Abstract

Enrollment in pre-service teacher education in Chile has dropped by 19% in the last year. To better understand the motivations and perceptions towards teaching among those students who could potentially become teacher candidates, we explored teaching vocation on 11th- and 12th-grade students in Santiago. From a total of 1112 students who voluntarily participated in an online survey including the FIT-Choice scale, 381 expressed their interest in teacher education. Afterward, 83 students confirmed their participation in our mentoring program regarding teacher education and the teaching profession. The results show that the students who chose to be mentored have greater intrinsic motivation towards teaching and a greater self-perceived ability to teach. Additionally, they have a more positive perception of the teaching profession, including work-family conciliation, and project greater satisfaction with their professional choice. However, they also belong to one of the most vulnerable population groups in Chile, those who have more difficulties accessing university education through traditional admission processes conditioned on academic performance. Thus, to foster equity in teacher education and attract students with the vocational potential for becoming excellent teachers, we need to consolidate admission alternatives and provide greater opportunities to students that-due to the inequities of the educational system-fail to complete a successful application or do not make the cut to enroll.