The motivations to study of undergraduate students in management: The impact of degree programme and level of study

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there are differences in the type and level of motivation to study between students on specialist and generalist undergraduate degree programmes and between students at different stages of their degree programmes. An adapted scale was used from Pintrich et al‟s (1991) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire to measure the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Goal Orientation of undergraduate students in the School of Management at the University of Surrey. 346 completed responses were gathered from students at all levels of study and on different degree programmes. The study suggests that there are significant differences in intrinsic motivation between students on generalist and specialist degree programmes but that there are no significant differences in extrinsic motivation. In terms of level of study, the results suggest that as students progress from first to final year, there are changes to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The findings also suggest that work experience can have a significant effect on motivations to study.