Exploring Korean College of Education Pre-service Teacher Persistence Toward a Teaching Career: Quantitative Analysis of Reasons and Factors for Persisting

Abstract

Teacher attrition is a global concern. Because motivation drives a teacher to persist in their teaching career and affects their effectiveness, persistence among pre-service teachers is important. This exploratory study (N = 55) of college of education students at a university in metropolitan Seoul, South Korea, using survey data, used (a) independent samples t-test to determine reasons for persisting and (b) correlation analysis among demographics and five persistence factors: Academic Integration, Social Integration, Supportive Service Satisfaction, Degree Commitment, and Academic Conscientiousness to understand persistence to a teaching career. The main motivation, job security, moderately correlated with two persistence factors while general interest in the subject and English proficiency positively associated with all persistence factors. The higher students assessed their English proficiency, the more they did not wish to become a teacher because of “salary.” More frequent and earlier teaching practicums and capitalizing on the Halo Effect are discussed for positive results.

Keywords

CPQ factors English proficiency pre-service teachers quantitative analysis salary

The issue of teacher motivation is important. Motivation in a teacher indicates satisfaction in their work and enhances self-esteem and self-actualization, which motivate and improve students’ educational opportunities (Kotherja, 2013). Investigation of pre-service teachers’ (PST) motivation to persist toward a teaching career is also warranted. In other words, it is important to learn about values, interests, beliefs, and expectancies that influence PST decisions to both pursue and persist toward a teaching career (Watt & Richardson, 2012). Padhy et al. (2015) found a number of significant factors that influenced students’ perceptions of teaching as a career choice: students (a) expect an enjoyable and positive work environment with faculty and staff, (b) feel they can work with others, and (c) want to share knowledge. A commissioned report by the Queensland College of Teachers (Gore et al., 2015), however, found few studies on teaching as a first career. In addition, there were no studies from South Korea, herein Korea, included in the report. The current study on Korean PST then adds to research on factors influencing the choice of and the persistence toward a teaching career.

The commissioned report (Gore et al., 2015) presented the meta-analysis of six teaching as a first career studies between 2005 and 2015 collectively. Studies on choosing teaching as a subsequent career from 25 nations revealed several key influences on the choice of teaching. These were: (a) the influence of others such as family, peers, and role models; (b) motivation (intrinsic, altruistic, and extrinsic); (c) a fallback career; (d) socio-cultural influences such as social roles; and (e) prevailing economic conditions and job opportunities. The report also concluded that previous studies largely overlooked the demographic characteristics, besides gender, of study participants. To supplement global findings, this study explores Korean college of education PST demographics and their persistence toward teaching as a first career.

While other places in the world have reported a shortage of pre- and in-service teachers (Kim & Corcoran, 2018), Korea resembles Ireland in that it does not have trouble attracting teachers; a secondary education teaching career is a highly sought-after profession (Hennessy & Lynch, 2017). Colleges of education make an effort to recruit the academically top students and train education majors to become secondary school teachers. Transfers among tertiary institutions in Korea also occur on occasion, but generally upon being admitted to a tertiary institution, students complete their degree at that institution. Education students who wish to change their specialty (i.e., their place of admissions) must retake the Collegiate Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT) or double major. Only students who meet requisite conditions are eligible to apply for a double major program. In other words, the path to becoming a secondary school teacher in Korea is demanding.

There are various tertiary paths to become a secondary school teacher in Korea, such as graduation from a national university of education, of which there are nine, or obtaining a post graduate certificate of education. This study examines graduates from a private university college of education, of which there are 10, whose purpose is to train and cultivate competent secondary school teachers through a 4-year diploma program. Most colleges of education classes are restricted to students majoring in education or as a second major or minor. Once PST have completed specialty content courses and teaching profession theory, as well as a teaching practicum, upon graduation, students receive both a bachelor’s degree and a second-grade regular teacher certificate. Graduates who wish to work as public secondary school teachers must then go on to pass an extremely competitive national teachers’ appointment test. In 2020, the number of public secondary school teacher general recruitment positions was 6,271 for the nation, but there were 54,620 grade II teacher certificate applicants, which is a competition rate of 8.71 to 1 (Teacher Appointment Heeso Ssamplus, 2020). Investigating the career identity of PST in Korea, Park (2017) found that over half of Korean students in the college of education have career identity and need support. In an interview, Kim, a first-year college of education student who had applied for several universities during admissions season and was only accepted to a college of education, stated they did not want to be a teacher. Kim planned to retake the CSAT but would return to the college of education if the second attempt was unsuccessful (Kim, 2015). Viewing teaching as a fallback career is not unique to Korea, though. Studies in other nations have also found teaching to be considered a fallback career (Klassen et al., 2011).

In recent years, the number of public school students has rapidly decreased. Where there were once, for instance 20 to 30 students per class, there are now only 15 students in each classroom due to the declining population (Kim, 2018; Park, 2018). This has caused some education students to view their teaching career as unnecessary. In 2018, only 31.8% of Korean education majors went on to work in education after graduating (Kim, 2020). In addition, the difficulty level of the teachers’ appointment test, the test competition rate, and the government’s plan to reduce new teacher hires, are major obstacles to becoming a teacher in Korea (Kim, 2018). Among individuals in Korea who passed the secondary school teacher appointment test in 2020, only 22% were hired in 2021 (Choi, 2021). Other PST opt to forgo the time and cost of preparing for the test. Instead, they seek to acquire other licenses, certificates, and training or double-major to prepare other employment options (Hur, 2020).

Studies have examined the causes of and the ways to reduce dropout (Herfter et al., 2015), but as discussed above, Korean students will typically complete their degree at the institute where they were admitted. For this reason, the current study, while adding to global research on teaching as a first career, is also unique. It sheds light on the motivation for and persistence toward a teaching career in the Korean tertiary context despite barriers, which may not parallel those in other nations. Moreover, examination of persistence in teacher preparation among PST is important to prepare high quality teachers, and it helps identify factors that keep students in education (Kim & Corcoran, 2018), regardless of the country.

Motivation and Persistence Background

Teacher retention is influenced by motivation (Fokkens-Bruinsma & Canrinus, 2014). Three motivational theories: Expectancy-Value Theory, Achievement Goal Theory, and Self-determination Theory, have been modified to include teacher motivation (Richardson et al., 2014). The first, Expectancy-Value Theory, modified for teachers, is a theoretical framework that includes both beliefs and costs in a specific context of teachers’ instructional decisions (Day, 2021). The second, Achievement Goal Theory, concerns beginning teachers’ burnout and turnover related to an individual’s achievement framework of response to a situation. Supporting teachers’ achievement goals may increase retention (Li, Liu et al., 2021). The third and the background to this study, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) connects social context and individual differences that encourage different types of motivation.

SDT argues that different motivations are instrumental in self-regulation, and it is often employed in teacher motivation studies (Liu et al., 2020; Perlman, 2013). It is a critical motivation theory in education research in which motivation is based on competence, autonomy, and relatedness, and motivation ranges from intrinsic, for itself, to extrinsic to achieve goals (Kolleck, 2019). SDT also relates altruism to autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction (Haynes et al., 2021). This study focuses on the three motivation factors recognized since the 1960s as effective motivations for preferring a teaching career (Alexander et al., 2020). They are: (a) intrinsic—enjoyment and satisfaction; (b) altruistic—benefit society and help students; and (c) extrinsic—desirable career aspects such as social status, salary, and job security (Heinz, 2015).

