This report uses longitudinal data from the 1992-93 Baccalaureate and Beyond Study (B&B:93/03) to analyze the teaching career choices of 1992-93 bachelor's degree recipients. As of 2003, some 87 percent of graduates reported not teaching in 1994, 1997, and 2003 (nonteachers). Of the 13 percent of graduates who were teaching at one or more of the three follow-up interviews, 31 percent taught consistently, 41 percent were late starters, 16 percent were leavers, and 12 percent were other teachers. The report also provides an in-depth look at the teacher career choices of those graduates with various demographic characteristics, academic backgrounds, teaching assignments, and salaries. Among those who taught, graduates with dependents in each year (1993, 1997, and 2003) taught consistently at higher rates than graduates without dependents. Most graduates who taught consistently had majored in education for their bachelor's degree (77 percent). On the other hand, 40 percent of education majors were not teaching at the elementary/secondary level in 1994, 1997, or 2003. Many of the 1992-93 graduates who became teachers had earned a master's degree or higher by 2003 and had done so at higher rates than graduates who did not teach: 39 percent of graduates who taught had attained a master's degree or higher by 2003, compared with about one-quarter of those who did not teach. The results in this report may inform research on teacher supply and demand, teacher attrition, and teacher retention.
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