Faculty's Perceptions of 7-12 Teaching as a Career: Changing the Conversation Around Physics Teacher Recruitment

Nearly half of STEM majors in the United States express interest in becoming a teacher, yet as a nation we face a severe shortage of math and science teachers. One influencing factor is that college faculty, whom students often look to for career guidance, hold misperceptions of the teaching profession. Some faculty do not realize that compared to other careers one can get with the same degree, teachers' pay is very similar, teachers rate their quality of life more highly, and teachers generally have better retirement benefits. As part of a national campaign to change the perceptions of teaching as a career and the way math and science teachers are recruited, we developed the Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession in Higher Education (PTaP.HE) instrument to identify faculty's perceptions of the teaching profession. Here we will share results from our first year of data collection which includes 500 faculty from 40 different institutions. When evaluated by gender, faculty status, and department type we find minimal and insignificant differences. Additionally, our data indicates that although faculty members view their departments as supportive of those interested in teaching, many faculty do not believe in, or are not aware of, the enjoyable nature of a career in 7-12 teaching.