In their review of studies from Europe, Australia, China, and the US, Fokkens-Bruinsma and Canrinus (2014) found most studies focused on intrinsic and altruistic motivation toward teaching. However, there are other factors that research has considered including students’ belief in their own teaching skills, family influences, and social-cultural considerations (Heinz, 2015). As such, recognizing differences in host nations’ cultures, PST preparatory training, and motivation factors influence the desire to persist toward a teaching career, the scope of the study is expanded from motivation factors to include their degree of relation to persistence factors. Kim and Corcoran (2018) investigating the role of persistence factors among PST found overall, engagement positively predicted persistence, and among individual factors, PST with higher grades were more likely to persist whereas males were less likely.

Persistence, however, is a difficult term to define concretely. For instance, there are eight terms: attrition, dismissal, dropout, mortality, persistence, retention, stopout, and withdrawal, in Berger et al. (2012) that describe voluntary or involuntary education continuation. Tinto’s Model of Dropout Process took into consideration individual background, expectation, and motivation. Bean’s Model of Student Attrition resembles Model of Dropout Process but has four clear differences: (a) the social-psychological aspect, (b) final goals are influenced by initial goals, (c) dropping out is directly affected by grades, and (d) commitment to goals and institution (Kerby, 2015). Using the Model of Student Attrition and other retention theories and models, Davidson et al. (2009) advocated for individualization because students drop out for many reasons, both personal and institutional. They developed and validated the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ) to provide reliable persistence factors that offer useful information to assess, distinguish, and predict students’ persistence. Use of CPQ will provide educators and researchers in Korea fresh perspectives on PST persistence toward a teaching career and supplement globally the lack of information on Korean pre-service teachers.

Research Aims

In the Korean context, the likelihood students would persist in their university studies or re-enroll after stopping is high (Han, 2018). This, though, does not imply PST would continue toward a teaching career. Understanding motivation factors that support PST to remain or to withdraw from a teaching career and persistence factors from the Korean context, overall, could add to existing research on PST and provide comparative findings for studies on persistence toward a teaching career. More specifically, the purpose of the study was to investigate demographics and the motivation factors why Korean PST remain in or exit from the profession. After this investigation, using the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ)—CPQ factor scores and single items can illuminate reasons a student leaves, in this study’s case, a career in teaching (Davidson et al., 2009)—the study explored relations between persistence factors and reasons because identifying students who will persist is useful resource allocation data.

The research questions for this study were:

What motivation factors (a) support PSTs to remain in the profession or (b) cause exits from the profession?

Do the motivation factors differ by background and demographics?

What relations exist between college persistence factors and motivation factors?

Literature Review

Motivation to Become a Teacher

In Richter et al. (2021) career goals and social benefit were found to have the strongest connection of four related motivations: career goals, social benefit, interesting work, and chance. In contrast, social influence ranked as one of the least important reasons while working with children and adolescents ranked in the top three most important motives for becoming a teacher in the Fokkens-Bruinsma and Canrinus (2014) study. They recommended further investigation of the intrinsic worth of teaching finding because: (a) students with intrinsic motivation would benefit teacher education and (b) previous research has indicated secondary school PST tend to be more motivated by the love of the subject-matter. Unlike that study, investigating motivation among EFL pre-service teachers in Korea, Jeong (2016)found respondents (73.6%) replied that being a teacher would help their students’ future. In the Davis et al. (2019) study, most PST were motivated to teach, but other professions had better working conditions. Examining other demographic factors, studies found: (a) males had mercenary-based extrinsic motives (Yüce et al., 2013), attached more importance to spare time, holidays, and enjoying an active social life (Struyven et al., 2013), and emphasized less the importance of job security (Azman, 2013); (b) friends and parents influenced consideration of a teaching as a career (Azman, 2013); (c) teaching practicums, which allow PST to put theory into practice (Darling-Hammond, 2014), increased professional identity which in turn increased professional commitment (Zhao & Zhang, 2017); and (d) years of preparatory education can lead to a decline in teacher efficacy—belief in their capability to motivate and teach students (Woodcock, 2011). Furthermore, while teacher certificate assessments are believed to improve teacher quality, one study found they: (a) limited professional diversification, (b) imposed a financial burden and (c) perpetuated unrealistic expectations (Siegel et al., 2020).

Persistence Among University Students

There is much research on factors that contribute to university student persistence. One study on 62 high-risk undergraduate students from nine different colleges when asked said faculty are the primary reason they persist (Schreiner et al., 2011). Research has found a number of additional variables influencing students’ persistence through university degree completion. They include performance (Stewart, Lim et al., 2015), social support and influence (Roksa & Kinsley, 2019), gender (Francesconi & Parey, 2018), subject satisfaction and self-efficacy (Lent et al., 2016), and institution support (Cho & Karp, 2013). Students’ reasons for dropping out are varied, and persistence was not significantly predicted by most demographic variables such as gender, age, and GPA (Willging & Johnson, 2019).

Persistence among Pre-service Teachers

According to OECD (2019), 80% of Korean teachers said teaching was their first career choice and they joined the profession to influence children’s development or contribute to society. Moreover, 67% of teachers believed the profession is valued in society (OECD, 2020). Additionally, a report commissioned by the Ministry of Education in Korea, found “teacher” to be the top desired occupation among both lower and upper secondary school students for 2017 and 2018, and the top reason for wanting to be a teacher was “I like it” (Song, Gang et al., 2018). Kim and Han (2006) argued that for the Korea context, however, attracting excellent teachers requires more than emphasizing the vocation. The excessive demands and poor working conditions at the lower applicant level, as well as morale and enthusiasm concerns have been reported in other nations. For instance, Hong (2007) reported that in the US, emotional burnout for in-service teachers due to excessive work and feeling responsible for students’ learning was linked to micro-politics. In other words, factors affecting persistence toward a teaching career are important, irrespective of country.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2016) states that: within 14 years 68.8 million primary and secondary teachers will be needed, with 44.4 million secondary teachers needed by 2030. Many PSTs interested in teaching do not persist. Pre-service teachers’ planned persistence has been found to be related to variables such as predicted ability, intrinsic career value, making a social contribution, and career choice satisfaction (Fokkens-Bruinsma & Canrinus, 2014). For instance, with the high number of Germany PST discontinuing on to a teaching career, Powazny and Kauffeld (2021) examined PST social support networks and found students may drop out if a person they respect disapproves of their choice. The Netherlands also has large numbers of PST who do not persist toward a teaching career, and Meens and Bakx (2019) found that originally motivated students may become disappointed during teacher training. The same study found content and organization of the program affected their decision as well as a too high or too low difficulty level. Additionally, the meta-analysis by Chesnut and Burley (2015) revealed that pre- and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy affected teaching commitment.

