“My calling, my passion, my vocation”: Opting Out of Leadership amongst Puerto Rican Teachers (Poster 32)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 3:20 p.m.
  In Invited Poster Session: 2025 AERA Undergraduate Fellows Research Poster Fair

Abstract

In many industries, professionals with extensive experience rise through the ranks to fill leadership roles. In contrast, teachers are less likely to occupy top positions within public education – a trend especially pronounced in Puerto Rico. This project asks: Why do professionals pursue – or refrain from pursuing – greater power in the workplace? Drawing on classic sociological concepts of power and status, it explores how teachers make sense of career advancement.

Based on 45 semi-structured interviews with public school teachers in Puerto Rico, I uncover a puzzling pattern: Despite dissatisfaction with classroom conditions and the perceived attainability of leadership roles, most teachers ultimately turn away from pursuing them. Participants relied on two key narratives to explain this choice: material constraints and passion. In the material constraints narrative, leadership roles are framed as involving excessive responsibilities without adequate compensation. Paradoxically, these same teachers often accept significant unpaid labor in their classroom roles. In the passion narrative, administrative work is described as less fulfilling than student-facing roles. Even those who once envisioned themselves in leadership eventually prioritize teaching as more meaningful work.

This project contributes to the sociology of work and occupations by highlighting how teachers make sense of their career paths, revealing how everyday narratives can shape professional trajectories. These findings shed light on the micro-level processes that constrain upward mobility and may help explain why teaching, despite its societal importance, remains a lower-status profession.

Author

• Julia García Galindo, Harvard University