{
  "abstract": "The high-quality development of rural education urgently requires strengthening the supply of outstanding rural teachers. Based on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), a survey of 6,546 teacher education students from local universities in Heilongjiang Province revealed that the willingness to teach in rural areas among three identified profiles—the Weak Foundation Profile, the Development-Oriented Profile, and the Excellence-Prepared Profile—is significantly influenced by academic year and family capital. This influence manifests differentiated patterns via the “environment-person-behaviour” transmission pathway: family support acts as a common motivating factor for rural teaching willingness across all three groups; for foundation-weak students, professional competence primarily exerts a mediating effect through the family support pathway; for development-oriented students, professional competence shows no significant mediating effect in this pathway; and for excellence-oriented students, the willingness to return to their hometowns for rural teaching is jointly driven by the dynamic interplay between environmental factors and individual professional competence. Therefore, a differentiated approach is imperative: policy orientation should strengthen the enabling role of family support, optimise the pathways for localised training and incentives for rural teachers, and establish a growth system for rural education leaders. These measures will further refine the long-term mechanisms for attracting and retaining talent in rural teaching positions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Faculty of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin, China",
    "Academy of Educational Sciences, Mudanjiang Normal University, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Chen Qing"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yu Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zhichao Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Haiying Yu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/79qvjjdted3qq.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0360231",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "79qvjjdted3qq",
  "issns": [
    "1932-6203"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360231",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3304|Education in Rural Contexts"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive science/Cognitive psychology/Learning/Human learning"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Learning and memory/Learning/Human learning"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Learning/Human learning"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Earth sciences/Geography/Geographic areas/Rural areas"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/People and places/Population groupings/Professions"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/People and places/Population groupings/Professions/Teachers"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Economics/Labor economics/Employment/Careers"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Learning/Human learning"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Sociology/Culture"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Sociology/Education/Schools"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Sociology/Education/Schools/Universities"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221923200",
  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0360231&type=printable",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-15",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/79qvjjdted3qq.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:23Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0360231",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360231"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Why can’t they “Go back”? — A multi-group comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ hometown return intention in local universities based on latent profile analysis",
  "title_text": "Why can’t they “Go back”? — A multi-group comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ hometown return intention in local universities based on latent profile analysis",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:23Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/79qvjjdted3qq",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
  "versions": []
}