In the spring of 2024, the School of Education and Human Services (SOEHS) conducted a survey targeting graduates of our Teacher Education programs from the past 10 years. Despite challenges in reaching all alumni due to outdated contact information, we successfully connected with 448 graduates and achieved a commendable 29% response rate. Respondents represented a broad spectrum of graduation years, and all ten certification areas were proportionally represented. Notably, these graduates have gone on to teach in 32 states and 13 countries across four continents, with 42% beginning their teaching careers in South Carolina.
The survey aimed to address three main objectives: understanding why graduates chose teaching as a profession, mapping their career trajectories since graduation, and evaluating their satisfaction with the preparation they received at BJU.
Motivations for Choosing Teaching
One open-ended question asked respondents about their motivations for pursuing a career in education. Operations Coordinator Daniel Dillard categorized the responses into six main factors. The top three motivations were:
1. A sense of calling (60%)
2. Influence of teachers (14%)
3. Influence of family (10%)
Career Trajectories
Recognizing that many educators may change schools or roles over time, we explored their career paths in detail. Regarding their first post-graduation roles:
• 42% began teaching in a Christian school.
• 38% started in a public school.
• 10% pursued other employment.
• 10% went directly to graduate school.
Over time, 58% of respondents reported teaching in a Christian school at some point. Additionally, 61% had changed schools at least once, and 6% were in their third career position. These last individuals had been out of school for an average of seven years, with a range of four to ten years.
When asked why they left previous teaching positions, the top reasons cited were starting a family, moving to a new city, and getting married. These factors collectively accounted for 65% of the reasons for leaving Christian schools and 54% for public schools.
Burnout, frequently highlighted by media as a significant factor in teacher attrition, was mentioned by 11% of those leaving Christian schools and 7% leaving public schools. Conflict was a less common reason, cited by 8% and 7% of respondents leaving Christian and public schools, respectively.
Satisfaction with Teacher Preparation
We were heartened by the positive feedback our graduates gave on the preparation they received in their coursework and field experiences. Below are the four Likert statements with the average score for each. This was on a 5-point scale where 4 was Agree and 5 was Strongly Agree.
1. My training at Bob Jones University provided me with the content knowledge I needed to be effective in the classroom. (4.38)
2. My training at Bob Jones University provided me with the pedagogical skills I needed to be effective in the classroom. (4.12)
3. My training at Bob Jones University provided me with the professional disposition I needed to be effective in a school setting. (4.43)
4. Due to the preparation I received from Bob Jones University, I have been able to make a significant measurable impact on student learning. (4.19)
Conclusion
This survey provided helpful data as we seek ways to recruit more qualified candidates and continue to focus on continuous improvement as we support our stakeholders. We appreciate all of you who took the time to provide this valuable feedback.
