Profiles of U.S. science teacher candidates: Safeguards amidst the gathering storm

The shortage of science teachers in the United States and throughout the world indicates a
collective need to recruit more students into the science teaching field and to retain current
science teachers. This study explores the profiles of U.S. science teacher candidates and
investigates what attracts and discourages these pre-service teachers into teaching science.
Through the use of survey and structured interview approaches we investigated the profiles
of pre-service elementary, middle school, and high school teachers (n = 109) who were
interested in teaching science. Common findings among this set of science teacher
candidates included: positive science experiences with K-12 teachers during childhood,
beliefs that certain teacher preparation content courses were roadblocks to becoming certified,
unfamiliarity with the employment market for science teachers, and a lack of being
recruited to teach science. Based on these profile characteristics of science teacher
candidates, teacher educators may pursue specific strategies to encourage more teachercandidates
to select science as their teaching field.