Closing the talent gap: Attracting and retaining top-third graduates to careers in teaching

McKinsey & Company has just published a report on how to attract young people with strong academic backgrounds to the teaching profession. Although the report is aimed at the United States, it outlines how three of the world’s top-performing education systems, (Finland, Singapore and South Korea) manage to recruit 100 percent of their incoming teachers from the top third of their academic cohort.


Explanations include making admission to teacher training programs—and to teaching positions—highly selective, establishing rigorous performance management systems, offering opportunities for professional advancement, increasing the prestige of the teaching profession and offering competitive salaries. The report cautions that success in any particular country will require considerable research and experimentation.