The factors influencing mathematics students to choose teaching as a career

This quantitative and qualitative study, prompted by the poor state of mathematics education in South Africa, explores the factors that influenced 40 Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students with mathematics as a subject from three Universities in the Western Cape of South Africa to choose teaching as a career. The participants stated their reasons for their career choice by answering an open ended question and they also completed a FIT-choice questionnaire, constructed and validated by Professors Watt and Richardson of the Monash University in Australia. The motivations identified by the questionnaire are based on the concepts of Self-efficacy, Self-determination Theory (SDT) and Expectancy Value Theory (EVT). The students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds speaking different home-languages responded similarly. They rated intrinsic motivations such as “want to make a difference in the lives of children” and “contribute to the development of the country” highest and extrinsic motivations such as salary and job security were rated lowest. The study argues that insight into the factors that influence students to choose mathematics teaching as a career will assist in managing the recruitment and retention of quality mathematics teachers to address the shortage of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers and graduates that exists globally as well as in South Africa. The importance of subject knowledge and pedagogical competency of teachers is highlighted.