Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate physical education teacher education (PETE) doctoral student's perception of factors associated with pursuing a degree in higher education. A secondary purpose was to investigate the career aspirations of current PETE doctoral students.
Method: Participants included 52 (55% response rate) PETE doctoral students enrolled in 15 of the 23 U.S PETE doctoral degree granting universities. Participants represented all geographic regions of the U.S. and were 44.2% male and 55.8% female. Participants completed an anonymous electronic survey including 78 items.
Analysis/Results: Descriptive statistics and frequencies were calculated. Participants indicated Increased pay grade (M=3.70, SD=1.30) to be the factor of greatest influence in their decision to pursue an advanced degree in PETE. The factor of least influence on degree pursuit was Impact future PE teachers (M=1.63, SD=0.967). From a listing of eight barriers to overcome in order to pursue a doctoral degree, the two primary barriers reported included Moving my family and Perceived ability to complete required coursework. Frequency counts indicated 48.1% participants indicated that after the completion of their program, they wished to acquire a position as an Assistant Professor in PETE at a Research I, 50% at a Research II, and 40.4% at a Research III institution.
Conclusions: These findings may be useful in the future recruitment and retention of PETE doctoral candidates. ->