An Exploration of the Pay Levels Needed to Attract Students with Mathematics, Science and Technology Skills to a Career in K-12 Teaching

Authors

  • Anthony Milanowski University of Wisconsin-Madison

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v11n50.2003

Keywords:

Salary, Motivation, Teaching

Abstract

In an exploratory study (Note 1) of the role of salary level and other factors in motivating undergraduate math, science, and technology majors to consider a career as a K-12 teacher, the salary level students said would motivate them to consider a career in teaching was related to the salary expected in their chosen non-teaching occupation, but not to three of the Big 5 personality dimensions of extroversion, agreeableness, and openness, nor concern for others or career risk aversion. An annual starting salary 45% above the local average would attract 48% of the sophomore students and 37% of the juniors. Focus group results suggested that low pay was an important reason for not considering K-12 teaching, but that perceived job demands and abilities and interests were also important reasons for not being attracted to a teaching career.

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Author Biography

Anthony Milanowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Anthony Milanowski is an Associate Researcher with the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) and a participating faculty member of the Industrial Relations Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997. Prior to joining CPRE, he worked in human resource management for 16 years, primarily with the Wisconsin Department of Employment Relations. His current research interests include teacher performance evaluation, pay system innovations, and the teacher labor market.

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Published

2003-12-27

How to Cite

Milanowski, A. (2003). An Exploration of the Pay Levels Needed to Attract Students with Mathematics, Science and Technology Skills to a Career in K-12 Teaching. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11, 50. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v11n50.2003

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Section

Articles