Abstract:

In the present, more and more engineers choose to change their careers and to become mathematics and engineering teachers. In the near future, this group of career changers will join the teaching staff and will contribute to forming the future of mathematical and engineering education. In order to better understand the characteristics of this special group of future teachers, it is vital to research the reasons for this career change. In addition, it is important to understand why the teachers choose to become mathematics teachers in parallel to being engineering teachers.

In this article, we present the results of an ongoing study that delves into the reasons for engineers to change their careers and to become mathematics teachers. The research participants are eight career changers who take part in an engineering and mathematics teachers’ preparation program. The research tool is a semi-structured interview that was analysed according to a qualitative methodology. This article describes the participants' reasons to choose teaching as a second carrier, and their reasons for becoming mathematics teachers in particular.

The results showed that the main reasons for choosing teaching as a second career are: a desire for a change after many years of working in the industry, a desire for a better life quality, a love for teaching, and a wish to work and be involved with people, rather than machines. The main reasons for choosing, specifically, to became mathematics teachers are: a desire to widen the employment opportunities, “being good” at mathematics, a love for mathematics and the teaching of it. Additional findings and the research conclusions will be discussed during the presentation.

Keywords:

Engineering, mathematics teaching, career changers.