IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp5806.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this paper

Career Changers in Teaching Jobs: A Case Study Based on the Swiss Vocational Education System

Author

Listed:
  • Hof, Stefanie

    (University of Basel)

  • Strupler Leiser, Mirjam

    (University of Bern)

  • Wolter, Stefan C.

    (University of Bern)

Abstract

This study investigates the determinants and motives of professionals who change career to vocational teaching. The framework for this study is the Swiss vocational education system, which requires that teachers of vocational subjects must have a prior career in that specific field. Thus, to work in teaching, every vocational teacher has to change his or her initial career. This paper focuses on the relevance of monetary motives for changing a career to teaching. Using a unique data set of trainee teachers, we show that professionals who change their careers to teaching earned on average more in their first career than comparable workers in the same occupation. Our findings additionally demonstrate that the average career changer still expects to earn significantly more as a teacher than in the former career. However, the study shows substantial heterogeneity and a zero wage elasticity of the teacher supply, suggesting that non-monetary motives are more relevant for career change than monetary factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Hof, Stefanie & Strupler Leiser, Mirjam & Wolter, Stefan C., 2011. "Career Changers in Teaching Jobs: A Case Study Based on the Swiss Vocational Education System," IZA Discussion Papers 5806, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5806
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp5806.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefan Denzler & Stefan C. Wolter, 2009. "Laufbahnentscheide im Lehrberuf aus bildungsoekonomischer Sicht," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0041, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    2. Hanushek, Eric A. & Pace, Richard R., 1995. "Who chooses to teach (and why)?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 101-117, June.
    3. Peter Dolton & Tsung-Ping Chung, 2004. "The Rate of Return to Teaching: How does it Compare to other Graduate Jobs?," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 190(1), pages 89-103, October.
    4. Wolter, Stefan C. & Ryan, Paul, 2011. "Apprenticeship," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 11, pages 521-576, Elsevier.
    5. Longhi, Simonetta & Brynin, Malcolm, 2010. "Occupational change in Britain and Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 655-666, August.
    6. Stefan C. Wolter & Stefan Denzler & Bernhard A. Weber, 2003. "Betrachtungen zum Arbeitsmarkt der Lehrer in der Schweiz," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 72(2), pages 305-319.
    7. Regula Geel & Johannes Mure & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2011. "Specificity of occupational training and occupational mobility: an empirical study based on Lazear’s skill-weights approach," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(5), pages 519-535, January.
    8. Edward P. Lazear, 2009. "Firm-Specific Human Capital: A Skill-Weights Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 117(5), pages 914-940, October.
    9. Stefan C. Wolter & Stefan Denzler, 2004. "Wage elasticity of the teacher supply in Switzerland," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 47(3-4), pages 387-408.
    10. Neal, Derek, 1999. "The Complexity of Job Mobility among Young Men," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(2), pages 237-261, April.
    11. ARNAUD CHEVALIER & PETER DOLTON & STEVEN McINTOSH, 2007. "Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in the UK: An Analysis of Graduate Occupation Choice from the 1960s to the 1990s," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(293), pages 69-96, February.
    12. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1979. "Job Matching and the Theory of Turnover," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 972-990, October.
    13. Charles F. Manski, 1987. "Academic Ability, Earnings, and the Decision to Become a Teacher: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972," NBER Chapters, in: Public Sector Payrolls, pages 291-316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Parrado, Eric & Caner, Asena & Wolff, Edward N., 2007. "Occupational and industrial mobility in the United States," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 435-455, June.
    15. Torberg Falch, 2010. "The Elasticity of Labor Supply at the Establishment Level," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 237-266, April.
    16. Dolton, Peter J., 2006. "Teacher Supply," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 19, pages 1079-1161, Elsevier.
    17. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Stinebrickner, Todd R, 2001. "A Dynamic Model of Teacher Labor Supply," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 196-230, January.
