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Exploring Motivations for Becoming Science and Mathematics Teachers in Australia","","There is an identified shortage of mathematics and science teachers across Australia, with many leaving the profession within 3 to 5 years after graduating. The study examines motivations for becoming science and mathematics teachers using two surveys: one on students considering teaching and another on teachers’ entry motivations. Descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rho show contribution to society and love of the subject as top motivators, while financial reward and parental occupation are less selected.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/why-become-a-teacher-exploring-motivations-for-becoming-science-and-mathematics-teachers-in-australia/593996/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/why-become-a-teacher-exploring-motivations-for-becoming-science-and-mathematics-teachers-in-australia/593996.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Franzy","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does this paper focus on science and mathematics teacher shortages in Australia?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It addresses a well-documented crisis in Australian schools, where shortages are predicted to worsen and are particularly acute in Queensland. The paper highlights the urgency of increasing pre-service teachers and making teaching an attractive option.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the study investigate motivations to become a teacher?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It uses data from two surveys—one examining why students might become teachers and another examining why teachers joined the profession. It analyzes results with descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rho.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which factors are identified as leading motivators in the results?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Contribution to society and love of the subject area are among the top motivators for becoming a teacher. 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Exploring Motivations for Becoming Science and Mathematics Teachers in Australia\u003Cbr>Chrystal Whiteford QUT\u003Cbr>Nick Kelly\u003Cbr>QUT\u003Cbr>Les Dawes\u003Cbr>QUT\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte)\u003Cbr> Part of the Higher Education Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons, and the Secondary Education and Teaching Commons |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nWhiteford, C., Kelly, N., & Dawes, L. (2021) . Why Become a Teacher? Exploring Motivations for Becoming Science and Mathematics Teachers in Australia. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 46(3) .  \n[http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2021v46n3.1](http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2021v46n3.1)  \n[This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.](This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.)[ ](This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.)[https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol46/iss3/1](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol46/iss3/1)  \nWhy Become a Teacher? Exploring Motivations for Becoming Science and  \nMathematics Teachers in Australia.  \nChrystal Whiteford  \nNick Kelly  \nLes Dawes  \nQueensland University of Technology  \nAbstract: There is an identified shortage of mathematics and science teachers across Australia and many of these teachers leave the  \nprofession within 3 to 5 years of graduating. This paper provides important insights on what motivates people to become science and mathematics teachers in Australia. Data drawn from two surveys, one investigating why students might become a teacher and the other examining why teachers joined the profession, are explored to provide unique insight into an area of need. Using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rho, results suggest contribution to society and love of subject area to be among the top motivators for becoming a teacher.  \nFinancial reward and parental occupation were found to be less  \nselected motivators. Although diferences existed between the two cohorts suggesting motivations may change, similarities provide focus for future recruitment and retention ofscience and mathematics  \nteachers for higher education institutions and education policy  \nmakers.  \nIntroduction  \nThere is a well-documented crisis within Australian schools predicted to worsen incoming years, that is, the shortage of science and mathematics teachers (Australian Government Productivity Commission, 2012; Weldon, 2015) . This problem is most acute in the state of Queensland, where 76 % of secondary principals reported mathematics and science classes taught by teachers without relevant science or mathematics majors (Australian Education Union, 2016) . This shortage adds urgency and impetus for increasing the number of pre-service science and mathematics teachers (Guarino, Santibanez, & Daley, 2006; Plunket & Dyson, 2011) . There are no simple solutions to this issue, with barriers to a teaching career beginning with personal experiences in high school (Lyons et al., 2012; Queensland Audit Office, 2013; Office of Queensland Chief Scientist, 2016). Providing incentives for prospective teachers, and, in particular, making mathematics and science teaching an attractive option, have been proposed as potential strategies to alleviate this issue.  \nThe challenge of attracting students to teaching degrees and retaining qualified science and mathematics teachers has been intensifying. Over the past two decades there has been increased interest in exploring the motivations driving individuals to choose teaching asa career. Uncovering motivations can drive recruitment and retention directions, directly assisting with increased numbers of science and mathematics teachers. The motivations that influence the choice of teaching as a career are usually broken down into intrinsic and extrinsic factors, where the former are seen as the most important reasons behind deciding to  \nteach (e.g., ","cbCaih87NtoLDVUy","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaih87NtoLDVUy","pdf",424657,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction","[{\"question\":\"Why does this paper focus on science and mathematics teacher shortages in Australia?\",\"answer\":\"It addresses a well-documented crisis in Australian schools, where shortages are predicted to worsen and are particularly acute in Queensland. The paper highlights the urgency of increasing pre-service teachers and making teaching an attractive option.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the study investigate motivations to become a teacher?\",\"answer\":\"It uses data from two surveys—one examining why students might become teachers and another examining why teachers joined the profession. It analyzes results with descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rho.\"},{\"question\":\"Which factors are identified as leading motivators in the results?\",\"answer\":\"Contribution to society and love of the subject area are among the top motivators for becoming a teacher. Financial reward and parental occupation are found to be less selected.\"}]","Why Become a Teacher? Exploring Motivations for Becoming Science and Mathematics Teachers in Australia | PDF",1792078334]