Role of Pre-service Education

Interest in the subject-matter has also been found to be an important factor for choosing a teaching career (Menzies et al., 2015). Moreover, new teacher satisfaction with teaching the subject improves intrinsic, external, and extrinsic motivation (Shin et al., 2007). PST education has been found to be a key element predicting intention to leave the profession (Kelly et al., 2019). It has been found to significantly increase PST perceptions of preparedness and sense of teaching efficacy (Brown et al., 2015). In some countries, PST do not feel properly prepared to perform their role as a teacher, so (a) mentoring, (b) a curriculum that connects with theory and practice, and (c) research with an organized introduction could better enable novice teacher to adjust to a changing field (Goodwin et al., 2014). Studies have found positive benefits of the role of teachers in the training of pre-service teachers (Darling-Hammond et al., 2012; Mason, 2013). Richter et al. (2021) argued that in Germany, because the in-service teachers must complete a training program, it required a deliberate decision to become a teacher. Similarly, in the Korea context, investigation of science secondary school PST education also found: (a) teaching-related experiences were effective in preparing for the job of teacher and building self-image as a teacher and (b) actual experience teaching the subject, such as tutoring or being a teaching assistant, helped them discover their teaching ability (Chang & Lee, 2011).

Method

Participants

The survey was completed by 55 Korean college of education PST: males 36.4% (n = 20) and 63.6% females (n = 35). Fifty-two were Korean nationals (94.5%) and four claimed a nationality other than Korean (7.3%). Participants were separated into two categories, a grouping for fourth year students (n = 18, 32.7%) and a grouping consisting of first, second, and third year students (n = 37, 67.3%). The data may appear small, but in order to control the heterogeneity of the PST program, it was sampled from students at one university during the same semester. Furthermore, annual admissions to the various departments within colleges of education at Korean universities typically on average range from 20 to 40 (Korean Council for University Education, 2021). At the university where this study was conducted, the average admissions is 26 students per department. The sample is small, but it is a preliminary study and future similar studies can be performed for a meta-analysis. For these reasons, the available sample size is sufficient for a preliminary study (Lakens, 2022).

While 41 (74.5%) participants claimed to have had teaching experience (tutoring, cram school, etc.), 14 (25.5%) had no such experience. Also, 27.3% (n = 15) said they had completed their requisite teaching practicums and 72.7% (n = 40) responded that they had not yet done their practicum.

Participants’ subjective English proficiency was reported as: advanced (n = 9, 16.4%), high intermediate (n = 18, 32.7%), intermediate (n = 26, 47.3%), high beginner (n = 1, 1.8%), and beginner (n = 2, 3.6%). Their self-reported academic performance (GPA) was: greater than 4.0 (n = 13, 23.6%), 3.5 to 4.0 (n = 23, 41.8%), 3.0 to 3.5 (n = 15, 27.3%), 2.5 to 3.0 (n = 4, 7.3%), and 2.0 to 2.5 (n = 1, 1.8%). The mean and standard deviation for English proficiency and academic performance are 3.48 (0.87) and 4.78 (0.96), respectively.

Survey Instrument

Guyatt (1993) presented three ways to adapt an instrument’s cultural appropriateness. They are: (a) translation, (b) used as a template or guide, and (c) modified for cultural appropriateness. The present study administered a survey that adopted five factors from the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ) developed by Davidson et al. (2009). CPQ is a valid, reliable, and well-established validated instrument (Davidson et al., 2009; García-Ros et al., 2019). The survey was offered in English and Korean to allow participants to respond in a preferred language, accounting for the role of language (Sha & Gabel, 2020). The five factors of CPQ that were adopted, using the same name, for this study were (a) Academic Integration (AI: engaged and satisfied with lectures, faculty care, interest in classroom discussion, and connection between classes and careers), (b) Social Integration (SI: based on interactions with the campus environment, how students change both inside and outside the university classroom), (c) Supportive Services Satisfaction (SS: how well a school meets students’ out of classroom needs affects student attitudes), (d) Degree Commitment (DC: the importance of the diploma), and (e) Academic Conscientiousness (AC: how hard a student is willing to work in each class).The CPQ factor Institutional Commitment (loyalty to and confidence in university choice) was omitted as culturally inappropriate for reasons previously discussed.

The survey was uploaded onto online education lecture classrooms during the second semester of 2020 and made available for students to access from week 12 of the 15-week semester to the end of December. Students were introduced to the link on the online lecture room after being explained the purpose of the study. Students read the purpose of the survey once more upon clicking the link and were requested to either agree to participate or disagree to exit the survey. In accordance with research procedures, students were assured that no identifying personal data was being collected, that their responses were made anonymously, and that survey responses would only be used in this study. All respondents gave informed consent to voluntarily participate.

The study survey, in addition to adopting scales from CPQ, included items that investigated reasons created in advance for persisting toward a teaching career such as “inspire the future generation” and “teaching is different from learning,” reasons most often expressed by PST to the researcher during lecture discussions in years prior to the study. To allow participants to provide answers that differed from the possible listed options, they were provided the option of “other” and asked to report alternative reasons for persisting or not persisting in the teaching profession. The survey was reviewed and translated by a bilingual (Korean-English) pedagogical expert. Items were assessed on a 5-point Likert scale and CPQ items were modified in that direct references were made to education and the pursuit of being a teacher, for instance, There is a connection between what I am learning in class and my future career as a teacher, and At this moment in time, I am committed to using my college of education degree to become a teacher.

Data Analysis

To investigate the above research objectives, (a) independent samples t-test was used because it allows a comparison of two population means, (b) a Chi-square test of independence was performed because it determines whether statistically significant difference exists between expected and observed frequencies among contingency table categories, and last, (c) correlation analysis was performed because it reveals the strength of relations between variables. First, the independent samples t-test was used to compare significant motivation mean differences between groups classified by (a) gender and (b) requisite teaching practicum experience, because gender and teaching practicum experience are divided into two exclusive groups. Second, a Chi-square test of independence was done to examine the association between (a) school year and (b) those who do not wish to persist toward a teaching career, for the observations by group according to (a) and (b) are mutually exclusive. Next, correlation analysis was conducted to confirm the relationship between each motivation reason for persisting to be a teacher and English proficiency, academic performance, and five persistence factors.

Results

Data analysis results for the three research questions: (1) What motivation factors (a) support PSTs to remain in the profession or (b) cause exits from the profession, (2) do the motivation factors differ by background and demographics, and (3) what relations exist between college persistence factors and motivation factors are presented next.

Motivation Factors to Remain or Exit from the Profession

Table 1 presents participants’ reasons for persevering to be a teacher. The top reason was job security, followed by subject-matter interest, working with and taking pride in students’ achievement and success, and longer holidays than other professions. Results also show that while intrinsic and altruistic reasons are important, extrinsic reasons have greater probability influence. Various motivations were offered by participants for waiving a teaching career. Similar reasons were grouped together. “Teacher recruitment & appointment test burden” (n = 42) was used as a variable and examined in relation to “others” (n = 13). It is interesting that extrinsic aspects are motivations to persist toward a teaching, but at the same time, not persist.

Table 1.

Motivation Factors for Teaching Career Persistence.

