These relationships can be heavily influenced by the culture within a school which are largely set and maintained by the leadership structures within the school and the community. Factors for retention and attrition were identified, revealing that professionals both currently in and out of the classroom placed a high value on the relationships within their professional settings. Many of these practices were developed as a response to problem solving to meet the needs of their students or the expectations placed on them professionally. These practices were found to be a part of the TEE experience shared by the current teachers and echoed in the past experiences of the former teachers. Finally, within the A-identity, a list of affinitive practices for TEE were listed and discussed.
Many of these qualities emerge to meet the needs of their students in their creation of a positive learning environment. Some of these characteristics include qualities of leadership, problem solving, resourcefulness, and adaptability. Within the D-identity, descriptors of TEE professionals were identified through the perspective of the current and former teachers. These influences included their preservice education programs, any state mandated teaching license and credential requirements, school settings and administration teams, and influences for entering the profession. Within the I-identity, influences that were introduced to the participants based on their places of work were identified and discussed. Within the N-identity, the factors of gender and race were identified as influencers for the experiences and subsequent development of the participants in this study. The four identity perspectives within this framework are discussed and findings showed that each of these perspectives has an impact on teacher development. A theoretical framework based on the identity research of James Gee was used to structure the questions used in the semi-structured interview, as well as the data analysis (Gee, 2000). A total of 21 participants participated in a demographic survey, a semi-structured interview, and a card-sorting activity. This initial list was asked to forward the request for participation to others who fit the criteria needed for study participation.
Participants were reached using respondent driven sampling in which an initial recruitment contact list containing current technology and engineering education teachers, industry professionals, and higher education professionals. Using existing literature on retention and attrition research within general education and other STEM education areas as a guide, this study made use of a phenomenological case study approach.
This nationwide study explores the professional identity of technology and engineering education (TEE) teachers and the impacts of this identity on retention and attrition decisions.