Comparison of men and women’s motivation of choosing physics teaching or nonteaching trajectory

Abstract

To explore the self-efficacy and physics identity of students across various physics career trajectories, as well as to delve into the motivations of male and female students in choosing to major in physics and pursue teaching, we conducted a survey within the Department of Physics at East China Normal University. This institution offers undergraduate physics programs with both teaching and nonteaching trajectories. The teaching trajectory caters to preservice teachers who will receive certifications to teach physics at the middle or high school level upon completing their degree. A total of 266 undergraduate students participated in the survey, ensuring a balanced representation of both genders and both teaching and nonteaching trajectories. A gender disparity was evident for self-efficacy, while no such gap emerged for physics identity. Conversely, distinct disparities emerged between different career trajectories, with significant differences observed in physics identity between students in the teaching and nonteaching trajectories. A predominant motivation for majoring in physics was “interest,” and the top two reasons for choosing the teaching career were consistent for both genders, with women assigning higher priority to job security.