Factors influencing the choice of a teaching career in Chilean technical-vocational secondary schools

Abstract

Unlike general education teachers (GET), vocational education teachers (VET) choose school teaching as a second career after achieving experience in the labor market. This article examines their distinctive motivations and perceptions in the exercise of the teaching profession, using an adapted version of a model of factors influencing the choice of teaching as a career (FIT-Choice). We applied the model to a sample of 1,117 GET and VET in Chilean vocational schools. We found that both types of teachers concur in reporting intrinsic and altruistic motivations, in addition to the ability to teach, as the main determinants of the choice of teaching. On the other hand, VET also value the personal utility that teaching reports, so they exhibit multiple motivations for exercising their profession to a greater extent. Even though entering into teaching was not an alternative sought, this came from “circumstances” that occurred in their professional career. Based on these findings, we provide policy recommendations for teacher attraction to vocational schools that recognize the distinctive profile of VET.