Mapping Global Research Trends on Early Career Teachers

Abstract

This study maps global research trends on early career teachers using a bibliometric approach. The study addresses the growing scholarly and policy interest in early career teachers as a critical group in relation to teacher induction, mentoring, professional identity, wellbeing, attrition, and retention. Bibliographic data were retrieved from the Scopus database using the search query TITLE-ABS-KEY ( early AND career AND teachers ). The initial search identified 3,942 publications. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria (English-language publications, journal articles, and documents published between 2020 and 2025) 200 articles were retained for analysis. The study employed performance analysis and science mapping to examine annual publication trends, productive journals, contributing countries, and keyword co-occurrence patterns. The findings indicate that research on early career teachers has developed around interconnected themes, including induction, mentoring, professional development, teacher identity, wellbeing, resilience, attrition, and retention. The keyword structure suggests that the field is moving beyond a narrow focus on teacher survival toward a broader concern with professional sustainability and institutional support. This study contributes by providing a structured overview of the intellectual landscape of early career teacher research and by identifying future research directions related to mentoring quality, teacher wellbeing, leadership support, and sustainable teacher retention.