habitus and their perception of the field they are entering. The perception of the teaching profession as a vocation (calling) that can be linked to the concepts of caring, giving and helping also proves to be very important. The data also confirms the thesis that the orientation towards life and work balance is important to our respondents of both genders.