Recruiting and retaining quality science and mathematics teachers are  major issues highlighted in numerous reports from many countries.  Strategies to address recruitment need to address not just the shortage of potential recruits but to ensure that those who are recruited are high quality. Attracting prospective quality recruits to teaching is one part of the problem but retaining them is another.  Thus the beginning years of teaching is crucial as the teacher refines his or her knowledge of teaching and joins the professional community.  The research reported here focussed on the beginning years of teaching and in particular on the experience of highly qualified career changers.  The participants in this study were recruits from the professions and included beginning teachers who had postgraduate qualifications in science or engineering. In  a number of jurisdictions these mid-career professionals have been seen as potential recruits to teaching. Many had experienced at least a decade working in the professions as scientists or engineers before deciding to complete a post graduate secondary teacher education course.   Thus the aim of this study was to explore the challenges faced by highly qualified professionals becoming teachers. The research was undertaken over a three year period which commenced with 18 participants.  Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations of teaching practices, and focus group interviews with students. The perceived quality of teaching was monitored through student surveys of their perceptions of the learning environment.  Theoretical frameworks were drawn from Self Determination Theory which asserts that the need for competence, autonomy and relatedness are essential goal setting regulators that influence a person’s engagement with a career. Hence, an investigation of the contextual factors which influence a person’s sense of personal satisfaction in a career is essential.  Of the 18 teachers who commenced in the first year of the study only 8 remained after three years.  A dominant feature emerging from the study was the leadership role played by administrators and support provided by colleagues.  The degree of job autonomy, learning opportunities, supervisor support for job success, co-worker team support for job success, and involvement in management decision making and workplace flexibility were dominant features that contributed to retention of these teachers.  Other factors related to school policy on employment also seriously impacted the permanency of appointment of several recruits. This presentation will compare and contrast the experiences of four teachers including one who left the profession although highly qualified and respected by students and three who experienced both successful and confronting experiences yet displayed a passion for teaching that overcame the challenges. The research has implications for both preservice teacher education and for the design and implementation of induction programs for teachers.  Preservice teacher education programs fail to address issues around workplace relationships and adjustments especially for those recruits who have substantial experiences in work environments.  Induction programs fail to recognise and differentiate between the needs of highly qualified beginning teachers and younger raw recruits with limited practical experiences.

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