This qualitative case study focuses on the transition made by three career-changing women moving from science and engineering fields into secondary teaching. The findings indicate that all three women exhibited unexpected levels of fear, anxiety, and shame in response to new learning. Supported by the literature on adult learning and transformative learning, the findings reveal that the participants underwent perspective transformations in their thinking about themselves as professionals and their philosophy of teaching. The study concludes with recommendations for support in order to increase the likelihood that this valuable professional cohort reaches their goal of becoming teachers.
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