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
- 1Faculty of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin, China
- 2Academy of Educational Sciences, Mudanjiang Normal University, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China
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.
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BibTeX
@article{qing2026cant,
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}},
author = {Chen Qing and Yu Zhang and Zhichao Wang and Haiying Yu},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0360231},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360231},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - 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
AU - Chen Qing
AU - Yu Zhang
AU - Zhichao Wang
AU - Haiying Yu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0360231
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360231
AB - 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.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -