Teaching Assistant Attitudes Toward College Teaching

This study used Vincent Tinto’s 1987 theory of departure from college as a conceptural framework to identify a wide array of potential experiences that could influence teaching assistants (TAs) either negatively or positively as they perform their tasks and decide whether to continue college teaching after graduate school. Results indicate that TAs who plan to pursue college teaching as a career regard high-quality supervision as the single most positive influence on their decision.