Understanding what factors foster young people's aspirations to work as teachers is critical for designing effective recruitment policies, and for ensuring that enough youngsters enter the teaching profession. We examine what factors explain between‐country differences in the percentage of 15‐year‐old students who expect to work as teachers as adults. We focus on two factors: (1) the salaries teachers can expect to earn compared to professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); and (2) the skill levels teachers have compared to STEM professionals. Relative salaries indicate if (and to what extent) the financial returns associated with teaching careers are higher or lower than professional STEM careers dominated by men. Relative skills highlight the investment in human capital that teachers are expected to make to be able to enter the profession, as well as the social and cultural status that is associated with teaching. We used data from 29 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment and the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies. In countries where teacher salaries and numeracy skills were high compared to those commanded by STEM professionals, gender gaps in teaching career expectations were smaller. High‐ability students in science and mathematics were more likely to expect to work as teachers in countries where teachers have comparatively higher numeracy skills. Our findings show that when teacher salaries are competitive in relationship to the salaries of STEM professionals, more students overall expect to work as teachers. However, whilst low‐ and middle‐performing students in science and mathematics were attracted by economic incentives, high‐performing students in science and mathematics were not.

中文翻译：

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学生在科学和数学方面的性别和能力水平的教学职业期望：工资和算术技能的作用

了解哪些因素会激发年轻人成为教师的愿望，这对于设计有效的招聘政策和确保有足够的年轻人进入教师行业至关重要。我们研究了哪些因素可以解释希望作为成年人担任教师的 15 岁学生百分比的国家间差异。我们关注两个因素：(1) 与科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 专业人士相比，教师的预期工资；(2) 教师与 STEM 专业人士相比的技能水平。相对工资表明与教师职业相关的财务回报是（以及在多大程度上）高于或低于男性主导的专业 STEM 职业。相对技能突出了教师为进入该行业而应进行的人力资本投资，以及与教学相关的社会和文化地位。我们使用了来自参与国际学生评估计划和成人能力国际评估计划的 29 个国家/地区的数据。在教师工资和算术技能高于 STEM 专业人员的国家，教师职业期望的性别差距较小。科学和数学方面的高能力学生更有可能期望在教师具有相对较高算术技能的国家担任教师。我们的研究结果表明，当教师工资与 STEM 专业人员的工资相比具有竞争力时，总体而言，更多学生希望担任教师。然而，虽然科学和数学方面的低中学生被经济激励所吸引，但科学和数学方面的优秀学生却没有。