2007 - 2009
About the project
In our societies the profession of teacher tends to become more important. As a consequence, how to attract and retain teachers became the focus of inquiry in recent research. These studies tended to gather useful information on teachers social-economic characteristics, time spendig, work satisfaction, & However, the singularity, appeal, and shortcomings of the profession can only be detected by comparing teachers with other occupations. This research wants to fill the current hiatus and compare the sociographic characteristics and careers of teachers with those of other occupational groups. To this end, the current project will analyse existing cross-sectional and longitudinal data. The research consists of three parts. A first part concentrates on the sociography of teachers using cross-sectional data. The second part focuses on the career of teachers compared with other occupations by means of cross-sectional and longitudinal data-analysis. The third part will explore the reasons and motivations to opt for a teaching career (or to leave the profession) by means of focus group interviews with teachers and ex-teachers.
