Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career: A Mixed Method Study

Within the school-based vocational education and training system, so-called hybrid teachers, i.e. who both work in a vocational school and a business, can add value to the quality of VET as well as can solve ageing and the threat of shortages among VET teachers. In this research, the motivation of becoming a VET teacher as a second career and its perception by participants were examined using a mixed-method explanatory sequential study design. In the first phase, 114 VET teachers from 33 VET institutions in Lithuania were surveyed using the Factors Influencing Teaching (FIT) Choice scale. In the second phase, five vocational teachers were interviewed. The qualitative results supported and complemented the results of quantitative research by emphasizing the importance of intrinsic motivation to teach and explained in-depth the components of antecedent socialisation and perceptions of teaching. The results were discussed considering similar studies on second-career teachers conducted in other countries.


Introduction
Education in the twenty-first century is not an isolated segment of the labour market -there are various ways as well as different motivations to come to teach.Motivation for becoming a teacher is recognised as being of primary importance for the quality of education, engagement in and commitment to the profession (Fokkens-Bruinsma & Canrinus, 2012;Nesje et al., 2018).In addition, it has consequences for a range of essential outcomes, notably in light of workforce issues such as career development aspirations (Eren & Tezel, 2010), teacher resilience (Ainsworth & Oldfield, 2019) and retention (Tehseen & Hadi, 2015).In the context of recurring teacher shortage and ageing, second-career teachers have been focused on as a prospective recruitment pool for teacher education in many countries (Berger & Girardet, 2015;Coppe et al., 2021;Daguplo, 2013;Haggard et al., 2006;Smethem, 2007;Tigchelaar et al., 2010;Troesch & Bauer, 2017;Zarifis, 2012).According to Chambers (2002), second-career teachers are teachers with a primary occupation in another profession than teaching.
Motivation and second-career choices for vocational education and training (VET) school teachers are much less studied (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;b;Berger & Girardet, 2015;Coppe et al., 2021;Stellmacher et al., 2020) than general education teachers.As Brevik and Lier (2013) explained, a unique feature of the vocational teacher's role is the double practice field: first, a person is trained for the specific occupation, and later, for the teaching profession.Therefore, it may be said that becoming a vocational teacher is always the second choice.Transition experiences from the role of the practitioner to one of the teacher, as noticed by Coppe et al. (2021), Berger and D'Ascoli (2012a), are always complex and depend on several factors related to the primary profession.
While Brindley and Parker (2010) invited to continue research on secondcareer teachers as they represent a distinct category entering the teaching profession, Grollmann (2008) and Orr (2019) stressed heterogeneity within this category.They distinguished five different types of vocational teachers or trainers in European contexts by their function and adopted the term practitioner for all teachers, trainers, instructors, and others with an educational or training role in different settings: formal schools or colleges, enterprises or employers' organisations and so on (Orr, 2019, p.330).Indeed, the career trajectories of various groups of VET teachers must attain particular consideration by scholars.
Therefore, the focus of this research is on the VET teachers who have currently entered the teaching profession from their occupational fields and/or who still work in an enterprise and a vocational school simultaneously.In other words, the spotlight is given to hybrid teachers (European VET providers associations, 2018), who should "add value by creating stronger partnerships between VET and business with mutual benefit" (p.32).The need for such teachers is particularly relevant in the school-based VET systems.

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Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:…
In Lithuania, before entering a vocational school, it is required to be qualified in the occupation that provides instructions for the students (Daukilas et al., 2017) and then undergo pedagogical training.A qualification diploma in the occupational field can be obtained from vocational training or higher education institutions.Before working as a vocational teacher, people with professional qualifications and secondary education must have at least three years of professional experience in the relevant field.This requirement does not apply to holders of a higher education diploma in the occupational field.Thus, it is possible to be employed in a vocational school after graduating from university or college, even without practical work experience (Daukilas et al., 2017).Overall, the VET teachers' qualification in their occupational field is high: in 2017, about 79% of teachers had a higher education degree (MOSTA, 2018).Nevertheless, the data of a 2016-year survey show that more than 40% of them had no previous relevant work experience (Vaitkutė, 2016).In contrast to some other countries, for instance, Switzerland, individuals teaching vocational disciplines become educators after several years of working in their speciality areas and some of them, engaged as teachers, continue to work in the occupation (Berger & Girardet, 2015).
Concerning pedagogical training, vocational teachers are not required to have a formal diploma.In Lithuania, as in some other countries, vocational teachers acquire teacher competences via in-service training in the form of part-time participation in teacher training programmes (Bound, 2011;Andersson & Köpsén, 2015;Daukilas et al., 2016).The pursuit of a higher pedagogical qualification comes along with work experience.In contrast to some other countries, for instance, Norway, more strict requirements for vocational teacher education are set: they must possess a bachelor's degree, at a college or university that integrates subjects, pedagogy and didactics (Brevik & Lier, 2013).
The practices of becoming VET teacher in the school-based VET environment, which prevails in Lithuania, discussed above implicitly suggest two issues.Firstly, vocational teachers are valued for their specialised subject knowledge and professional expertise (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;Zarifis, 2012), but, in recruiting a person, their academic education is probably more important than practical training (Mičiulienė & Kovalčikienė, 2020).Secondly, practical experience and subject knowledge are more important than pedagogical knowledge (Grollmann & Bauer, 2009).
In the Lithuanian educational context, there are no special regulations for preparation of VET teachers', nor for their admission requirements.Despite flexible ways to enter VET school, the low number of new entrants to the profession may contribute to teacher shortages that schools already face (Shewbridge et al., 2016).The occupation of VET education suffers from a problem of an ageing workforce: the high share (55%) of teachers aged above fifty years or already retired is outstanding in international comparison (OECD, 2021).Vocational schools try to hire practitioners from business and industry by creating the conditions to continue in business or enterprise simultaneously.According to data from the Government Strategic Analysis Centre (2020, p. 38), less than a quarter (23%) of vocational teachers work parttime in vocational schools.About 70% of them declare the school as a "non-main job".Nevertheless, that does not mean they all work for their companies simultaneously since they can work in administrative positions or other schools (Government Strategic Analysis Centre, 2020).Empirically, only a tiny share of vocational teachers come from business or work in both areas.In particular, there are few such teachers in rural or small schools.Summing up, vocational teachers with long teaching experience (for 30 years or more) predominate.Following Grollmann and Bauer (2009), probably, they are more likely to identify with the teaching profession than with any other field.Attracting talented young people into the teaching profession is a significant lever for VET system (Grollmann, 2008).
To our knowledge, little research has been conducted nationally to expand understanding of the teachers within the VET (Daukilas et al., 2017;Gedvilienė, Gedvilienė et al., 2010;Mičiulienė & Kovalčikienė, 2020).Accordingly, information that strives to comprehend the key factors influencing VET teachers' career decisions has been lacked (OECD, 2017).The present study, therefore, investigates this issue by analysing a particular subgroup of VET teachers.By comparing their career decisions to those emerging from other studies on VET second-career teachers, the perception of motivation to become VET teachers in school-based and dual systems will be carefully examined.

