To recruit students to occupational therapy, we need to know what prospective students seek in careers. A survey consisting of an attitude inventory was sent to 403 current occupational therapy students with a response rate of 54%. Earlier research identified that students had primarily altruistic goals in selecting occupational therapy as a profession, and this study continued to find that students wanted to help others; however, this was not a predictor of their favoring the profession. A factor analysis of the inventory revealed that students chose occupational therapy as a career because they liked the salaries, nationwide job availability, regular hours, and prestige that is associated with the profession. Students were more positive about the profession if they had experience working in occupational therapy departments, and 40% reported that no specific persons had influenced their career decision.

Using a static group comparison design, two groups of therapists who had graduated from occupational therapy programs in the United States were surveyed Occupational therapists whose professional education was at the baccalaureate level were compared with those who entered practice with a professional master's degree A stratified systematic, random sample was selected from 7,902 therapists comprising the above target population Comparative analyses pertained to general demographic data, job activities and responsibilities, professional productivity, and professional growth. Subjects sampled were at 1 through 6 years since graduation, inclusively. A questionnaire was mailed to each of the 1,147 subjects, with 91.4% responding. Descriptive data were summarized using means, standard deviations, and percentages. For categorical items, chi-square analyses were employed A nested two-way ANOVA was used to analyze continuous data Although not at a level of significance overall, several notable trends were identified.

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What causes occupational therapy faculty to be satisfied with their teaching roles? A survey of 538 occupational therapy faculty was conducted with questions that identified demographic information and inquired about specific satisfying and dissatisfying items. Responses indicated no strong correlations between demographic information and satisfaction items but did offer some implications that warrant attention. The faculty were satisfied with teaching in general and specifically with the academic environment, the opportunity to design learning experiences, and the lack of constraints in higher education. The results of this study may help educational administrators make decisions that will foster recruitment, retention, and socialization of occupational therapy faculty.

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