This paper explores the forms of lived time that characterise a vocational relationship to academic work. Drawing on interviews and surveys with over 30 academics who have left the profession early or have given up looking for ongoing academic work, it paints a portrait of vocationalism as a double-edged sword. The research found that despite…

The primary goal of this study was to examine the effects of mentoring during the first teaching year of high school Second Career Teachers. The teachers' perception of this aspect of their professional career was studied. The practice has been that school district administration assigns new teachers a mentor to support them in their success. They…

Contemporary research on women and the learning of science in higher educational institutions has persistently focused on equal representation and access. This study sets out to find out why women, after successfully completing their degrees in mathematics at undergraduate and/or masters, quit the field. This is despite the popular view that the…

This dissertation examines how teachers respond to state-wide labor reforms. In 2013 and 2014, the state of North Carolina drastically altered compensation for teachers. Policymakers affected labor by attempting to revoke tenure for all teachers (and succeeded in eliminating it for new teachers), discontinuing supplemental pay for advanced…

One of the biggest concerns educational institutions face is helping teachers fit into and adjust to the dynamics of the ever-changing teaching environment. What often remains a mystery is how the identity trajectories of mid-career teachers have contributed to their longevity in the field. Also important today is why teachers might choose to…

This book explores the experiences of men and women who train to teach ESL as a second career. Drawing from in-depth interviews and observations of 30 students (aged 45 to 73) in a TESOL graduate program, this book provides portraits of these individuals as they develop as teachers. It describes the processes they go through to launch their…

Once associated with lifetime employment, policing and teaching have become increasingly associated with employee attrition. We used a life course research design to explore career turning points and transitions, in the context of preceding and following careers. Former police officers ("n" = 9) and former teachers ("n" = 15)…

One method of addressing the shortage of science and mathematics teachers is to train scientists and other science-related professionals to become teachers. Advocates argue that as discipline experts these career changers can relate the subject matter knowledge to various contexts and applications in teaching. In this paper, through interviews and…

This article reports on the value of career construction counselling for a black man facing a career crossroads. The participant was purposefully selected from a number of people participating in a career construction counselling course who had sought career counselling. An intrinsic, single-case study design was implemented and a qualitative,…

The main objective of this study is to identify the determinants that influence user demand for lifelong learning in institutions of higher education. Qualitative methodology was used to develop an instrument and a quantitative approach was used for the remainder of the study. After a literature review and in-depth interviews with experts in…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain insight into the experiences of North American teachers working in international schools and why they chose to leave within the first year. The findings offer insights into the following questions: (1) How do these teachers experience relationships with leadership and students? (2) What role, if…

Changes and transformations in organisations are traditionally initiated by the management. This approach does not, however, encourage the agency of all the members in an organisation to engage in cooperative development of the activity. This paper presents an analysis of the development of participants' transformative agency in a Change…

The decline in manufacturing and growth of service-based jobs has prompted many social theorists to argue that the ability of working-class men to construct meaningful and rewarding careers is becoming ever more limited. Despite using the universal label "working class", the experience of skilled working-class men has been largely…

In Germany and Denmark, the systems of further education and career guidance are well developed, offering a wide range of services and learning opportunities for targeted, specific and also general skills development. Based on an empirical study with mid-career individuals in both countries, the article investigates how the different systems…

The purpose of the study was to examine what scientists studying to become teachers know about the nature of science (NOS) before, during and after a course focused on NOS. The 16 scientists had an average of 9.7 years of work experience. The course was structured to teach knowledge about the aspects of NOS, demonstrate effective methods of…