Theoretical Framework
As Berger and D'Ascoli (2011) pointed out, the motivational factors of second career choice are similar to those of first career choice.Therefore, the career transitions from business to education can be examined in terms of motivational factors for choosing to teach.Based on Expectancy-Value Theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002), the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) scale was constructed for first-career teachers by Watt and Richardson (2007).Later, Berger andD'Ascoli (2011, 2012a) adapted it for second-career VET teachers and tested it in Switzerland with the sample of VET teachers (N = 483).For this study, the modified version of the FIT-Choice scale (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a) that is relevant for conceptualising VET teachers' motivation (Coppe et al., 2021) is applied.Within the study on the determinants of second-career choice, the three sets of dimensions that drive the career transition of VET teachers have emerged -motivation for teaching, antecedent socialisation and perceptions of teaching -which we took into account for our purpose.
Literature on teacher motivation suggests that motivation usually is understood as the "drive that moves people to do something by nature" (Han & Yin, 2016, p. 3).This inherent driver or interest in teaching refers to intrinsic value as defined by 1 3 Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:… Watt et al. (2012).Some empirical data suggest that career switchers have more pronounced intrinsic motivations for teaching (Baeten & Meeus, 2016;Freidus & Krasnow, 1991;Stellmacher et al., 2020;Troesch & Bauer, 2017).The person is likely to choose an occupation for which s/he thinks s/he has the proper skills and in which s/he can expect success.Watt et al. (2012) refer to expectations of success, shaped over time by an individual's experiences and interpretations of them, as perceived teaching abilities.The findings of Salyer's study (2003) revealed that second-career teachers believe in their teaching behaviours and their success, which is influenced by their prior experience.For instance, previous experience as a trainer or mentor in the workplace can help to understand whether the training activity is in line with the person's abilities and interests, whether the person will be successful in teaching, able to deal with a variety of pedagogical tasks, and be able to function in new situations (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a).According to Watt and Richardson (2007), intrinsic value also reveals the perceived personal and social benefits of occupational choices.Some research shows that social benefits dominate over personal ones in the second career choice.For instance, in Swiss VET teachers' career choices, the personal utility values understood in terms of job security, a guaranteed pension, and the ability to balance work and family commitments were among the least important (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a).Moreover, the empirical evidence that enjoyment in working with adolescents, helping students and contributing to society were the primary reasons for choosing teaching as a second career (Daguplo, 2013;Salyer, 2003) indicates an altruistic desire to be valuable and significant to society.In terms of VET teachers' motivation, Berger and D'Ascoli (2012a) noticed that frequently VET educators come to the occupation accidentally, without a welldeveloped intention to become a VET teacher.They highlighted such an option as a passive motivation and defined it as a "choice by opportunity" (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a, p.321).
The second dimension is antecedent socialisation.Previous teaching/learning experience is vital for a teacher's career choice as well as for their later perception of the role of a teacher (Martišauskienė, 2016;Paurienė, 2016).Empirical findings on former teachers and their influence on second-career teachers' decisions are sparse.The decision to become a teacher is also influenced by the surrounding people, namely, family and friends (Michel et al., 2011).This social impact can be positive and discouraging, linked to societal stereotypes, the prestige of the teaching profession and so on.
The third dimension refers to perceptions of teaching and is divided into task demand and task return.Within this contradict, there are two aspects: what one "gives" to a profession is a wide range of real-world knowledge and skills (Baeten & Meeus, 2016;Salyer, 2003), and what one "receives" from it is rewards, respect, and social influence (Stellmacher et al., 2020).When choosing a career as a vocational teacher, the expert knowledge and skills that a person brings to a vocational school and the desire to improve it are crucial.The social status of a profession indicates how society values an occupation (Orr, 2019).Studies have found that the vocational teacher profession suffers from the low status of vocational education (Grollmann, 2008), underestimation of VET teachers (Grollmann, 2008;Orr, 2019), and comparatively low salaries (Zarifis, 2012) in many countries.However, as Power showed, in many cases, the transition to teaching was made without a gain in the financial area.Most individuals who become second-career teachers do not consider the lower compensation associated with the new profession (Power, 2002).

