The study reported on here examined the factors influencing the decision to major in special education in Saudi Arabia. The sample was composed of 394 preservice special education (SE) teacher participants of which 141 were female and 253 were male. Three different statistical analyses were used to examine the study data: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for reliability; confirmatory factor analysis for construct validity; and t-test for examining significant differences. The findings indicate that participants have positive attitudes towards teaching and a high interest in special education. However, 34% of participants stated that they did not want to teach for the rest of their lives, and 16% reported that they chose this major although they were fully convinced that special education was not their preferred type of work. We concluded that female preservice SE teachers were most likely to be interested in the field of special education and held positive attitudes towards teaching. This study presents major potential implications for preparing special education teachers in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Keywords: college major; incentives; personal interest; Saudi Arabia; special education

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影响沙特阿拉伯特殊教育专业决定的因素

此处报告的研究调查了影响沙特阿拉伯特殊教育专业决定的因素。样本由 394 名职前特殊教育 (SE) 教师参与者组成，其中 141 名女性和 253 名男性。三种不同的统计分析用于检查研究数据： Cronbach's alpha 系数的可靠性；结构效度的验证性因素分析；和 t 检验以检查显着差异。调查结果表明，参与者对教学有积极的态度，对特殊教育的兴趣很高。然而，34% 的参与者表示他们不想教一辈子，16% 的人表示尽管他们完全相信特殊教育不是他们喜欢的工作类型，但他们还是选择了这个专业。我们得出的结论是，女性职前 SE 教师最有可能对特殊教育领域感兴趣，并对教学持积极态度。本研究为沙特阿拉伯和其他国家的特殊教育教师培养提供了重大的潜在影响。关键词：大学专业；激励措施；个人爱好; 沙特阿拉伯; 特殊教育