Who becomes a teacher today? An empirical analysis of choosing the teaching profession

Who becomes a teacher in Hungary today? Do those applying for teacher training or choosing the teaching profession differ from those continuing their studies in other subjects or choosing other careers? What role is played in choosing the teaching profession by the earnings attainable as a teacher or in other careers? The findings of research into these questions show the presence of negative self-selection at every point in the process of selecting teachers - applying for teacher training, finding employment after finishing higher education, and in the fifth and sixth years after qualifying. Those who apply for college-level teacher training have worse capabilities. The less talented of the graduates are more likely to take teaching jobs, and they are more likely to be found among those in their fifth or sixth year of a teaching career. Allowing for the effect of selection distortion, the study shows that the decisive factor in the choice of the teaching profession is the difference of attainable earnings between non-teaching and teaching jobs.