Aims of the Study and Research Questions
To the best of our knowledge, a few studies have investigated VET teachers' second career choices using the FIT-Choice questionnaire (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2011, 2012a;Berger & Girardet, 2015;Coppe et al., 2021;Stellmacher et al., 2020).There are more similarities than differences in the results of these studies.In the present study, the motivation to become a VET teacher as a second profession in Lithuania is examined.To gain more insights into the factors influencing career choice of VET teachers, the following research questions are specified: • What are the peculiarities of motivation to become a VET teacher in schoolbased vocational education?• What do hybrid VET teachers consider to be the factors impacting their career transition?
The first question will be addressed using the data of an empirical quantitative study, whereas the second question will be focused on concerning the qualitative data received in this study.In the discussion section, the specificity of VET educators' motivation in school based vocational education will be revealed by comparing the literature on second-career teachers in dual VET.For the first question, based on literature review and previous studies (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2011, 2012a;Berger & Girardet, 2015), it is hypothesised that social utility, perceived teaching ability, and task demand as motivational factors are more important than personal utility, social influence, prior teaching and learning experiences in the choice of teaching as a second career path.

Study Design
A mixed-method approach was used to conduct a study.The mixed methods approach combines elements of qualitative and quantitative research, which can work to address any potential weaknesses that may be inherent in a single method approach and provides opportunities to test the consistency of research findings data collection, and also better understanding and deeper analysis of the research problem (Creswell & Clark, 2017;Johnson et al., 2007).The core mixed methods design used in this study was the explanatory sequential design, which consists of two distinct phases: quantitative data collection followed by qualitative one (Ivankova et al., 2006).Quantitative data was collected via a national survey and analysed prior to the collection of qualitative data via individual interviews.The quantitative phase provided a general understanding of the motivational factors of second career choice 1 3 Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:… of VET teachers' as well as the sociodemographic predictors of choosing to teach.In the qualitative, follow-up phase of this study, interviews with VET teachers explored the career choice dimensions contributing to their career transition in depth.The results from the quantitative and qualitative phases were merged during the interpretation of the outcomes of the entire study.

Participants and Procedures
The VET schools and training centres were selected using criteria that ensured proportional representation of schools and training centres in all ten regions of the country.A targeted group of vocational teachers who had previously worked or currently work in business, manufacturing, or other areas of the economy was identified with the help of school administrators.The selected teachers were invited to participate in the survey.The questionnaires with self-addressed stamped envelopes were sent to school administrations with requests that they are distributed to the school's target teachers.All participants were provided with written information about the nature and purpose of the research.Voluntary participation and confidentiality were observed.In total, data for the quantitative study were obtained from 114 vocational teachers (65% response rate) working in 33 VET institutions (50% of all schools).The detailed characteristics of the participants are presented in Table 1.
The highest proportions of teachers within professions related to personal services (20.2%), business administration (16.7%), and engineering (10.5%) participated in the survey.The least represented occupational fields were environmental protection (1.8%), agriculture, and fishery (1.8%).

Instrument
Motivation to become a VET teacher was measured using the modified version of the FIT-Choice scale for vocational teachers.Berger andD'Ascoli (2011, 2012a) adapted the original scale according to the cultural and contextual specificities of the Swiss VET system.For example, the construct fallback career has been replaced by choice by opportunity, which defines the choice to become a teacher as a passive motivation.The construct job transferability has been dropped because in Switzerland (as in Lithuania), vocational teachers are not geographically "movable".The terms "children/ adolescents" have also been changed to "apprentices/ young people", as vocational teachers teach people aged 16 and over (i.e., late adolescence).
A double translation of the instrument was made from its English version into Lithuanian, and before distribution, it was submitted to individuals in career transition for their insights, which were considered to make certain adjustments then.
The instrument examined three dimensions: VET teachers' general motivations for teaching, including eight sub-dimensions, antecedent socialisation with three sub-dimensions, and their perceptions of teaching with three sub-dimensions.Each statement was measured by multiple item indicators with response options ranging from 1 (not at all important) through 7 (extremely important).Examination of scale reliability revealed that the score for the sub-dimension "expert career" had insufficient internal consistency.In line with methodological recommendations that Cronbach's alpha should not be less than 0.5 (Tavakol & Dennick, 2011), therefore the sub-dimension "expert career" (α = 0.299) was dropped from further analyses.The Cronbach's alpha for the two subscales (Access to Teaching and Social Equality) is between 0.5 and 0.6, indicating low internal consistency.However, it is common for the overall Cronbach's alpha of a questionnaire to be higher than the individual scores of the scales or subscales that make up the questionnaire (Taber, 2018).Moreover, Taber argues that instruments with a relatively low alpha may still prove helpful in certain circumstances, primarily when used in combination with other instruments (Taber, 2018).Although Cronbach's alpha statistics are related to the administration of the instrument (i.e., a specific geographical location, a specific group of subjects) (Tavakolm & Dennick, 2011), and cannot be seen as an invariant measure of a particular instrument but only as an adaptation of the instrument to a specific contingent of subjects (Taber, 2018(Taber, , p. 1295)).
All other sub-dimensions presented adequate properties in terms of internal consistency, response distribution and intercorrelations.The main dimensions and their sub-dimensions as well as the number of items, sample items, and Cronbach's alpha, are presented in Table S1 in Additional file 1.

