A comparison of student perceptions of the teaching profession at minority-serving and non-minority-serving institutions

Abstract

There is an ongoing shortage of STEM teachers in the United States, and the teaching profession consistently struggles to recruit a diverse body of teachers whose demographics match those of their students. The shortage of STEM teachers and the lack of diversity in the profession have negative implications for student success in STEM fields, particularly among underrepresented groups. We have developed a survey and collected data on student perceptions of the teaching profession at 46 Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) across the country, including several Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). We have analyzed these data with respect to institution type to determine whether perceptions of the profession may be a factor in recruiting and retaining a diverse body of teachers. We found that perceptions generally do not differ greatly between MSIs and non-MSIs and that students at MSIs tend to have slightly more positive views than those at non-MSIs. We also found that some variation exists for individual institution types, particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).