Summary
Despite the importance of recruiting highly qualified individuals into the science teaching profession, little is known about the effectiveness of particular recruitment strategies. Over 3 years, 34 college science majors and undecided students were recruited into paid internships in informal science settings to consider secondary science teaching as a career. Analysis of interns’ subsequent career plans revealed the internships were not effective in recruiting the interns into the secondary science teacher education program, although many interns thought they
might consider becoming teachers later in their lives. Reasons for not pursuing teaching included continued indecisiveness, inflexibility of required plans of study, and concerns about teachers’ pay and classroom management.
Authors
Heather Worsham, Patricia Friedrichsen, Marilyn Soucie, Ellen Barnett, Motoko Akiba
Organization/Affiliation
University of Missouri, Trinity University, Florida State University
Year
Noyce Award Number
0934839Grade Level
Undergraduate-level (initial teacher preparation)
Discipline
Resource Type
Article - Peer-reviewed Journal
URL
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10972-013-9360-1
Citation
Worsham, H.M., Friedrichsen, P., Soucie, M., Barnett, E., & Akiba, M. (2013). Recruiting Science Majors into Secondary Science Teaching: Paid Internships in Informal Science Settings. Journal of Science Teacher Education 25, 53-77.