Data analysis
Parametric criteria were chosen for the data analysis because the analysis of the normality conditions of the variable scale distributions (using the Sapir-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests) revealed that the distribution of the varying scales does not deviate from the normal distribution and the measures of skewness and kurtosis prove the validity of the parametric criteria.Pearson correlation coefficient was used to calculate the relationships between variables.Paired Samples t-Test was used to evaluate the comparisons between components of motivation to become a VET teacher.A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to assess the impact of socio-demographic characteristics of vocational teachers' choice of teaching.Finally, hierarchical Cluster analysis of components of motivation to become a vocational teacher was performed.

Participants and Procedures
A qualitative follow-up phase was conducted to gain a complete understanding of becoming a second-career vocational teacher (Ivankova et al., 2006).All teachers who participated in the quantitative phase of the study were asked to participate in the qualitative phase, and only 12 teachers volunteered to take part.During the qualitative phase, half of the interviews failed due to personal circumstances and technical conditions (i.e.pandemic situation), one participant was waived due to long work experience (about 35 years) at school, and one interview record was rejected due to poor quality responses.Therefore, the study involved five participants from 5 different vocational training institutions.In total, 3 women and 2 men took part in the interviews.The age of participants ranged from 38 to 60 years (M age = 49.2); the experience in an occupation -from 14 to 32 years (M occup = 23) and the experience in teaching -from 10 to 25 years (M teach = 14).Further, the participants were from one of professional fields: (a) cosmetology, (b) sewing, (c) hair dressing (d) cynology, and (e) veterinary medicine.All participants had higher education at university, one of them-at college.Two participants run their small businesses, and one worked for a private enterprise.
The common aspect among all of the vocational teachers in the study was that they had a relatively long track record of experience as teachers of vocational education and training (at least ten years), also they had a long track record of experience as professionals.

Data Collection and Analysis
Five interviews were conducted at the end of the quantitative phase.Participants took part in individual open-ended online interviews that lasted up to 60 min.Furthermore, they were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.The main interview questions were relevant to our conceptual framework and focused on career choice components, as shown in Table 2.
Thematic analysis of the data was conducted using a theory-driven approach in order to gain a complementary explanation for the FIT-Choice theoretical framework.Thematic analysis followed Braun's and Clarke's (2013) structured process for identifying and analysing themes, including familiarisation with the data, generating initial codes, identifying themes and subthemes, reviewing and revising potential themes and sub-themes, defining and naming them, and concluding the report.Inductively generated themes and sub-themes for each dimension were developed from the data content (see Table S2 in Additional file 1) in line with a FIT-Choice approach to represent patterns of shared meaning underpinned or united by a core concept.Six themes and fourteen sub-themes were identified that explained the phenomenon deeper.
For greater reliability, the authors of this work performed the first stage of the thematic analysis, namely the initial coding of the available data, independently of each other, and then checked the correspondence of the extracted codes.

Ethical Aspects
Both quantitative and qualitative research ethical requirements were met.When conducting quantitative research, permission from respondents was obtained, confidentiality was protected, and the purposes of the study were communicated.In qualitative research, the purpose of the study was explained, the right to safety, the usefulness of the study, privacy, confidentiality, and fairness were ensured.Study participants participated voluntarily, and individuals' consent was obtained.In order to ensure and maximize the security of research participant's identification, they were coded.

Quantitative Phase
Descriptive statistics and correlations among the FIT-Choice scale items are presented in Table S3 in Additional file 1.An analysis of the motivational factors influencing the choice of teaching revealed that both Motivation to become a teacher 1 3 Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:…

