Want a good job? Become a teacher

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Hey, young people: Do you want a good job? Then maybe you could become a teacher.

You won't get rich, but teachers make more money than you might think, and you'll have a much easier time finding (and keeping) a job than many of your peers.

This may sound like counterintuitive career advice given the current state of the teaching profession. But here are two reasons why more young people should consider a career in education:

Teachers find it easy to find good jobs

This year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released an interactive tool that examines the job market prospects of college graduates. Of the 74 majors on the list, elementary education had the sixth-lowest unemployment rate at 1.5%. By comparison, industrial engineering came in first at 0.2% and art history came in last at 8%.

Student teachers also scored highly on the underemployment rate. Were college graduates primarily employed in jobs that required a degree? By this measure, special education teachers came in second, just behind nursing. Elementary education, early childhood education, and general education all made the top 10.

The Federal Reserve data is just a snapshot, but the economic benefits of being a teacher have persisted for decades. The National Center for Education has regularly surveyed college graduates and found that teaching students consistently have higher early-career employment rates than graduates of other fields. They are also more likely to work in a job closely related to their field of study. As a result, college graduates with teaching degrees are less likely to seek new jobs than graduates of other fields.

Teachers are satisfied with their job

A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research examined whether better information could encourage more young people to consider teaching as a career. Researchers asked freshmen at the University of Michigan to estimate how much teachers and non-teachers earn and how satisfied they are with their jobs.

About two-thirds of students underestimated how much the average teacher earns. Yet almost all students – 99 percent – estimated that teacher satisfaction is lower than in the past.

Using a large sample of data from the National Survey of College Graduates, the authors examined data from 2010 to 2019 and found that 91% of teachers reported being satisfied with their jobs (compared to 88% of non-teachers). In addition, 97% of teachers were satisfied with the contribution of their jobs to society, compared to 88% of non-teachers.

After college students were presented with more accurate information about teacher pay and satisfaction, they became more interested in pursuing a career in education. Men in particular responded positively to the new, more accurate data about the profession. (When testing other types of messages, female and black students were more influenced by messages that emphasized the importance of diversity and the ways teachers can serve as role models for young people.)

The past few years have been particularly favorable for job seekers in the education sector. Given the widespread shortage of teachers, particularly in urban and rural schools and in subjects such as mathematics and special education, new teachers have had freedom of choice as to where they want to work.

And anyone considering a career in teaching should take comfort in the fact that, historically, it has been easier for students with teaching degrees to find full-time employment than for students pursuing other, riskier careers.