Nudging College Student Interest in Teaching

This study surveyed undergraduate students at a large public university to understand the pecuniary and non-pecuniary factors driving their college major and career decisions with a focus on K-12 teaching. 

While the average student reports there is a 6% chance they will pursue teaching, almost 27% report a nonzero chance of working as a teacher in the future. Students, relative to existing statistics, generally believe they would earn substantially more in a non-teaching job (relative to a teaching job). 

A randomized information experiment providing students with information on the pecuniary and non-pecuniary job characteristics of teachers and non-teachers impacts students' beliefs about their job characteristics if they were to work as a teacher or non-teacher, and increases the reported likelihood they will major or minor in education by 35% and pursue a job as a teacher or in education by 14%. 

Linking the survey data with administrative transcript records, the intervention had small (and weak) impacts on the decision to minor in education in the subsequent year. 

Overall, the results indicate that students hold biased beliefs about their career prospects, they update these beliefs when provided with information, but this information has limited impacts on their choices regarding studying and having a career in teaching.