Table 2
Career choice dimensions and interview questions

Interview questions
Motivation to become a teacher How and why did you become a vocational teacher?(M = 5.45), Antecedent socialisation (M = 4.74), and Perception of teaching (M = 4.65) scored higher than the theoretical mean of the scale (4).It suggests that all the dimensions analysed are essential in the choice of a teaching profession.Motivation to become a teacher emerged as the most important, with the highest-ranked aspects such as working with young people (M = 6.10), the perceived teaching abilities (M = 5.96), the opportunities that have arisen to work as a teacher (M = 5.82), the intentions to shape future of youth (M = 5.76), and the teachers' intrinsic values for their careers (their calling) (M = 5.75).The importance of prior teaching/ learning experiences (M = 6.04) also emerged in the analysis of the ratings of other factors in choosing a teaching career.Vocational teachers also report that teaching is hard work, with a heavy workload and a lot of emotional effort (high demand, M = 6.14).Finally, teachers do not believe that the teaching profession is adequately paid and the remuneration is low (salary, M = 3.20).The coefficients were similar to those found in other studies using the FIT-Choice scale in samples of VET teachers (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;Berger & Girardet, 2015).
To test the research hypothesis, a three-step analysis was performed using the Paired Samples T-Test.First, it was analysed whether or not social utility is more important than personal utility.Second, it was investigated whether perceived teaching ability is more important than social influence.Finally, it was examined whether task demand is more important than prior teaching and learning experiences.The following are statistically significant differences in pairwise comparisons between the components of motivation.
The results revealed that vocational teachers' inclination to shape the future of youth is statistically significantly more expressed than job security (t = 7.97, df = 112, p < 0.001) and time for family (8.62, df = 112, p < 0.001).In addition, vocational teachers' inclination to work with youth is statistically significantly more expressed than job security (t = 10.03,df = 112, p < 0.001) and time for family (t = 10.69,df = 112, p < 0.001).It means that social utility values are more important than personal utility values for vocational teachers.The results also revealed that perceived teaching ability is more important than social influence (t = 11.43,df = 112, p < 0.001).And task demand is just as important as prior teaching and learning experiences (both high, no significant differences).Thus, the hypothesis was partially confirmed.When choosing a vocational teacher as a second career path, social utility is more important than personal utility and perceived teaching ability than social influence.Task demand is just as important as prior teaching and learning experiences.
Three two-step multiple linear regression analyses were performed (for each dimension separately) in order to reveal the significance of socio-demographic indicators (gender, age, work at school, years of teaching experience) of vocational teachers.Regression was significant only in predicting Motivation to become a teacher dimension.The analysis revealed that sociodemographic factors explain 11.3% of the variation of Motivation to become a vocational teacher.From sociodemographic factors, only the work at school (as the main job status) significantly predicts the motivation of a vocational teacher (-0.341; p < 0.01).
Next, a hierarchical Cluster analysis of motivational factors to become a VET teacher using Between-groups linkage cluster method was performed (without 1 3 Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:… specifying the desired number of clusters in advance).This method is used when the possible number of clusters is not known in advance.The number of clusters was determined based on Agglomeration schedule coefficients, which revealed a 2-cluster solution.Cluster analysis helps to group vocational teachers based on the assessment of perceived motivational factors in a way that achieves the greatest difference between different clusters and minimizes the dispersion within a cluster.An additional analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed statistically significant differences of motivational factors means between clusters.The only perceived time for family did not differ statistically significantly between profiles.It can be assumed that balancing work and family is equally important for both profiles of vocational teachers (see Table S4 in Additional file 1 and Fig. 1).
As presented in Fig. 1, the first cluster consisted of vocational teachers (98), who perceived that they had relatively many motivational components to become vocational teachers.Following Berger and D'Ascoli (2012b), this cluster could be called "multiple motivations".The second cluster consisted of vocational teachers ( 16), who perceived that they had relatively few motivational components for becoming a VET teacher.Thus, this cluster is named "maladaptive motivations".Therefore, cluster analysis made it possible to capture two clear groups with profiles that can be called having multiple motivations and accidentally entering vocational training.
In order to better know the VET teachers who fell into different clusters, an additional statistical analysis according to the sociodemographic characteristics of VET teachers was performed.No statistically significant cluster differences were found according to gender, age, work at school as main/additional activity and years of teaching experience.

Qualitative Phase
The qualitative data gathered in this study supported and expanded the findings found in the quantitative phase.Specifically, interview data provided a more Fig. 1 Clusters of motivation to become a vocational teacher descriptive picture of teachers' career paths to the VET school and the career choices that affected this path.When presenting the results of the study, the main dimensions of the theoretical framework -Motivation to become a teacher, Antecedent socialisation, and Perceptions of teaching -was used as a typology to identify themes in qualitative data (Ivankova et al., 2006).

Motivation to Become a Teacher
Four themes were constructed in this component to explain the motivation for becoming a vocational teacher: by occasional opportunities to work as a vocational teacher, because of intrinsic value (or interest), perceived abilities of practical training and inclination for liaising with young people.
The participants' accounts of their career move to a vocational school show that their choice was unplanned.The participants in the study recall the beginning of their vocational teaching career as only temporary ("I only came for a month"), but "somehow" they stayed on as a vocational teacher for many years.Other participants decided to make this career change after receiving invitations from vocational schools.Another similarity is that the respondents chose a second profession after having already had considerable experience in their work.Thus, the analysis of the career paths of the participants in this study revealed the accidental nature of becoming a vocational teacher (none of the participants purposely pursued the profession) and the breadth of their professional backgrounds (some of them had moved from one company to the other or had their own small business).
However, as teachers, they feel empowering their potential.Without exception, all of them said that they "love being a teacher".No participant in the study mentioned "calling" when referring to teaching.They associated this term with choosing their first profession: whether it was the fulfillment of their childhood dreams or their "life profession".In recounting their experiences as vocational teachers, they emphasized professionalism in their field.They feel valued by students for their practical experience and professional knowledge.They also want to develop students' professionalism: they talk a lot about professional values and emphasize responsibility and integrity in their work.Vocational teachers under investigation do not stress job security: being a professional gives them a sense of security.As one participant sums it up, "I feel good about being an expert in my field".None of the participants talked about vocational school as a social haven where you can feel safer than other market segments.It is especially true given that some of the participants in this study have their businesses or other related activities (consultancy, training, etc.).As this expression of security is more related to the emotional and personal domains, it has been classified as intrinsic career value.
Participants in this study relate their teaching abilities to practical training.They are modest about their pedagogical abilities (all of them stressed that they had completed the compulsory pedagogical-psychological minimum courses), saying that it is a practical training that enriches pedagogical knowledge.In their opinion, "it is all about practical skills and being able to pass on that information to young people" (E), and it is done by sharing our experience, finding a common language with students, and teaching through practical tasks, real situations.This highlights a second 1 3 Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:… important component -a learning environment that reinforces hands-on learning.The analysis of the interview data revealed teachers' perception of the importance of creating an excellent emotional environment for today's students ("so that the old stereotype of being afraid of teachers disappears"), of an open, friendly relationship ("you have to create a friendly, relaxed atmosphere in the classroom"), of a flexible approach to students ("you have to be in contact with every student"), while maintaining a specific boundary between being friendly to students and students' respect for the teacher (" < … > but I don't let them climb on my head either").
The social relevance of the role of the vocational teacher in the choice of the profession is revealed through the relationship with young people.Two aspects of this relationship have emerged.On the one hand, young people encourage vocational teachers to keep going, to keep moving forward.One participant explains it this way: < … > you have to be confident.To avoid saying -oh, old teacher, old knowledge, what she can teach us here.Well, that's a good kick to try < … > (A).All participants noted that work with young people prevents aging, provides satisfaction and a sense of enjoyment.
On the other hand, vocational teachers motivate young people to become professionals, thus contributing to shaping their future: If you come to learn a vocation, that means you have to be a professional in your field.As much as you can, as much as you can get away with, what are your talents, what are your desires, and what is your attitude to it (C).For vocational teachers, it is crucial that the student loves the profession, that he or she does not stop there, that he or she does not program himself or herself to think that he or she does not know how to do anything.
The efforts of vocational teachers are understandable because vocational schools are full of people who do not know what they want and those who do not want anything.But everyone needs to be talked to and communicated with, understood, and helped so that they finish their studies and do not drop out.Dealing with unmotivated pupils requires more time and effort (Pay more attention to them (A)).But the effort pays off when you see satisfied students collecting their diplomas.
The antecedent socialisation scale yielded the least data.One participant mentioned that his mother is a teacher, which may have influenced his choice.Other participants linked the impact of influential individuals to the choice of their first profession.Their past narratives revealed different stories, which we do not present because they are not relevant to the research problem.The second profession was chosen at a reasonably mature age, so the participants did not consider the impact of the environment to be significant.
Perceptions for teaching could be scrutinised as incompatibility of requirements and social value for VET teacher.Two sub-themes explain this in more detailed.
All the participants in the study perceive the vocational teacher profession as a continuous need for development.It suggests that they value the profession highly and are aware of the high requirements it places on them: you have to keep learning and studying so that you have something to show, say or teach (B).However, for many of the study participants, this process is natural: when you like the work, you are naturally interested, seeking knowledge on one or another of the issues that concern you (E).In this way, continuous professional development is perceived by vocational teachers as a guarantee of professional success.If the participants in the study perceive their professional activity as challenging and requiring constant effort, then the public attitude towards vocational teachers and vocational training is a source of resentment and concern for them: in the public opinion, if it is vocational training, it is ranked low, not a prestige simply.