Reason for Persistence to a Teaching Career		Mean	s.d.
Intrinsic	General interest in the subject	3.84	1.01
	Self-perceived aptitude for the subject	3.62	1.11
	Importance of subject in a globalized world	3.62	1.11
	Passion for the subject	3.47	1.21
	Program interest	3.40	1.12
	Enjoy learning (lifelong learner)	3.38	1.19
	Teaching practicum experience	2.69	1.43
Extrinsic
Career Aspects	Job security	4.18	0.92
	Longer holidays than other professions	3.67	1.16
	Job possibility	3.07	1.26
	Discovery that I can pursue other job possibilities with my degree	2.98	1.33
	Salary	2.44	1.15
Influence of Others	Professor advisor	2.60	1.16
	Parental influence (indirect) opinion/action/attitude	2.87	1.22
	Peer influence (indirect) opinion/action/attitude	2.49	1.26
	Teachers’ appointment test passing confidence	2.53	1.29
Altruistic	Working with younger generation & pride in their achievement and success	3.78	1.23
	Inspire the future generations—power of education	3.38	1.22

Motivation Factor Differences by Demographics and Background

Independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare differences between groups. Gender and teaching practicum experience were used as criteria for classifying groups. Focusing on significant results, according to gender differences, the only difference among reasons was found with “program interest” (t(53) = 2.07, p = .04). For female students (M = 3.63, SD = 1.06) interest in the program was found to be a more important reason for persisting toward a teaching career than for male students (M = 3.0, SD = 1.12). In other words, female participants showed stronger intrinsic motivations. Second, according to whether participants had completed their requisite teaching practicum experience, findings suggest for students who have experienced the requisite teaching practicum, the reason levels for becoming a teacher of parental influence and teaching practicum are high. Students who had experienced their teaching practicum (M = 3.33, SD = 0.98) compared to those who had not yet completed it (M = 2.7, SD = 1.27) demonstrated a significant difference for “parental influence,”t(53) = 1.75, p = .09. There was also a significant difference for the reason of “teaching practicum experience,”t(53) = 3.69, p = .00, comparing participants who experienced the teaching practicum (M = 3.73, SD = 1.49) and participants with no such experience (M = 2.3, SD = 1.20). It can be inferred that experiencing the teaching practicum is a practical and strong factor that enables PST to maintain their will to be a teacher. There were no significant differences among reasons in relation to tutoring experience. It is equally interesting that unlike official teaching experience at schools, there is no difference in private tutoring experience. In other words, what is taught at cram schools and 1:1 tutelage compared to actual schools could be an important aspect of why PST persist to a teaching career.

The reason “teacher recruitment and appointment test burden” for not persisting toward a teaching career was also examined. Independent t-tests found no significant differences between students who felt this burden and those who did not among academic performance, English proficiency, and persistence factors. The chi-square test of independence, comparing fourth year students to those in first to third year (Table 2), did reveal the proportion of students who do not wish to persist toward a teaching career to be significantly larger among students in first, second, and third year than fourth year, χ² (1, N = 55) = 6.418, p = .011.

Table 2.

Teacher Recruitment & Appointment Test Burden Cross Table.

Teacher recruitment and appointment test burden		else	Total
Fourth year	10 (55.6%)	8 (44.4%)	18
First–Third year	32 (86.5%)	5 (13.5%)	37

Correlation Relationships among College Persistence Factors and Motivation Factors

Table 3 highlights correlations found in this study among all variables of interest. While a number of reasons were found to have moderate positive correlation to persistence variables, English proficiency, and academic performance, nine correlations had significant strong positive relationships. Interestingly, “salary” and English proficiency had a moderate negative relation as shown in the table as well. “Peer influence” and “longer holidays” did not show significant correlation with persistence variables. Furthermore, “general interest in the subject,” a top reason, showed significant moderate high correlation with all persistence factors and English proficiency, but not academic performance. “Working with the younger generation & pride in their achievement and success,” another top reason had moderate positive significant correlation with all persistence factors, except AC. “Job security,” the top reason for persisting to be a teacher was only somewhat correlated to SI and SS.

Table 3.

Correlation Relationships Between Motivation, English Proficiency, Academic Performance, and Persistence Factors.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
EP	.38**	.01	.03	-.12	-.11	-.07	-.30*	-.06	.12	.28*	.11	-.10	-.02	.00	.17	.05	.15	.00
GP	.25	.15	.15	.23	.31*	.18	-.15	-.05	.21	.27*	.25	.14	.03	.11	.23	.27*	.19	.20
AC	.41**	.07	.18	.30*	.35**	-.04	-.09	.02	.34*	.23	.36**	.20	.20	.23	-.06	.41**	.11	.25
AI	.54**	.25	.43**	.42**	.58**	.22	.11	.35**	.56**	.59**	.63**	.06	.48**	.40**	.25	.55**	.09	.35**
SI	.46**	.23	.47**	.22	.35**	.26	.31*	.44**	.35**	.52**	.41**	.04	.34*	.21	.37**	.43**	.20	.42**
SS	.41**	.17	.49**	.44**	.57**	.38**	.31*	.35**	.35**	.43**	.44**	.33*	.35**	.37**	.31*	.55**	.06	.49**
DC	.51**	.17	.27*	.09	.28*	.04	.17	.42**	.48**	.55**	.46**	-.21	.65**	.04	.04	.21	.04	.38**

Note: EP= English proficiency; GP: academic performance; AC: academic conscientiousness; AI: academic integration; SI: social integration; SS: Supportive Services Satisfaction; DC = Extent to use Degree Commitment; (1) General interest in the subject; (2) Peer influence; (3) Professor advisor; (4) Job possibility; (5) Teachers’ appointment test passing confidence; (6) Parental influence; (7) Salary; 8) Teaching practicum experience; (9) Program interest; (10) Self-perceived aptitude for the subject; (11) Passion for the subject; (12) Discovery that I can pursue other possibilities with my degree;(13) Inspire the future generations—power of education; (14) Importance of subject in a globalized world; (15) Job security; (16) Enjoy learning (lifelong learner); (17) Longer holidays than other professions; (18) Working with younger generation & pride in their achievement and success.

p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Discussion

In this study, SDT was used to examine PST motivation factors toward a teaching career. Among the three recognized categorizations of motivations for a teaching career that affected PST decision to become a teacher, 10 reasons were extrinsic, 7 were intrinsic, and 2 were altruistic.

Extrinsic Reasons

The findings in the current study are similar to Heinz (2015) in which extrinsic career motivation aspects were reasons for PST to enter teaching. Whereas Korean PST in the Lee et al. (2019) ranked personal utility values such as job security third, job security was the top reason for a teaching career. Turkey (Aksu et al., 2010) and Hong Kong (Lam, 2012) also highlighted job security as influencing teaching career choice. Following job security were longer holidays, job prospects, and salary. Jeong (2016), too, reported long holidays and income to be the two extrinsic motivations. Like in Lee et al. (2019) where task return rated second lowest, negligibly higher than fallback career, in this study, salary was the lowest ranked reason among career aspects, as well as among extrinsic reasons. Investigating factors that could make the teaching profession more attractive in Europe, Carlo et al. (2013) confirmed adequate salaries are important in attracting and retaining good candidates and should reflect specific local difficulties. In Korea, salaries of first time lower and upper secondary school teachers are lower than the OECD average, but the salary of teachers with 15 years of experience is higher than the OECD average (OECD, 2021), so PST could be sensing long term job security and expect increasing salary.

