The influence of mathematics on career choice: Why do students choose to teach elementary school

This study identified and compared common beliefs and attitudes regarding mathematics and math education among college and university students with a focus on elementary education majors. Emphasis was placed on measuring and comparing the level of math anxiety between elementary education majors and students of other career interests. A conceptual model was utilized to examine various variables (family, mathematical background, occupational influences) that could predict the professional goals of college and university students.; A self-reported questionnaire was developed for this study that included factors associated with math anxiety, gender issues, calculator usage, basic math computations, abstract mathematics, self-efficacy, family and other possible influences of career choice. The nine items of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) were used in the survey. The sample (n = 364) included undergraduate students from a two-year college and a four-year university in Southern California. The students were grouped into five categories based on the focus of their studies: (1) Elementary education (multiple subject), (2) Junior High/High School (single subject--non-math), (3) Junior High/High School (single subject--math), (4) Other non-math related fields, and (5) Other math related fields.; In order to determine any common mathematical factors among future elementary school teachers, this study used a succession of statistical analyses including frequency distributions of several items from the instrument, factor analyses of variables related to math anxiety, path analyses utilizing a series of stepwise multiple-linear regressions, and a discriminant function. Furthermore, common themes within the open-ended questions were also investigated. The multiple linear path analyses (all with R2 > .40) produced two variables that were consistent in their direct and indirect effects and strong non-casual values when predicting the students' career choice. These variables were (a) the highest education achieved by the student's mother/maternal guardian and (b) the student's comfort level working with fractions without a calculator.; The discriminant function produced two factors that determined several significant predictors of the students' career choice. These variables were: (a) the student's own attitude toward math, (b) the student's enjoyment of math, (c) the student's comfort level working with fractions without a calculator, (d) the highest education achieved by the student's mother/maternal guardian, and (e) the math classes the student took in high school. The two factors produced significant Wilks' Lambda (<.05) with eigenvalues of 2.719 and .846. They explained cumulatively 81.2% of the variance.; Four major findings emerged with regard to common beliefs, attitudes and influences of future elementary teachers.; First, approximately 30% of the college students with high levels of math anxiety chose careers as elementary teachers. It is likely that this attitude is being transferred to a large percentage of our students throughout their grade school years.; Second, a majority of the elementary education majors did not convey competence in multiplication facts or operations involving fractions. Both the descriptive statistics and the open-ended survey questions exposed a strong concern about knowing and teaching these topics.; Third, the highest education achieved by a college student's mother or maternal guardian proved to be a significant predictor in their career choice. It was interesting to note that it was not her occupational level, but her mere level of education that entered the equations.; Finally, the data from this study confirmed that junior high and high school math teachers have a very low level of math anxiety, if any. This may explain the multiple complaints about math teachers who cannot explain the material in a way the students can understand and math teachers who make fun of them or are impatient w...