ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how teachers working in English and French secondary schools justify their choice of teaching as a career. A cross-national comparison of how England-based and France-based interviewees became teachers reveals that, in each context, men and women provide some very similar explanations for their choice of a career. French teachers had often considered a career closely related to their subject, a preference again reflecting the significance of the subject in relation to career choice and professional identity, with many in particular hoping for a career in academia. A similar proportion of men and women were interviewed in each country as gender was a central concern, with all participants in their thirties and forties. Cross-national comparison constitutes a useful methodological tool to challenge discourses which naturalise and essentialise gender relations, as the comparative lens highlights variations between contexts.