Resembling the findings of Azman (2013) and Padhy et al. (2015), Korean PST were extrinsically motivated to the teaching profession by the influence of others: professors, parents, and peers. This is also in line with the influence of peers, faculty, and family on persistence to degree completion (Roksa & Kinsley, 2019). The highest ranked motivation was parental influence. Unlike Mau and Mau (2006) who found none of the familial factors investigated in their study impacted teaching career persistence, in this study, PST that completed their teaching practicums had high parental influence reasons. PST may drop out if a person they respect disapproves of their choice (Powazny & Kauffeld, 2021). It could be that students value their parents’ pride in their teaching, that students are from “teaching families” with realistic expectations of a teaching career, or that parents are comfortable with their child choosing a teaching career due to its prestige and stability. Further research on causality for parental influence after teaching practicum as well as a comparison of parental influence among PST could lead to better understanding on this.

Unlike the Hur (2020) study in which students waived becoming a teacher because they were unable to adapt to school life or they did not sense a “teaching aptitude” despite interest in education, PST in this study, found teacher recruitment & appointment test burden to be the reason for not persisting to become a teacher. Park (2018) similarly reported difficulties Korean college of education PST perceived related to passing the teacher appointment test: lack of selection, difficulty of the test, lack of ability, competition rate, and financial difficulty. Investigation additionally revealed that students in first, second, and third year were more likely to waive a teaching career compared to fourth year students. Mendezabal (2013) argued for a need to improve student study habits and attitudes because of a significant correlation with teaching examination success. Teacher appointment test passing confidence, however, was found to be a motivational reason for persisting. Unlike research that has indicated disappointment in the profession or PST program content (Kelly et al., 2019; Meens & Bakx, 2019) as reasons for waiving a teaching career, PST in this study could be perceiving preparedness. Graduating year students might have developed better study and test preparatory habits, which heightens confidence and decreases teacher appointment test anxiety. More research would illuminate causality for this finding, but it could be that Korean preparatory education increased teacher efficacy. Nonetheless, to help ensure persistence toward a teaching career and reduce the reason for waiving teaching as a career, especially among lower year students, there is a need for more activities designed to develop self-efficacy earlier to improve PST career optimism and adaptability (McLennan et al., 2017).

Altruistic Reasons

Korean PST career motivations in this study were to help students: working with the younger generation & pride in their achievement/success, and benefit society: inspire the future generations. The finding reflects the review findings of Heinz (2015), and the studies done on Korean PST of Lee et al. (2019) and Jeong (2016) in which PST highly rated influencing others (social utility values) and the intrinsic motivations of working with adolescents and shaping their future. While resembling results found in other nations, for the Korean context, it could also be culturally related. Collectivism, while not as prevalent in modern Korea as in the past, is still influential in society, which could be generating the feeling of responsibility for youth and the future.

Intrinsic Reasons

This study is in line with research concluding interest in the subject-matter an important motivation among PST (Menzies et al., 2015). General interest in the subject ranked top followed by self-perceived attitude for the subject among intrinsic motivations. Moreover, just as studies that found subject satisfaction influenced persistence to degree completion (Lent et al., 2016) and positive teacher education influenced teaching commitment (Chesnut & Burley, 2015; Meens & Bakx, 2019), this study, too, found program interest to be a motivation reason. Female students had higher program interest motivation than males. This could be related to interest in particular fields of study. For instance, in 2015, female university graduates in Germany dominated fields of study such as humanities (including foreign languages) at 65% to 75% of the graduates (Francesconi & Parey, 2018). For Korea, in 2021, 45.1% of total university enrollment was female, but 73.59% of the secondary education major graduates were female, and females dominated humanities at university (54.97%) (Korean Council for University Education, 2021). Additional investigation of motivation, gender, and specialty among PST is needed.

Enjoy learning (lifelong learner) was another motivation among PST. “In a world that is constantly changing, education, teaching, and learning cannot remain stagnant” (Filippousis, 2019). Lifelong learning, including degree and training courses online, is a response to rapid changes in both available jobs and rapidly obsolescent learning materials (Bajner, 2019). As with other professions, there is a need for PST to continue with lifelong learning or professional development training. PST may understand this and understand that it affects the quality of education provided by in-service teachers. If PST are considering lifelong teaching, it necessitates keeping up in their subject-matter, adjusting to ages of students, being flexible in approaches and technologies, and altering approach as needed with the latest information. Moreover, with massive amounts of information readily available with just the click of a mouse, learning how to evaluate sources to structure and organize content is essential. Teachers are not just sources but conduits of information, and to fulfill that responsibility, they must keep up in their subject and in teaching itself.

Comparable to findings in Chang and Lee (2011), PST who completed their teaching practicums had higher teaching practicum motivation for persisting. They could have perceived their “teaching ability.” That is, fourth year (the graduating year when practicums take place at this university) PST who completed their practicums had higher teaching practicum motivation than those who had not. This finding is also in line with teaching practicums increasing (a) commitment to teaching (Zhao & Zhang, 2017) and (b) PST self-efficacy (Martins et al., 2015), and supportive of previous research indicating self-efficacy influences persistence to degree completion (Lent et al., 2016).

Exploration of Relations Between Persistence Factors and Motivations

Different countries, regions, and cultures will have different problems with PST persistence, but it could be that some of the issues are global. Looking at extrinsic motivations in this study, job security, though it was the top reason, had only moderate correlations with SI and SS. Correlation does not mean causality, but it could be that for PST job security is more of an abstract concept. Korean students are likely to still be living with their parents and leading a relatively economically sheltered life. Additional research would shed more light, however. Longer holidays did not show any significant associations with variables of interest, so it could be that this motivation is more of a “bonus” reason. That is, it is ultimately not an important reason for persisting toward a teaching career.

In this study, PST who had the motivation teachers’ appointment test passing confidence, tended to rate the persistence factors of SS and AI higher. Students invest time and money to earn a degree to get access to career opportunities, and schools are judged by student support outside of the classroom (Trachtenberg et al., 2010). Feelings of success at school among PST could breed confidence and more success among PST, and good support in and out-of the class could offer reinforcement. More specifically, for PST, Straková (2015) argued that while methodology courses are evaluated conventionally with tests, presentations and so forth, the courses should help students feel prepared to teach. This study, then, is supportive of the previous findings that program content as well as self-efficacy influences PST commitment to persist toward a teaching career.

Interestingly, the correlation between salary and EP implies the higher PST assess their EP, the more they do not want to become a teacher because of the salary. One teacher-preparation program graduate in the Lam (2012) study discussed how English ability could affect career opportunities, other than teaching. The respondent stated that if they had majored in English, it would be much easier to find a well-paying job. Moreover, Lee (2018) argued that Koreans believe English proficiency affects salary and promotion due the Halo Effect, which Lee explains as: if a person speaks English well, they expect to do other things well, and this makes a good impression socially and at the workplace. In other words, similar to Davis et al. (2019), PST could feel other professions have better working conditions, namely salary.

For the influence of others, the higher AI, SI, and SS, the higher the reason professor advisor and the higher the SS, the higher parental influence. PST could be feeling happy with the everyday (education) environment and more confident to persist in their career choice when they have support and approval.

Looking at altruistic motivations, the higher AI, SI, SS, and DC, the higher the tendency for PST to persist because of working with the younger generation and pride in their achievement/success. This reason, though, did not significantly associate with AC, EP, or GP. It could be that these results are an emotional, not academic, response, comparable to an individual who says, “I love dogs” but knows little about dogs. Hence, the result could basically be unconnected, warranting future investigation. The higher the persistence factor DC, the higher the tendency to persist for the altruistic reason inspire the future generations—power of education and the intrinsic reason of self-perceived aptitude for the subject. It may be that these students are persisting in the teaching profession because they believe they are especially suited to teaching. Teachers will be remembered by more people in the future and will affect more people (in)directly than most others such as company workers. Furthermore, teachers can “see” their creations in a way most other professions or careers cannot. For that reason, it could be that these students already have this feeling. They could know they will be making a personal productive difference.

For intrinsic motivation, the higher PST persistence factors (AI, AC, IS, SS, and DC) and the higher the PST EP, the more likely PST persist to be a teacher because of general interest in the subject, the top ranked motivation for persisting to be a teacher. When one likes or is good at something, it feeds one’s interest and self-regard. Moreover, in Korea, there is the overall prestige of English, its usefulness, and relative regard for teachers who can use English. The only variable of interest that did not show significant correlation was GP. Prior research has also shown that performance is not a significant predictor of persistence at university (Willging & Johnson, 2019), so it could be that PST as well may not view academic performance or being hardworking in class as important.

The higher PST AI, the more likely they persist to become a teacher because of program interest, teacher’s appointment test passing confidence, self-perceived aptitude for the subject, passion for the subject, enjoy learning (lifelong learner). Kim and Corcoran (2018) reported that student engagement and Meens and Bakx (2019) reported positive PST education experiences were predictors of persistence to continue. This study supplements these studies. The more PST are engaged and satisfied with learning, the more they could be likely to persist to be a teacher because of personal confidence and positive attitude factors in the educational process. This study only shows correlation, so it is insufficient to assess causality, but the findings warrant further research on PST views of specific aspects of education influencing persistence.

In this study, PST who have high SS were found to be more likely to have higher enjoy learning (lifelong learner) and teachers’ appointment test passing confidence motivations. Therefore, it seems increasing satisfaction with student services at colleges of education may be an important persistence factor that could ensure PST continue and become “quality” future in-services teachers. Wu et al. (2015) examining factors affecting adult students’ participation in continuing learning, also reported administrative services were a critical factor affecting the intention to continue learning.

Conclusion

This study aimed to better understand pre-service teacher motivation factors for remaining or exiting from a teaching career and persistence factors from the Korean context to add to existing research on pre-service teachers. The study investigated motivation factors for pursuing a teaching career and explored relations between persistence factors and reasons for persisting to be a teacher. Job security was found the main motivation for persisting, but it only moderately correlated with two persistence factors while general interest in the subject was positively associated with all persistence factors as well as English Proficiency. Students who completed their requisite teaching practicums had high teaching practicum motivation for persisting as well as high parental influence reasons for persisting. Teacher recruitment & appointment test burden was significantly larger among students in first, second, and third year than fourth year students, but teacher appointment test confidence was found to be associated with academic integration and supportive services satisfaction. Moreover, students with high supportive services satisfaction were more likely to persist for the reason lifelong learner. Interestingly, the higher students’ view their English proficiency, the more they were found to want to persist because of general interest in the subject to be a teacher. Yet, the higher students assess their English proficiency, the more they do not wish to become a teacher because of salary.

Classroom Implications

Overall results suggest pre-service teachers might be assiduously performing class tasks or acquiring knowledge not for a grade but simply to learn. Also, while study participants may not consider there to be a need for high English proficiency to be an effective teacher, English proficiency did associate with general interest in the subject and was negatively correlated with salary. These students might have realistic expectations of learning and teaching in the Korean context. EMI has now been implemented for several years at universities in Korea, and Park (2016) would argue that with English a national secondary language, some secondary school content classes could be offered as EMI and students given the option of selecting them. Instructors could include discussions in class that investigate pre-service teachers’ view of education, which could then capitalize on the Halo Effect and keep students’ eye on the prize of a teaching career. Moreover, an earlier exposure to short-term practicums in the curriculum in addition to the microteaching performed in various courses could be added to curriculums. This may better determine whether it is the practicum that makes a difference, for at present, in Korea, pre-service teachers perform their teaching practicum during the first half of their fourth year of study. It takes time for heightened self-efficacy to be realized, so an earlier exposure to “real” teaching might promote persistence to the path to teaching.

Limitations

The study was exploratory and aimed at adding to existing knowledge on and understanding of per-service teachers’ persistence, especially in the Korea context. The survey focused persistence toward a teaching career and reasons for persisting. Although analysis found associations between variables, it does not necessarily imply causality for the associations. Future studies should investigate evidence of the cause-effect relationship as conjectured upon in the discussion section. Also, the findings of this study are limited to undergraduate pre-service teachers at one college of education and may not be transferable to other groups at other colleges, so similar studies should be carried out at other colleges of education in Korea as well as comparative studies with pre-service teachers in other nations. The data used in this study sample were small. This could increase the possibility of type 2 error, which is a limitation of this study. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the validity of the analysis results by expanding the sampling targets in the future. Future studies should consider interviewing participants to complement the quantitative data.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the 2021 Hongik University Research Fund.

ORCID iDs

Yvette Denise Murdoch

Hyejung Lim

References

Aksu

Demir

C. E.

Daloglu

Yildirim

Kiraz

(2010). Who are the future teachers in Turkey? Characteristics of entering student teachers. International Journal of Educational Development, 30(1), 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2009.06.005

Alexander

Wyatt-Smith

Du Plessis

(2020). The role of motivations and perceptions on the retention of inservice teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 96, 103186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103186

Azman

(2013). Choosing teaching as a career: Perspectives of male and female Malaysian student teachers in training. European Journal of Teacher Education, 36(1), 113–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2012.678483

Bajner

(2019). Lifelong learning are universal needs of societies manifested in various forms and models. Studies in Adult Education and Learning, 25(3), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.4312/as.25.3.35-45

Berger

J. B.

Blanco Ramirez

Lyons

(2012). Past to present: A historical look at retention. In Seidman

(Ed.), College student retention: Formula for student success (pp. 7–34). Rowman & Littlefield.

Brown

A. L.

Lee

Collins

(2015). Does student teaching matter? Investigating pre-service teachers’ sense of efficacy and preparedness. Teaching Education, 26(1), 77–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2014.957666

Carlo

Michel

Chabanne

J. C.

Bucheton

Demougin

Gordon

Valette

(2013). Study on policy measures to improve the attractiveness of the teaching profession in Europe. (Doctoral dissertation, European Commission, European Directorate General for Education and Training).

Chang

Lee

(2011). Exploring pre-service science teachers’ motivation for career choice and their self-image as a science teacher. The Korean Association for Science Education, 31(1), 14–31.

