Getting Black Men to the Blackboard: Factors That Promote Black Men Teachers’ Entry into the Teaching Profession

ABSTRACT

Despite existing recruitment and retention efforts, there has been a persistent underrepresentation of Black men teachers in the U.S. educator workforce. The present study employed a phenomenological approach to examine what motivated Black men (n = 27) to enter the teaching profession. We drew on the social-cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework to analyze the most salient factors that Black men teachers referenced in their career decision-making processes. The results pointed to various factors contributing to Black men entering this profession including early experiences in education, role models, and exposure to ineffective classroom teachers. Our findings have implications for future research and policies related to the creation of teacher recruitment efforts and pipelines into the profession for Black men.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Manchanda

Sarah Manchanda is a Ph.D. Candidate in the School Psychology program in the School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Sarah’s prior work experience includes serving as a special education teacher, a curriculum developer, and an instructional coach. Her current research interests include promoting the social inclusion of students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds with disabilities and supporting the professional development and retention of diverse teachers.

Travis Bristol

Dr. Travis J. Bristol is an associate professor of education at the University of California, Berkeley. His research is situated at the intersection of policy and practice and is centered on three interrelated strands: (1) district- and school-based practices that support educators of color; (2) national, state, and local education policies that enable and constrain the workplace experiences and retention for educators of color; (3) the intersection of race and gender in schools.

Phelton Moss

Dr. Phelton C. Moss is a Senior Professorial Lecturer of Education Policy & Leadership at American University. His research focuses on building school and district leaders capacity to diversify the educator workforce and improve efforts to increase teacher recruitment and retention. He has provided strategic and policy advice across a range of national education issues including early childhood, K-12, postsecondary, career, and technical education, teacher diversity, and workforce development.