Black Undergraduates’ Perceptions of the Costs and Benefits of K-12 Teaching

This article examines how 15 Black undergraduates at a public, flagship university in the U.S. perceived the costs and benefits of pursuing a K-12 teaching career. Participants expressed an interest in teaching but were pursuing non-education majors. Our research is based on a secondary analysis of their focus group interview data, drawn from a larger mixed-methods study, and is guided by the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) scale, cost–benefit theory, and the concept of structural racism. Challenging racial inequality and supporting Black youth and communities was important in participants’ career decisions, and they valued K-12 teaching as a means to contribute to these goals. However, their racialized experiences shaped their perceptions that the costs of K-12 teaching outweighed its benefits and led them to reject this profession. We offer suggestions for research on Black youths’ perceptions of teaching as a career choice and strategies for recruiting them into the profession.