    19. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:849-919 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Matthew M. Chingos & Martin R. West, 2010. "Do More Effective Teachers Earn More Outside of the Classroom?," CESifo Working Paper Series 2996, CESifo.
    21. Moshe Buchinsky, 2001. "Quantile regression with sample selection: Estimating women's return to education in the U.S," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 87-113.
    22. Gueorgui Kambourov & Iourii Manovskii, 2008. "Rising Occupational And Industry Mobility In The United States: 1968-97," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 49(1), pages 41-79, February.
    23. Podgursky, Michael & Monroe, Ryan & Watson, Donald, 2004. "The academic quality of public school teachers: an analysis of entry and exit behavior," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 507-518, October.
    24. Rubinstein, Yona & Weiss, Yoram, 2006. "Post Schooling Wage Growth: Investment, Search and Learning," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 1-67, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stefanie Hof & Mirjam Strupler & Stefan C. Wolter, 2011. "Quereinsteiger in den Lehrberuf am Beispiel der schweizerischen Berufsbildung," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0059, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    2. By Barbara Mueller & Jürg Schweri, 2015. "How specific is apprenticeship training? Evidence from inter-firm and occupational mobility after graduation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(4), pages 1057-1077.
    3. Stefan Denzler & Stefan C. Wolter, 2009. "Laufbahnentscheide im Lehrberuf aus bildungsoekonomischer Sicht," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0041, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    4. Chen, Dandan, 2009. "The economics of teacher supply in Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4975, The World Bank.
    5. Regula Geel & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2009. "Occupational Mobility Within and Between Skill Clusters: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Skill-Weights Approach," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0047, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW), revised Mar 2011.
    6. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Licklederer, Stefanie & Zwiener, Hanna, 2015. "Mobility across firms and occupations among graduates from apprenticeship," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 138-151.
    7. Carl Sanders & Christopher Taber, 2012. "Life-Cycle Wage Growth and Heterogeneous Human Capital," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 399-425, July.
    8. Fatih Guvenen & Burhan Kuruscu & Satoshi Tanaka & David Wiczer, 2020. "Multidimensional Skill Mismatch," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 210-244, January.
    9. Shintaro Yamaguchi, 2012. "Tasks and Heterogeneous Human Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(1), pages 1-53.
    10. Jäger, Simon & Heining, Jörg, 2019. "How Substitutable Are Workers? Evidence from Worker Deaths," MPRA Paper 109757, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jan 2019.
    11. Jaime Arellano-Bover, 2024. "Career Consequences of Firm Heterogeneity for Young Workers: First Job and Firm Size," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 549-589.
    12. Elisabeth Bublitz, 2018. "Matching skills of individuals and firms along the career path," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 509-537.
    13. Ronald Bachmann & Peggy Bechara & Christina Vonnahme, 2020. "Occupational Mobility in Europe: Extent, Determinants and Consequences," De Economist, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 79-108, March.
    14. Simonetta Longhi & Mark Taylor, 2013. "Occupational Change and Mobility Among Employed and Unemployed Job Seekers," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(1), pages 71-100, February.
    15. Lalé, Etienne, 2012. "Trends in occupational mobility in France: 1982–2009," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 373-387.
    16. Pedros Silos & Eric Smith, 2015. "Human Capital Portfolios," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(3), pages 635-652, July.
    17. Bergin, Adele, 2009. "Job Mobility in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 15-47.
    18. Podgursky, Michael & Monroe, Ryan & Watson, Donald, 2004. "The academic quality of public school teachers: an analysis of entry and exit behavior," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 507-518, October.
    19. Steingrimsdottir, Herdis, 2020. "The decreased popularity of the teaching sector in the 1970s," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. William J. Carrington & Bruce Fallick, 2014. "Why Do Earnings Fall with Job Displacement?," Working Papers (Old Series) 1405, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    career change; occupational change; rate of return to education; wage differentials; teacher wages; vocational education and training;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5806. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.