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Rethinking teacher recruitment: New approaches to attracting prospective STEM teachers.
Project description
Project Lead:
Professor Robert Mark Klassen
Duration:
1/12/2022 – 30/11/2025 (36 months)
Organisation:
University of Oxford
Research theme:
- teaching and learning, with a focus on teachers and their recruitment, retention and professional development
The four nation focus:
- England
Project overview
- Aims
This project will build a better understanding of the attraction and recruitment of STEM undergraduates into initial teacher education (ITE) using innovative technologies.
- Description
Advances in recruitment research point the way to new teacher recruitment interventions that harness methods from organisational psychology, organisational behaviour, and gamification research. We test two proactive teacher recruitment technologies that have the potential to be effective, engaging, economical, and scalable, using
(a) online realistic job previews (RJPs),
(b) and ‘persuasive’ teaching games.
The 3-year project includes three studies:
1) testing the efficacy of recruitment messages sent to prospective initial teacher education (ITE) applicants,
2) building and testing a 'persuasive game' to attract STEM undergraduates into ITE,
3) testing the longitudinal efficacy of two recruitment interventions aimed at STEM undergraduates.- Project partners
- UCET
- Teach First
- Engineering UK
- STEM Learning
- Association for Science Education
- Partnership plans
We are working closely with organisations with an interest in improving the flow of STEM undergraduates into teacher training, with support from UCET, Teach First, Engineering UK, National STEM Learning Centre, National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, and the Association for Science Education.
- Researchers
Professor Robert Mark Klassen (University of Oxford)
Rebecca Snell (University of Oxford)
Dr Beng Huat See (University of Birmingham)
Dr Hui Wang (Education University of Hong Kong)- Research findings and policy recommendations
- Klassen, R. M., Wang, H., Cutting, J., Thompson-Lee, S., Snell, R., See, B. H., & Saiger, M. J. (2025). Digital innovations in teacher recruitment: An experimental study. PsyArXiv.
This study addresses teacher shortages by testing two digital tools – a game (TeachQuest) and a realistic job preview (RJP) - designed to boost undergraduates’ interest in teaching. Involving nearly 1,000 participants, the findings highlight the potential of innovative, scalable digital interventions to engage and inform future applicants to initial teacher education programs.
- Wang, H., Thompson‐Lee, S., & Klassen, R. M. (2025). Performance on classroom simulations enhances preservice teachers' motivation in teaching: A latent change perspective. British Journal of Educational Psychology.
Preparing preservice teachers for teaching placements and future careers is crucial. However, their motivation often fluctuates as they gain experience and receive feedback from influential sources. This paper explored how performance on a series of classroom simulation sessions predicts preservice teachers' self-efficacy, career intentions, and perceived fit with the profession, after controlling for the baseline levels.
- Snell, R. J. S., & Klassen, R. M. (2025). From Misinformation to Motivation: Why Generation Z is (or isn’t) Choosing Teaching.
This study explores the career motivations and aspirations of 16–18-year-olds in the UK. Using survey data from 756 participants, we examined how this age group view career options, and how teaching compares to other available sectors.
- Snell, R. J., Klassen, R. M., Thompson‐Lee, S., & Wang, H. (2024). Back to Basics with Teacher Recruitment: What do STEM undergraduates want? European Journal of Education, e12840
In light of persistent recruitment shortfalls, this article investigates what attracts and what repels STEM undergraduate students in British Universities considering entering the teacher profession. The research highlights the emotional rewards, and tangible benefits; alongside the central deterrents of workload and negative treatment of teachers, alongside recognising the widespread knowledge deficit surrounding teaching.
- Valero Moya, A., & Klassen, R. (2024). Developing a competency-based approach to enhance initial teacher selection in Spain. Journal of Education.
This conceptual review explores the selection processes for teacher education candidates in Spain. We aim to uncover opportunities for enhancing the educational system through the implementation of more rigorous selection procedures. Commencing with a comprehensive diagnosis of the current state of selection processes in Spain, our examination involves identifying existing gaps and proposing potential solutions to rectify these deficiencies.
- Wang, H., Thompson-Lee, S., Snell, R. J. S., & Klassen, R. M. (2024). Unlocking STEM pathways: A person-centered approach exploring a teacher recruitment intervention. International Journal of STEM Education.
This research employed a person-centred approach that sought to identify participant profiles based on changes of interest in teaching; examining demographic factors associated with these profiles, and exploring the outcomes associated with the identified profiles. The findings underscore the importance of considering individual characteristics and motivations when attracting prospective teachers to the profession.
- Thompson-Lee, S., Klassen, R., Wang, H., & Snell, R. (2024). Measuring the effects of motivation messages on STEM undergraduates’ interest in teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 146, 104639.
This intervention study investigated the effect of motivation messages on teaching interest, self-efficacy, person-vocation (PV) fit, and enjoyment of 423 UK-based STEM undergraduates. This study shows that interest in teaching can be increased by a motivation message intervention.