Discussion
The study aimed to explore the motivation of hybrid VET teachers by identifying the relative importance of factors influencing the choice to teach at school, comprehending VET teachers' career choices in-depth.The results add to the scarce research on the motivation of school-based VET teachers compared to other VET teachers in dual-systems.A mixed-method approach was used, with quantitative analysis of FIT-Choice scale dimensions and qualitative analysis of open-ended questions.Linking qualitative and quantitative approaches together created a more holistic understanding (Fetters & Molina-Azorin, 2019) of second career teachers in VET.In addition, combined approach helped to ensure that the voices of the participants are valued, while simultaneously allowing for more theory-driven analysis (Proudfoot, 2022).
Following a theory-driven approach, three dimensions from the FIT-Choice scale were taken to provide a well-structured conceptual framework.The qualitative data generated inductive themes expressive of important factors influencing teachers' motivation, meaning this study valued teacher voice as fully as possible.For instance, within the dimension of Motivation for teaching, the inductive themes emerged quite similar to deductive and deepen their understanding particularly in respect to intrinsic values or perceived teaching abilities.In common with other studies employing FIT-Choice scale quantitative instrument, the impact of prior teaching/learning experiences was one of the predominates in this quantitative study.However, explanations provided by study participants related this motivational factor to the choice of the first profession, while the impact of a close social environment was weakly characterised.The qualitative findings of this study added to the understanding of the sub-dimension of Working with youth, meaning that teachers strive to be "up-to date" and keep up with young people.Anyway, the inductive and deductive elements had some shared characteristics, as well as the inductive elements had an explanatory effect as shown in the further discussion.Therefore, the inductive approach proved justifiable in this study.
The following is a comparison of the findings of this study with other studies on the motivation of second-career teachers.
Concerning the socio-demographic characteristics of the hybrid VET teachers, the analysis revealed no significant differences according to age, gender, teaching experience; only the work at school as the main job status significantly predicts the motivation of a vocational teacher.The cluster analysis showed heterogeneity in the motivations of those who became VET educator.These results support other empirical studies that have used FIT-Choice scale for investigating patterns of teachers' motivations.For instance, Berger and D'Ascoli (2012b) found five groups with different motivational profiles in their VET teachers' sample.

3
Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:… In the overall assessment of the dimensions of the career choice of a hybrid vocational teacher, Motivation to become a teacher dominates.The dimension of Antecedent socialisation is less critical, except for its sub-dimension on the impact of prior teaching/learning experiences, which is listed among the three most important factors.The least important dimension is the Teaching Perceptions, although the high demand component was the most significant on the whole scale of factor choices.
As hypothesised, results showed that the desire to work with young people (or social utility value) is more important than personal utility value, but the high demand for the teaching profession is as significant as prior teaching and learning experiences.Moreover, these findings are consistent with research conducted in Switzerland (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;Berger & Girardet, 2015) and Germany (Stellmacher et al., 2020).

