If only I had selected a different job: Exploring causes, consequences, and profiles of language teacher regret

Abstract

Language teachers encounter many difficulties and daily struggles, due to the demanding nature of their occupation, which may make them regret selecting this profession. This study explored the presence, causes and consequences of occupational regret among language teachers and investigated how language teachers reacted to this negative feeling. The participants were 40 Iranian English teachers. The findings revealed that language teaching regret was cyclical in nature, including three phases named regret triggers, reactions, and inactivity. Moreover, teachers’ regret was triggered by factors related to the self, work, society, and education system. The reaction strategies were also classified into five groups: avoidance, acceptance, mindset shift, development, and displacement, and the teachers fell under different regret profiles based on how they responded to their regret. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd