Quality teachers help their students excel. In recent years, however, there has been a decline in high-achieving young adults and university-educated mid-career professionals choosing teaching as their career. This report outlines BETA’s research, commissioned by the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review, into what incentives young high-achievers and mid-career professionals find most attractive when considering a career in teaching.
To answer this question we ran an online survey containing a discrete choice experiment with 501 young high achievers and 1,432 mid-career professionals. We used the discrete choice experiment to quantify the relative importance of various incentives related to work and study, as well as a teacher’s starting and top pay.
- For young high-achievers, a $30,000 scholarship was the most effective work or study incentive, followed by guaranteed ongoing employment in a nearby school (both increased the probability of choosing a teaching job by around 12%). Most study and all work incentives were valued greater than a $15,000 increase to starting or top pay.
- For mid-career professionals, paid work throughout study, a $30,000 scholarship, mortgage/rent relief and guaranteed ongoing employment in a nearby school were the most impactful work and study related incentives.
Attracting high-achieving candidates to the teaching profession requires a careful mix of incentives and remuneration packages. This research contributes to the discussion on how such packages could be constructed.
