What Do Future Educators Read and How Do Certain Factors Influence Their Reading Habits: Evidence from Slovenia

In this paper, we present selected findings from a 2024/2025 study on the reading habits of students from two major Slovenian universities enrolled in teacher education programs and compare them with data from a similar study conducted in 2017/2018. Understanding the reading practices of future educators is essential for improving reading engagement in schools and society as a whole. The data obtained from a selected student sample corroborate previous research indicating that early reading socialization—particularly childhood reading within the family, maternal education, and attendance in preschool—are factors positively associated with the number of books read in adulthood. The findings also highlight the important compensatory role of preschools and schools in fostering adult readers, especially in cases where family support for reading is lacking. In certain respects, the reading habits of students have deteriorated compared to the initial study: the time devoted to reading has decreased, and students more frequently choose less demanding texts. Female students read a greater number of books than male students, though their chosen texts tend to be less demanding, while male students more often select more challenging texts. Reading for pleasure and intrinsic motivation to read significantly influence the number of books read.