Recent international trends are alarming: the teaching profession and teacher education are attracting fewer individuals, while an increasing number of teachers are leaving the profession (e.g., Wrona et al., 2025), resulting in teacher shortages also in vocational education (e.g., Stellmacher et al., 2020). In the field of teaching and teacher education, it is therefore essential to better understand what attracts individuals to the teaching profession and what deters them from it in Europe. This multimethod study investigated Finnish vocational pre-service teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession, focusing on motivations for teaching as well as other individual and social factors. The participants (N = 365) were enrolled in vocational teacher education, and most of them were already working as teachers. Around two thirds of the participants were women (64.4%), with an average age of 45.4 years (SD = 7.8), and 2.8 years of teaching experience (SD = 5.0). Datasets were collected through an online questionnaire that included structured questions about teaching motivations according to the FIT-Choice (Factors Influencing Teaching Choice) framework (Goller et al., 2019; Watt et al., 2012), and both structured and open-ended questions related to commitment to teaching (Leijen et al, 2021; Watt & Richardson, 2008). The datasets were analysed using structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and qualitative thematic analysis. The quantitative results show that overall, vocational pre-service teachers are fairly strongly committed to teaching. Notably, self-related values (intrinsic values and perceived teaching abilities), along with job security are positively related to commitment to teaching. Conversely, commitment is lower when the teaching career is perceived as a fallback option. The qualitative findings also highlight the importance of self-related values, such as intrinsic interest in teaching, and further show how sociocultural aspects related to the work environment and the nature of work both promote and hinder commitment to a significant extent. Specifically, commitment to teaching is largely affected by teacher autonomy and supportive relationships within the work community – and their absence as well. The study provides valuable insights for policy makers, vocational institutions and vocational teacher programs, on how to make teaching careers more attractive and to enhance teachers’ retention in Finland and across Europe. The study highlights that during the induction phase, it is essential to recognise teachers’ key motivations and to support their fulfilment within the sociocultural working environments of VET, which play an important role in retaining motivated and committed vocational teachers.

Goller, M., Ursin, J., Vähäsantanen, K., Festner, D., & Harteis, C. (2019). Finnish and German student teachers’ motivations for choosing teaching as a career. The first application of the FIT-Choice scale in Finland. Teaching and Teacher Education, 85, 235–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.06.023 Leijen, Ä., Pedaste, M., & Baucal, A. (2021). Assessing student teachers’ agency and using it for predicting commitment to teaching. European Journal of Teacher Education, 45(5), 600–616. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2021.1889507 Watt, H. M. G., & Richardson, P. W. (2008). Motivations, perceptions, and aspirations concerning teaching as a career for different types of beginning teachers. Learning and Instruction, 18(5), 408–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.06.002 Watt, H. M. G., Richardson, P. W., Klusmann, U., Kunter, M., Beyer, B., Trautwein, U., & Baumert, J. (2012). Motivations for choosing teaching as a career: An international comparison using the FIT-Choice scale. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(6), 791–805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.03.003 Wrona, S., Gajderowicz, T., & Jakubowski, M. (2025). How to keep teachers in a profession in times of budget shortages? European Journal of Teacher Education, 48(1), 178–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2025.2454635