The Relationship of Selected Personal Characteristics to the Needs of College Students Preparing to Teach

Abstract

A rather complete review of factors influencing students' choice of teaching as a career is presented by Chaltas (1957). The review revealed the important role of idealism among students planning to teach. It was also noted that students were significantly motivated by social factors related to teaching. In a previous study the writers found that certain needs of prospective women teachers varied with different teaching areas (Garrison & Scott, 1961). However, the various studies dealing with motives related to the choice of teaching as a career fail to consider the relationship of certain background factors and specific personal needs of those choosing teaching as a career. The ProblemThe hypothesis of this study states that the specific personal needs of prospective women teachers (as measured by the Edwards Personal Pre f erence Schedule) vary significantly according to selected personal characteristics of the prospective teachers. The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) consists of 210 pairs of items, and is designed to measure the relative importance of 15 psychological needs. Relationships were explored between the needs of prospective women teachers and the following personal characteristics: (1) marital status; (2) age; (3) college class standing; (4) number of