The role of teachers is becoming increasingly important as Europe addresses its educational, social and economic challenges (Eurydice, 2018). At the same time, the most widespread problems in Europe and the world are teacher shortage, which is no longer a myth (Martin, & Mulvihill, 2016), but is real, large and growing, and worse than we thought (García, & Weiss, 2019). The European Commision (2015) pointed out problems of teacher shortages: shortage in some subjects, in some geographical areas, ageing teachers, high drop-out rates from the teaching profession, insufficient numbers of students in teacher studies programmes and high student attrition. The pandemic has also had an impact on the number of existing teachers, through increased anxiety and changes in workload (Darling-Hammond & Hyler 2020). The shortage of teachers, especially those for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), is a well-known global problem recognized by many (Diekman, & Benson-Greenwald,  2018).

What are the main factors influencing the teacher shortage? In this research the factors are divided into three groups: work environment/circumstances, personal and academic/professional.

Factors related to the working environment/circumstances determine a teacher's job satisfaction in school. They are: lack of recognition, poor remuneration/advancement opportunities, and loss of autonomy  (Aragon 2016). Few researchers noted the characteristics of schools: type of school, class size  (Cowan, et al., 2016), a perceived lack of respect for teachers  (Barth,et al., 2016), and  teacher workload, teacher cooperation (Toropova, Myrberg, & Johansson,  2021). In Latvia, teachers' job satisfaction is most influenced by a positive and democratic school culture - teacher relationships, teacher-student relationships and teacher-principal relationships (Geske & Ozola, 2015:206). In the LIZDAs study (2016): the biggest difficulties that teachers face in their work are the lack of respect from education policy makers, children's permissiveness, increased media interest in negative events in school life, stress and professional burnout

Personal factors are mainly related to teachers' perceptions of the teaching profession and their motivation to work in schools. Kyriacou and Coulthard’s (2000) study on undergraduates’ views of teaching as a career choice indicated three categories of the most motivating factors: altruistic reasons (desire to benefit society), intrinsic reasons (interest in subject matter and expertise), and extrinsic reasons (extended work breaks, level of pay, etc.). As the current shortage of teachers in STEM subjects calls for stimulating students' interest and motivation to learn, the teacher is given the role of inspirer. To teach, motivation can be seen as a multidimensional construct that includes (social influence, positive prior teaching and learning experiences, perceptions of teaching ability, intrinsic value, personal and social utility values), perceptions of the teaching profession (perceptions of task demands and returns), and evaluations of social withdrawal experiences and satisfaction with the teaching profession choice (Kuijpers, Dam, & Janssen, 2022).

Academic/professional factors have been attributed to the teacher's performance in the classroom: Do my knowledge, skills, and attributes fit with those demanded by the profession? (Klassen, Granger, & Bardach, 2022). It means that all teachers need the skills (explain a subject in a way that students understand, use a variety of teaching methods) and knowledge (subject content, pedagogy and psychology) to accomplish their immediate goals as a teacher.

The teacher shortage is becoming more acute today, with fewer and fewer students choosing not to become teachers. This situation is particularly problematic in STEM education, so the aim of the study was to find out the views of STEM faculties students on the choice of science teaching as a profession. In order to achieve this goal, the research question was posed: what factors determine the choice of STEM students to become/not to become a STEM subjects teacher?

Using the QuestionPro e-platform, 289 students (female (N = 200; male (N = 89) of Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes at the Faculties of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Optometry and Geography and Earth Sciences of the University of Latvia were surveyed in 2022. The questionnaire was structured in two parts: general and conceptual. In the general part, closed-ended questions were used to establish the student's identity: demographic data, faculty, level of study, course of study, his/her choice of a teaching profession and expected salary. In the conceptual part, open/closed questions were used to identify students' views on the advantages, disadvantages and problems of the teaching profession. Finally, an open-ended question was asked to find out the conditions that should be fulfilled in order to study and work as a teacher. The data obtained were processed using SPSS and AQUAD statistical data processing software. A coding system was created according to the questions of the conceptual part, which was later expanded based on the context of the open questions. Descriptive statistics, Spearman rank correlation non-parametric test, Mann-Whitney U test for two-group comparison and Chi-Square test for multiple-group comparison were used for data interpretation.

The study concluded that the main factors determining the choice of a teaching profession were characterised by predominantly common socio-economic beliefs about the prestige of the teaching profession and low salaries. The main disadvantages in choosing a teacher profession are inadequate salaries (M=3.74; 94%), workload (M=3.39; 85%), limited personal growth opportunities (M=3.18; 80%) and low prestige (M=2.95; 74%). Students consider the ability to public speak in front of an audience to be the greatest benefit of choosing teaching as a career (M=3.55; 89%). Opportunity to inspire young people (M=3.38; 85%) and ability to teach complex things simply (M=3.18; 79%) indicates students' desire to develop young people's interest in STEM subjects. It means that students were positive about the role of teachers in generating interest among young people in studying science. This is evidenced by the moderately strong correlation between the variables that are important in science (inspiring students/ability to teach complex subjects, r=0.44; ability to teach in a way that students can understand/sufficient depth and depth of subject knowledge, r=0.54). This suggests that students, few of whom have had the opportunity to be a teacher, have a reasonably good understanding of the job of a science teacher. Of the 289 students, 104 (36%) have seriously considered becoming a teacher, 14 have worked in a school, 19 are already working in a school and 89 (31%) could also teach young people in a school. Only 50 (17%) would categorically not want to work in a school. There are no significant differences in the perceptions of students from different STEM faculties about the teaching profession. Students are able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching profession by assessing the school as a working environment, the teacher's personal perceptions and motivation to work in a school, and the teacher's professional/academic work.

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