More students want to become teachers

In 2018, almost 293 300 students were enrolled in higher education in Norway and abroad. Compared to the year before, the number of students did not change much – the updated figures from Students in higher education show an increase of only 160 students.

However, when looking at specific fields of education, the number of students in teacher training and pedagogy programmes showed a particular increase. In 2018, the number of students enrolled in such programmes reached 47 900. Compared to previous years, the number of students increased by 2 500 from 2017 and by 11 000 from 2015.

More students in primary and lower secondary teacher education

The field of teacher training and pedagogy had a large percentage increase in students enrolled from 2017 to 2018 – by 5,6 per cent. The capacity to educate more teachers combined with the growing popularity of such study programmes has increased the number of students.

Looking at different study programmes within the field, the number of students increased the most from 2017 to 2018 within primary and lower secondary teacher education. In 2018, 6 000 students were enrolled in such education programmes – an increase of 400 students from the previous year.

In 2017, the length of primary and lower secondary teacher education was extended from four to five years. Additionally, the requirements for entering such programmes increased. The largest increase in the number of students was nevertheless found in these programmes.

The share of women has decreased

More women than men are enrolled in teacher training and pedagogy programmes. In 2018, 72 per cent of the students within this field were women. However, as 76 per cent of all students in teacher education were women in 2008, the share has decreased.

Women outnumber men in all teacher education programmes, except bachelor’s degrees in vocational teacher training. In 2018, only 44 per cent of the students in such programmes were women. On the other side of the scale, bachelor’s degrees in pre-school/kindergarten teacher training had the largest share of women – 82 per cent in 2018.

The most even share of men and women was found within master’s degrees in teacher training and lower secondary teacher education for years 5-10. A common feature may therefore be that more men than women tend to choose education programmes that target older pupils.

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