Promote professional and personal development opportunities to recruit and retain workers in education

Exploring students’ perceptions of teaching as a profession and their motivations for pursuing it can provide valuable insight for developing effective policies aimed at enhancing teacher recruitment efforts. Although the topic of recruiting and retaining workers in education is not new, most previous studies have sought the views of teachers instead of students to understand why people choose teaching as a career. This paper aims to study students’ perceptions and attitudes toward professional and personal development opportunities that can be offered to undergraduate students. These opportunities include paid internships, teacher assistant positions, and training to recruit and retain educators. We analyzed qualitative and quantitative survey responses from 89 students in various majors at a prominent Canadian public university. The survey analysis shows that interventions such as enhanced training and professional development opportunities, financial benefits, and increasing the availability of resources for entering a teaching career may help attract more students into teaching. The outcomes of this study provide insight into potential adjustments needed to attract a larger and more diverse cohort of students pursuing careers in education.