What Motivates High School Students to Want to Be Teachers? The Role of Salary, Working Conditions, and Societal Evaluations About Occupations in a Comparative Perspective

Abstract

This study examines between-country differences in the degree to which teachers’ working conditions, salaries, and societal evaluations about desirable job characteristics are associated with students’ teaching career expectations. Three-level hierarchical generalized linear models are employed to analyze cross-national data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Results reveal that teacher salaries and societal evaluations about the importance of job responsibility and respect are positively associated with teaching career expectations, while working hours are negatively associated with teaching career expectations. Analyses further reveal that the association between salaries and career expectations and societal evaluations and career expectations differ among students with different mathematics skills. We conclude by discussing policy initiatives that can encourage students with strong quantitative abilities to consider a career in teaching.