The teaching motivation paradox: a systematic review and content analysis of candidate teachers’ motivations across cultures and time

Understanding the nature of teaching motivations can help attract and retain quality teachers and support educational effectiveness. We conducted a systematic review and content analysis of teaching motivations reported by candidate teachers in qualitative studies spanning 64 years of research published between 1961 and early 2025 (N = 39 studies, 4714 participants, 18 countries). Two major results were found. First, initial motivations to teach reflected intrinsic, altruistic, as well as extrinsic job factors, with the latter more pronounced in non-Western or less developed countries and among earlier generations of preservice teachers (before 2000). These cultural and time variations point to a “teaching motivation paradox”: As society increases its levels of human development over time and across countries, more teachers are needed for school massification, but the teaching profession becomes less extrinsically attractive as a profession. Second, the FIT-Choice scale proved ecologically valid as a frame for coding qualitative responses, with two more recently proposed motivations identified—i.e., subject interest and social status of teaching. The motivation of opportunity for higher education also occurred in non-Western or developing countries, highlighting the potential benefit of considering additional motivations across regions. Implications are derived for future research and measurement, and systemic strategies to tackle the teaching motivation paradox by revaluing the social status of the profession where needed. Supplemental materials 1 (SM1) and 2 (SM2) are publicly available on the OSF repository https://osf.io/4quyw/.