Career trajectories of TESOL program graduates

The TESOL profession has experienced significant changes in the past decades, and career development in the contemporary era is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. This study aimed at finding the patterns and attractors that contribute to successful careers in TESOL from the perspectives of graduates. Data was collected through a comprehensive survey of international and Canadian TESOL certificate graduates at a mid-size university in British Columbia and through interviews of several of the graduates. The results were analyzed through the lens of forms of Capital (Bourdieu, 1986) and Chaos Theory (Bright & Pryor, 2005). The results indicated a significant diversity of TESOL employment and the varied effectiveness of factors in career development amongst participants. Graduates experienced challenges in terms of their TESOL skills and their job searching skills with both being impacted by the Capitals they hold in the TESOL profession. While TESOL students and early career TESOL professionals need to be more prepared for the complexity and unpredictability of TESOL careers by continuously improving their human Capitals, TESOL teacher educators, TESOL program administrators and TESOL professional organizations must take consideration of the diverse needs of students with different backgrounds and provide long-term career support to build a robust TESOL community