Chesnut

S. R.

Burley

(2015). Self-efficacy as a predictor of commitment to the teaching profession: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 15, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2015.02.001

10.

Choi

(2021, July 14). When I graduate from the college of education, I become a Korean, English, Maths teacher. DongA. https://www.donga.com/news/Society/article/all/20210714/107941048/1

11.

Cho

S. W.

Karp

M. M.

(2013). Student success courses in the community college: Early enrollment and educational outcomes. Community College Review, 41(1), 86–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552112472227

12.

Darling-Hammond

(2014). Strengthening clinical preparation: The holy grail of teacher education. Peabody Journal of Education, 89(4), 547–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2014.939009

13.

Darling-Hammond

Wei

R. C.

Johnson

C. M.

(2012). Teacher preparation and teacher learning: A changing policy landscape. In Sykes

Schneider

Plank

D. N.

Ford

T.G.

(Eds.), Handbook of education policy research (pp. 613–636). Routledge

14.

Davidson

W. B.

Beck

H. P.

Milligan

(2009). The college persistence questionnaire: Development and validation of an instrument that predicts student attrition. Journal of College Student Development, 50(4), 373–390.

15.

Davis

E. K.

Kwaah

C. Y.

Beccles

Ayebi-Arthur

(2019). Motivation to become a teacher among preservice teachers in colleges of education in Ghana. Bangladesh Education Journal, 18(2), 7–22.

16.

Day

C. T.

(2021). Expectancy value theory as a tool to explore teacher beliefs and motivations in elementary mathematics instruction. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 13(2), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.26822/iejee.2021.182

17.

Filippousis

(2019, May 28). In a world that is constantly changing, education, teaching, and learning cannot remain stagnant. Daily Edventures. https://www.dailyedventures.com/2019/05/28/in-a-world-that-is-constantly-changing-education-teaching-and-learning-cannot-remain-stagnant-georges-filippousis-greece/

18.

Fokkens-Bruinsma

Canrinus

E. T.

(2014). Motivation for becoming a teacher and engagement with the profession: Evidence from different contexts. International Journal of Educational Research, 65, 65–74.

19.

Francesconi

Parey

(2018). Early gender gaps among university graduates. European Economic Review, 109, 63–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2018.02.004

20.

García-Ros

Pérez-Gónzalez

Castillo Fuentes

Cavas-Martínez

(2019). Predicting first-year college student retention: Validation of the college persistence questionnaire in a Spanish sample. Sustainability, 11(16), 4425. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164425

21.

Goodwin

A. L.

Smith

Souto-Manning

Cheruvu

Tan

M. Y.

Reed

Taveras

(2014). What should teacher educators know and be able to do? Perspectives from practicing teacher educators. Journal of Teacher Education, 65(4), 284–302. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487114535266

22.

Gore

Holmes

Smith

J. A.

Fray

(2015). Investigating the factors that influence the choice of teaching as a first career. Queensland College of Teachers.

23.

Guyatt

G. H.

(1993). The philosophy of health-related quality of life translation. Quality of Life Research, 2(6), 461–465. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00422220

24.

Han

(2018). Exploration of factors that affect college student drop-out and resilience. The Journal of Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction, 18(24), 1369–1391. https://doi.org/10.22251/jlcci.2018.18.24.1369

25.

Haynes

Sherrington

Wallbank

Wickham

Tong

Kirkham

Manning

Ramsay

Tiedemann

(2021). Using self-determination theory to understand and improve recruitment for the coaching for healthy ageing (CHAnGE) trial. PLoS One, 16(11), e0259873. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259873

26.

Heinz

(2015). Why choose teaching? An international review of empirical studies exploring student teachers’ career motivations and levels of commitment to teaching. Educational Research and Evaluation, 21(3), 258–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2015.1018278

27.

Hennessy

Lynch

(2017). “I chose to become a teacher because” exploring the factors influencing teaching choice amongst pre-service teachers in Ireland. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 45(2), 106–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866x.2016.1183188

28.

Herfter

Grüneberg

Knopf

(2015). Dropout from teacher education-Numbers, reasons and emotional experience. Zeitschrift für Evaluation, 14(1), 58–82.

29.

Hong

J. Y.

(2007). Why do beginning teachers leave school? Pre-service and beginning science teachers’ professoral identity and its relation to dropping out of the profession [Doctoral thesis, The University of Georgia]. The University of Georgia.

30.

Hur

E. J.

(2020). Study on career exploration of college of education students who do not want to become a teacher. Korean Educational Research Association, 58(2), 51–74. https://doi.org/10.30916/kera.58.2.51

31.

Jeong

K.-O.

(2016). A study on Korean EFL pre-service teachers’ motivations in choosing teaching as a career. 2016 International Conference on Platform Technology and Service (PlatCon). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/platcon.2016.7456779

32.

Kelly

Cespedes

Clara

Hanaher

(2019). Early career teachers’ intentions to leave the profession: The complex relationships among preservice education, early career support, and job satisfaction. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 44(3), 93–113. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v44n3.6

33.

Kerby

M. B.

(2015). Toward a new predictive model of student retention in higher education. Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory and Practice, 17(2), 138–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115578229

34.

Kim

Corcoran

R. P.

(2018). Factors that influence pre-service teachers’ persistence. Teaching and Teacher Education, 70, 204–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.11.015

35.

Kim

Han

(2006). Choosing mathematics teaching as a career: An analysis of prospective teachers’ reasons to become teachers. The Journal of Korean Education, 33(2), 51–73.

36.

Kim

(2020). Status of employment retention after graduation by university department. KESS (Korean Educational Statistics Service). https://blog.naver.com/kedi_cesi/222095411024

37.

Kim

(2018, April 30). We will gradually reduce the hiring of new teachers in elementary and middle schools by 2030. KBS News. https://news.kbs.co.kr/news/view.do?ncd=3642496

38.

Kim

S.-T.

(2015, September 18). More university students opting to retake CSAT. Korea Joongang Daily. https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3009387

39.

Klassen

R. M.

Al-Dhafri

Hannok

Betts

S. M.

(2011). Investigating pre-service teacher motivation across cultures using the teachers’ ten statements test. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(3), 579–588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.10.012

40.

Kolleck

(2019, October). Motivational aspects of teacher collaboration. Frontiers in Education, 4, 122. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00122

41.

Korean Council for University Education. (2021). Higher Education in Korea. https://academyinfo.go.kr/index.do

42.

Kotherja

(2013, July). Teachers’ motivation importance and burnout effect in the educational development. Albania International Conference on Education. http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/800

43.

Lakens

(2022). Sample size justification. Collabra: Psychology, 8(1), 33267.

44.

Lam

B. H.

(2012). Why do they want to become teachers? A study on prospective teachers’ motivation to teach in Hong Kong. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 21(2), 307–314.

45.

Lee

I.-K.

(2018). “Why?” Language ability is a measure of competitiveness. 77% of employment salaries and promotions are based on English proficiency. News Free Zone. http://www.newsfreezone.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=85047

46.

Lee

J. A.

Kang

M. O.

Park

B. J.

(2019). Factors influencing choosing teaching as a career: South Korean preservice teachers. Asia Pacific Education Review, 20(3), 467–488. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09579-z

47.

