WHY THEY CHOOSE A TEACHING CAREER? FACTORS MOTIVATING CAREER CHOICE AMONG ESTONIAN AND FINNISH STUDENT TEACHERS

Abstract

There are problems with the recruitment and retention of teachers in many countries. Several factors in the environment can influence these decisions. The current study compared factors that motivated Estonian and Finnish student teachers in their career choice, including perceptions about teaching work. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on a sample of 718 Estonian and 322 Finnish students and measurement invariances were tested. The results with latent means comparison revealed six significant differences between the countries in terms of motivational factors; Estonian respondents gave higher ratings for all of them. As for perceptions, satisfaction with choice, status and salary were rated higher by Finnish student teachers, while expertise, social dissuasion and difficulty of the work were rated higher by Estonian students.