Why people choose teaching: A scoping review of empirical studies, 2007-2016

Who enters teaching and why are questions of immense social and political importance throughout the world. This paper presents a scoping review of empirical studies, published between 2007 and 2016, that addressed influences on the choice of teaching as a career. Seventy articles were analysed descriptively and substantively. Our overview of the nature, extent, and range of research published in these articles highlights that most studies focus on motivations for teaching, with intrinsic and altruistic motivations most commonly identified. We argue that a broader range of theoretical perspectives could add fresh insights to the question of why people choose teaching.