Motivation to Become a Teacher
The obtained results show that intrinsic value is an essential factor in determining a VET teacher's career in terms of motivation.Similar results were obtained in other studies of VET teachers (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;Berger & Girardet, 2015;Coppe et al., 2021) as well as other second-career teacher motivation (Anthony & Ord, 2008;Baeten & Meeus, 2016;Daguplo, 2013).Motivation to become a VET teacher combines social-altruistic drives (the desire to work with young people, to shape their future) with the passive motivation to become a teacher (the opportunities that arise) and intrinsic values (the appreciation of one's teaching abilities and the vocation).Berger and Girardet (2015, p.120) interpreted the high rating of perceived teaching ability and intrinsic value as reflecting the fact that feeling competent in teaching plays the role of a pre-condition for those who choose to become VET educators.Qualitative data can explain vocational teachers' interest in teaching as "being in the right place" and their teaching skills -as the transmission of practical skills.Research participants, while modestly assessing their pedagogical knowledge and abilities in general, were intuitively rather than consciously aware of their ability to teach practical, specialised subjects and create a supportive learning environment.Probably, perceiving oneself as a professional in a particular field, vocational teachers view their teaching abilities and interest in the teaching process through this professional prism.
As in many similar studies, a higher rating of social utility value sub-dimensions was found than of personal utility value sub-dimensions.As Berger and Girardet (2015) concluded, VET educators value the activity of teaching more than the potential advantages it may offer.Statements identifying social utility value, such as willingness to work with youth and the like, as our qualitative data show, could be seen in vocational training as an incentive to improve, even as a kind of rivalry, a competition, a reluctance to make concessions to young people in order not to be perceived as "old".Similar results have been found in other studies of second career teachers (Anthony & Ord, 2008;Bullough & Knowles, 1990).The qualitative research sheds light on the perception of other social-utility components in VET.For instance, shaping young people's futures should be understood as shaping professional skills, developing professional values, and, more generally, nurturing young professionals.When it comes to social equity, unmotivated, disadvantaged young people should be thought of as the ones who receive more attention, more effort to keep them interested, and needed for more self-confidence.As Sirk et al. (2016) noticed the relationship with young people has also become one of the most important indicators of the professionalism of VET teachers.
In this quantitative study, the possibility of working as a teacher (as a passive stimulus) was rated relatively high.In contrast, this motive was moderately important in a similar study of Swiss vocational teachers (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a).Referring to our qualitative data, which suggests that the role of a vocational teacher was chosen randomly, by circumstance, and was not targeted, we interpret that the quantitative data perhaps indicated the frequency of the choice of this motive rather than its importance.By thus, both quantitative and qualitative findings support the idea that becoming a hybrid vocational teacher in Lithuania is accidental.This may be due to the cultural mentality of waiting to be invited to take action, rather than showing initiative, or to economic factors (earnings in the service and manufacturing sectors are higher than in vocational schools, so there is no rush to retrain as a teacher).On the other hand, as the qualitative research shows, all the participants in the study are professionals in their field, so they did not need to look for a fallback career at school.Thus, an invitation, an observation, can be seen as recognizing their professionalism and an invitation to apply their skills in another field.
It was observed that the Lithuanian hybrid teachers have some similarities with the Swiss VET trainers' group in the study of Berger and Girardet (2015) in terms of personal utility (job security and time for family) and social utility (social equity) sub-dimensions.These sub-dimensions were considered moderately important for the Lithuanian and Swiss populations in choosing a profession.For the Swiss VET trainers, it was less critical than for VET teachers (Berger & Girardet, 2015).

Antecedent Socialisation
When assessing the impact of antecedent socialisation on the career choice of a vocational teacher, the prior teaching/learning experiences is obviously a significant stimulus.This finding is congruent with the findings of Swiss second-career VET teachers (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2011, 2012a;Berger & Girardet, 2015) but confronts the findings of German pre-service VET teachers (Stellmacher et al., 2020).Prior pedagogical experience for German future VET teachers had a medium-sized effect on motivation to become a teacher.Other external factors had a moderate (social support) or relatively weak (social discouragement) impact on choosing a second career for Lithuanian vocational teachers.Both encouragement and dissuasion from surrounding influences played a minor role in other studies as well (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2011;Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;Berger & Girardet, 2015).The qualitative data of this study illustrates that an immediate environment, to some extent, contributes to the second-professional choice.Berger and Girardet concluded that the minor importance of social influences observed in VET educators could be 1 3 Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:… related to the teachers' age (Berger & Girardet, 2015).Referring to a reasonably autonomous career choice of Lithuanian vocational teachers, this view is shared.

Teaching Perception
Concerning the VET educators' perceptions of teaching, two opposites can be observed: the high demand for the profession with the highest assessment of the importance and the salary with the lowest.Other countries have reported similar results: high demand for teaching is more highly valued than the salary for this work (Akar, 2012;Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;Troesch & Bauer, 2017;Watt et al., 2012).
Once teachers have decided to dedicate themselves to teaching, salary is the least essential factor across teacher populations, regardless of a country's socio-economic level of development or society's evaluation of the teaching profession (Fokkens-Bruinsma & Canrinus, 2012;Troesch & Bauer, 2017;Tigchelaar et al., 2008;Salifu, et al., 2018;Zarifis, 2012).As Salifu and co-authors aptly point out, the teaching profession is often chosen for altruistic reasons (Salifu et al., 2018).The qualitative data presents that vocational teachers understand the incompatibility of requirements and social value for VET teachers.On the one hand, they perceive the professional activity as genuinely demanding and requiring continuous development; on the other hand, they perceive it as an unjustifiably undervalued activity.Vocational teachers see their work as challenging and demanding expertise (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a), a high level of expert technical and specialised knowledge and skills, and an emotional commitment (Akar, 2012), which are more important than the salary or the social status that comes with teaching activities.
Hence, the results of this study reveal a portrait of a vocational teacher as a professional who has adapted to the conditions with a strong commitment to teaching.These findings are close to the picture of the teacher obtained by studying groups of teachers with the same Teaching Choice Factors instrument in different countries (Berger & D'Ascoli, 2012a;Watt & Richardson, 2007).The results of this study, on the one hand, add to the scarce research on the choices of second-career VET teachers and their specificities compared to other groups of teachers; on the other hand, they contribute to the mixed-methods VET research that is not numerous still (Cameron, 2009).As Cameron (2009) pointed out, broader methodological approaches reveal the reality more comprehensively within the complex VET field.