Lent

R. W.

Miller

M. J.

Smith

P. E.

Watford

B. A.

Lim

R. H.

Hui

(2016). Social cognitive predictors of academic persistence and performance in engineering: Applicability across gender and race/ethnicity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 94, 79–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.02.012

48.

Liu

Chen

Yao

(2021). Why teachers want to leave? The roles of achievement goals, burnout and perceived school context. Learning and Individual Differences, 89, 102032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2021.102032

49.

Liu

W. C.

Wang

C. K. J.

Reeve

Kee

Y. H.

Chian

L. K.

(2020). What determines teachers’ use of motivational strategies in the classrooms? A self-determination theory perspective. Education Journal, 200(3), 185–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022057419881171

50.

Martins

Costa

Onofre

(2015). Practicum experiences as sources of pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy. European Journal of Teacher Education, 38(2), 263–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2014.968705

51.

Mason

K. O.

(2013). Teacher involvement in pre-service teacher education. Teachers and Teaching, 19(5), 559–574. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2013.827366

52.

Mau

W. C. J.

Mau

Y. H.

(2006). Factors influencing high school students to persist in aspirations of teaching careers. Journal of Career Development, 32(3), 234–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845305282602

53.

McLennan

McIlveen

Perera

H. N.

(2017). Pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy mediates the relationship between career adaptability and career optimism. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 176–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.12.022

54.

Meens

E. E. M.

Bakx

A. W. E.

(2019). Student teachers’ motives for participating in the teacher training program: A qualitative comparison between continuing students and switch students. European Journal of Teacher Education, 42(5), 650–674. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2019.1652900

55.

Mendezabal

M. J. N.

(2013). Study habits and attitudes: The road to academic success. Open Science Repository Education, (open-access). https://doi.org/10.7392/Education.70081928

56.

Menzies

Paramenshwaran

Trethewey

Shaw

Baars

Chiong

(2015). Why teach? Pearson.

57.

OECD. (2019). TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and school leaders as lifelong learners, TALIS, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/1d0bc92a-en

58.

OECD. (2020). TALIS 2018 Results (Volume II): Teachers and school leaders as valued professionals, TALIS, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/19cf08df-en.

59.

OECD. (2021). Education at a glance 2021: OECD indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/b35a14e5-en

60.

Padhy

Emo

Djira

Deokar

(2015). Analyzing factors influencing teaching as a career choice using structural equation modeling. Sage Open, 5(1), 215824401557039. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015570393

61.

Park

(2018). A study of pre-service teachers’ career preparation and perceptions toward teacher education program. Journal of Research in Curriculum Instruction, 22(1), 85–97. https://doi.org/10.24231/rici.2018.22.1.85

62.

Park

(2017). Analysis on the Career Identity Type and Influential Factors of Education Major Students in Four Year Universities (Master’s thesis, Seoul National University). Graduate School of Seoul National University.

63.

Park

(2016, June 20). English as second official language in Korea. The Korea Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160620000937

64.

Perlman

D. J.

(2013). Effective teaching and motivation: Application of self-determination theory. Journal of Research, Policy & Practice of Teachers & Teacher Education, 3(2), 31–37.

65.

Powazny

Kauffeld

(2021). The impact of influential others on student teachers’ dropout intention – AA network analytical study. European Journal of Teacher Education, 44, 520–537. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1793949

66.

Richardson

P. W.

Watt

H. M. G.

Karabenick

S. A.

(2014). Teacher motivation matters: An introduction. In Richardson

P. W.

Karabenick

S. A.

Watt

M. G.

(Eds.), Teacher motivation: Theory and practice (xiii-xxii). Routledge.

67.

Richter

Lazarides

Richter

(2021). Four reasons for becoming a teacher educator: A large-scale study on teacher educators’ motives and well-being. Teaching and Teacher Education, 102, 103322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103322

68.

Roksa

Kinsley

(2019). The role of family support in facilitating academic success of low-income students. Research in Higher Education, 60, 415–436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-018-9517-z

69.

Schreiner

L. A.

Noel

Anderson

Cantwell

(2011). The impact of faculty and staff on high-risk college student persistence. Journal of College Student Development, 52(3), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2011.0044

70.

Sha

Gabel

(Eds.). (2020). The essential role of language in survey research. RTI Press. https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.bk.0023.2004

71.

Shin

J.-C.

Song

K.-O.

Jung

J.-S.

(2007). A study of the beginning teachers’ motivations in choosing teaching profession and factors affecting their motivations. The Journal of Korean Education, 34(2), 51–72.

72.

Siegel

M. A.

Burcks

S. M.

Bowey

Cisterna

Muslu

Murakami

C. D.

Cite

(2020). Experiences of teacher certification testing: Bias, resistance, and practical solutions [Conference session]. Association for science teacher education 2020 annual conference.

73.

Song

E.-J.

Gang

Y.-E.

Seo

N.-R.

(2018). 2018 elementary and Secondary Career Education Status Survey Results Report. Korea Ministry of Education, National Career Education Center.

74.

Stewart

Lim

Kim

(2015). Factors influencing college persistence for first-time students. Journal of Developmental Education, 38(3), 12–20.

75.

Straková

(2015). The perception of readiness for teaching profession: A case of pre-service trainees. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 3(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1515/jolace-2015-0003

76.

Struyven

Jacobs

Dochy

(2013). Why do they want to teach? The multiple reasons of different groups of students for undertaking teacher education. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(3), 1007–1022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0151-4

77.

Teacher Appointment Heeso Ssamplus. (2020, February 2). Announcement of final successful candidates for the 2020 public secondary school teacher appointment exam, what is the pass line? KG Eduone. http://m.ssamplus.com/notice/notice_view.asp?intTypeSeq=7&intPage=1&intBoard_seq=18411

78.

Trachtenberg

S. O.

Snyder

E. A.

Bejou

Vedder

Taylor

M. C.

(2010, January 3). Are they students? Or ‘customers’? The New York Times. https://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/are-they-students-or-customers/

79.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2016). The world needs almost 69 million new teachers to reach the 2030 education goals (UNESCO Digital Library report). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246124 Retrieved from.

80.

Watt

H. M. G.

Richardson

P. W.

(2012). An introduction to teaching motivations in different countries: Comparisons using the FIT-Choice scale. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 40(3), 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866x.2012.700049

81.

Willging

P. A.

Johnson

S. D.

(2019). Factors that influence students’ decision to dropout of Online Courses. Online Learning, 8(4), https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v8i4.1814

82.

Woodcock

(2011). A cross sectional study of pre-service teacher efficacy throughout the training years. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(10), 2011. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2011v36n10.1

83.

Y. C.

Hsieh

L. F.

J. J.

(2015). What’s the relationship between learning satisfaction and continuing learning intention? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191, 2849–2854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.148

84.

Yüce

Şahin

E. Y.

Koçer Kana

(2013). Motivations for choosing teaching as a career: A perspective of pre-service teachers from a Turkish context. Asia Pacific Education Review, 14(3), 295–306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9258-9

85.

Zhao

Zhang

(2017). The influence of field teaching practice on pre-service teachers’ professional identity: A mixed methods study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1264. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01264