Teacher education graduates' choice for a career in teaching: A predictive study.

This paper reports on a two-wave survey study in order to identify the predictors of teacher education graduates' decision about whether or not to take a teaching position upon graduation. Based on the social learning theory of career decision making, five categories of predictors are distinguished: personal characteristics, initial motivation for teaching, teacher education, integration into teaching and external influences. To examine the predictive relationship between the (teacher education) variables and graduates' choice on job entry, a prospective research design with two data collection phases is adopted. Student teachers (subsequently graduates) (N = 217) of integrated teacher training for secondary education were surveyed shortly before as well as shortly after graduation. A logistic regression analysis indicates that, even with initial motivation and employment opportunities included in the regression model, we find a positive statistically significant relationship between student teachers' perception of mentor support and their choice for teaching upon graduation.