Limitations and Possible Research Areas
Like all studies, this one also has some limitations.At first, in Lithuania, the school form of vocational education prevails.As a result, there are not many teachers who work both in school and in business or have recently moved from company to school.The selection of the study participants was not easy due to the specific nature of their work in schools.This is why the administration of vocational schools was involved in the quantitative study.The sampling procedures may have influenced the study results, as the sample included several teachers who had worked in schools throughout their careers.In addition, the small sample size of the quantitative study (N = 114), given the number of factors in the instrument used, may have influenced the stability of the results.The participants in the qualitative study were from the same city, albeit from different schools and different professional fields.The age of the participants in the qualitative study may also have played a role in answering the research questions: they retrained as teachers more than ten years ago.In our country, as in many other countries, the problem of aging teachers is evident.It was challenging to find or attract younger teachers who met the survey sample criteria.
Secondly, Motivation to choose a career as a vocational teacher was investigated using a quantitative method.Some variables were scored with one or two statements, and some scales had low reliability, as for instance, the Expert Career scale.In the future, FIT scale use in Lithuania context, it is recommended to perform a factor analysis supporting the use of mean scores and convergent/divergent validity.In this study, too small sample was a limitation to conduct factor analysis on the rather large number of items in the FIT-Choice scale.
Thirdly, from a methodological point of view, one of the limitations of this study is the time lag between the start of the participants' teaching careers and the survey and interview.The study required participants to retrospectively assess a number of choice factors, including their teaching ability.When citing Weinstein (1988), Berger and D'Ascoli (2012a) argue that an individual may choose to teach partly because he or she believes he or she has the ability to do the job, but that he or she may change his or her perception of his or her abilities after experiencing a "reality shock" in a classroom.Accordingly, such a person may view his or her ability to teach differently than he or she would when deciding to start a teaching career.
The participants had to retrospectively assess the social impact of influential former teachers, particularly past teaching/learning experiences.It is probably easier for young people who have just left school and much harder for people who have already followed a particular life path and chosen a second career.As the qualitative study indicates, participants were more trapped by the social impact of the first career choice than the second.
In this study, we were interested in why the participants chose a vocational teacher profession.However, research is also needed to determine why people decide to leave the profession and what might encourage them to stay in it.Having identified the motivational factors for teaching, it would be interesting to look at how these factors affect teachers' further development.
The analysis of the components of Motivation to become a vocational teacher revealed that vocational teachers can be divided into two groups based on motivating factors -having multiple or maladaptive motivations.The latter group requires further research and deeper analysis.However, this perspective of a person-centered approach could help to design targeted interventions that take into account the specific characteristics of different groups of vocational teachers.
It is acknowledged that the FIT-Choice scale is an exhaustive framework for measuring the motivation for becoming a teacher and was tested in different cultural contexts (Fokkens-Bruinsma & Canrinus, 2012;Watt & Richardson, 2007); it is possible that individuals had other reasons to join the teaching profession than the scale represents.That is why we have chosen to complement the present study with interviews.The results of the quantitative study suggest a lasting impact of former 1 3 Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:… learning experiences and former teachers: this impact is significant for the choice of a second career, is related to interest in the subject matter, to teaching abilities, and contributes to the younger generation's perception of education as a socially relevant activity.However, the qualitative research findings did not reflect these statements in any way.That makes to consider additional research on the Antecedent socialisation scale.Therefore, some related limitation can be noted as well, applicable to mixed methods studies more generally: bias or replicability in inductive analysis, the potential consequent influence of one data strand on another.Nevertheless, future research should also capture the full complexity of the career changes of VET teachers.

Conclusions
The choice of a vocational teacher as a second career is determined more by internal than external values.Intrinsic values are dominated by the high demands of the teaching profession and the desire to work with young people, while extrinsic values include the influence of former teaching/learning experiences.Vocational teachers are more concerned with social utility values, such as the desire to work with young people and the possibility of shaping the future of young people, than with personal utility values, such as security, time for family, or salary.
The qualitative data reveals the motivation to become a teacher in the most detail by explaining such aspects of choosing to teach as occasional opportunities to VET, intrinsic career value, liaising with young people, and perceived practical training abilities.Perceived teaching abilities are understood more as the discrepancy between requirements for VET teachers and social value.The least explained dimension is Antecedent socialisation that can be assumed as not highly valued when choosing a second career.
The results obtained are very similar to those of other studies of VET secondcareer teachers and other studies of second-career teachers in general.This study provides more evidence alongside previous studies in the literature, which consider intrinsic and social utility values as the most motivating factors for choosing teaching as a profession.
factors do you think were most important that led to your choice?

Table 1
Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career:…