skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: College faculty support for grade 7-12 teaching careers: survey results and comparisons to student perceptions
The United States is facing a critical shortage of grade 7-12 teachers in the STEM disciplines, particularly in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Faculty members play a major role in their students' career choices, and faculty members' perceptions of the profession may determine whether students choose to pursue teaching. To this end, we developed two surveys to measure student and faculty perceptions of grade 7-12 teaching. We found that both groups hold many incorrect beliefs about teaching careers. Furthermore, we found that faculty members believe they are quite supportive of future teachers, while students perceive that they are less supportive. Our findings highlight the need for both faculty members and students to be informed about the benefits of careers in grade 7-12 teaching. Additionally, our results suggest that faculty members should work to dispel their internal biases surrounding the teaching profession, which may inadvertently drive students away from grade 7-12 teaching.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1821710
PAR ID:
10275816
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Editor(s):
Wolf, Steven F.; Bennett, Michael B.; Frank, Brian W.
Date Published:
Journal Name:
2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings
Page Range / eLocation ID:
291 to 296
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; (, 2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings)
    Wolf, Steven F.; Bennett, Michael B.; Frank, Brian W. (Ed.)
    Results from the Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession (PTaP) instrument--which measures views students have of the grade 7-12 teaching career--prompted the development of a parallel instrument to measure the perceptions of the grade 7-12 teaching profession in the eyes of those advising and influencing student opinions of the profession: the faculty. Thirty faculty interviews were conducted across four different institutions of higher education as part of the development of the Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession in Higher Education (PTaP.HE) instrument, which investigates faculty opinions, accuracy of information, and thoughts regarding grade 7-12 teaching. The instrument measures the perceived supportive (or unsupportive) nature of a department towards the teaching profession, guide teacher preparation organizations on how to approach faculty, and correlate students' perceptions with their influencers. Faculty interviews verified statement interpretation consistency, while also providing anecdotal insights into faculty views. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, 2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings)
    Wolf, Steven F.; Bennett, Michael B.; Frank, Brian W. (Ed.)
    Nearly half of STEM majors in the United States express interest in becoming a grade 7-12 teacher, yet as a nation we face a shortage of qualified math and science teachers. Studies have found that misperceptions about grade 7-12 math and science teaching are impacting student career choices. As part of the Get the Facts Out project, this work addresses faculty perceptions of grade 7-12 teaching because faculty play an important role in student career decisions. Additionally, understanding how faculty perceptions of grade 7-12 teaching differ may inform targeted efforts to change perceptions in the future. In this study, nearly 500 college STEM faculty members' perceptions of grade 7-12 teaching were measured using a newly developed survey. Faculty perceptions were then compared based on department affiliation, position type, and gender. No significantly practical differences were found based on these demographics. Implications for STEM teacher recruitment are discussed. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, American Indian Science and Engineering Society National Conference)
    Native American faculty are critical to attracting Native American students into the engineering profession. We are investigating factors related to Native Americans’ pursuit of engineering and the engineering faculty. In a sample of student participants, we have found that initiative, resiliency, leadership, and proactivity are key. Interests in this career path are related to efficacy (confidence) for addressing engineering problems, access to information regarding engineering careers, academic success, encouragement from others, and beliefs about the meaningfulness, value, and usefulness of pursuing engineering and the engineering professorate. In a sample of faculty members, enthusiasm for investigating questions of interest in their engineering fields, and solving problems experienced in their tribal communities, sustain their interest. The love of teaching and mentoring students are also very important. Audience members will be invited to participate and to provide insights about how Native Americans are inspired to study engineering and become engineering faculty. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; (, Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings)
    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). 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Psychology)
    The landscape of graduate science education is changing as efforts to diversify the professoriate have increased because academic faculty jobs at universities have grown scarce and more competitive. With this context as a backdrop, the present research examines the perceptions and career goals of advisors and advisees through surveys of PhD students (Study 1, N  = 195) and faculty mentors (Study 2, N  = 272) in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines. Study 1 examined actual preferences and career goals of PhD students among three options: research careers, teaching careers, and non-academic careers in industry, and compared the actual preferences of students with what they perceived as being the normative preferences of faculty. Overall, students had mixed preferences but perceived that their advisors had a strong normative preference for research careers for them. Moreover, students who ranked research positions as most desirable felt the most belonging in their academic departments. Further analyses revealed no differences in career preferences as a function of underrepresented minority (URM) student status or first-generation (FG) status, but URM and FG students felt less belonging in their academic departments. Study 2 examined faculty preferences for different careers for their advisees, both in general and for current students in particular. While faculty advisors preferred students to go into research in general, when focusing on specific students, they saw their preferences as being closely aligned with the career preference of each PhD student. Faculty advisors did not perceive any difference in belonging between their students as a function of their URM status. Discrepancies between student and faculty perceptions may occur, in part, because faculty and students do not engage in sufficient discussions about the wider range of career options beyond academic research. Supporting this possibility, PhD students and faculty advisors reported feeling more comfortable discussing research careers with each other than either non-academic industry positions or teaching positions. Discussion centers on the implications of these findings for interpersonal and institutional efforts to foster diversity in the professoriate and to create open communication about career development. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email