Antecedents of preservice music teacher students’ career intention to become music teachers: the roles of demographics, personality traits, and motivations

Teacher attrition is a widely recognised problem in music education, having received increasing attention amongst preservice music student teachers over the past few decades. Yet, factors influencing their career intention remain to be fully explored. This study aimed to examine the roles of demographics, personality traits, and motivations in preservice music student teachers’ intention to become music teachers through an integrated psychological decision model. Survey data were collected from 243 preservice music student teachers and analysed using structural equation modelling. The results showed that the integrated model could explain 71% of participants’ career intention. Personality traits exhibited indirect effects through the mediating roles of intrinsic, extrinsic, and social motivations. While all motivations yielded direct effects on career intention, internship experience had a negative impact. The findings provide new insights to develop effective strategies to channel career intention amongst preservice music student teachers for different stakeholders.