No More Business as Usual: Career Changers Who Become Teachers

Abstract

An interdisciplinary team conducted an ethnographic study with graduate students leaving other careers for education to discover the meanings of the career change for those undertaking it. Data were collected from admission folders, small group interviews, individual open-ended interviews, whole-group discussions, and meetings with the students' advisers. The data were grouped into a three-part descriptive framework that reflected career change as made up of initiating influences, mediating experiences, and commitment. An analysis of the themes in the framework revealed three groups of career changers. Illustrative profiles of each group are provided, and the implications of the study for the teaching profession are discussed.