From Academia to the Classroom: A Grounded Theory Study of Chinese Doctoral Graduates’ Motivation to Teach in Secondary Schools

Abstract

As Chinese doctoral graduates increasingly transition to secondary education, this study explores the potential motivational mechanisms. Employing a grounded theory method, we analyzed the semi-structured interviews of 27 participants in China, we develop a multi-level motivational framework integrating human capital theory and social cognitive theories within a Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) architecture. Findings reveal that push factors and pull factors operate through mooring conditions at both institutional and psychological conditions. Institutional security that is front-loaded interacts with psychological recourses to shape decision pathways. Reconceptualizing the transition as an active occupational recalibration rather than a passive withdrawal from academic precarity, we identify risk timing as a critical temporal mechanism in the PPM process: front-loaded security strengthens the pull toward alternative careers, whereas back-loaded security intensifies the push away from academia. The study illuminates highly skilled labor redistribution and offers implications for teacher workforce policy, and career support in China and comparable Asian contexts.