Motivation Differences Between STEM/HASS Students Regarding Career and Academic Achievements

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-686-4_20How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Career Decidedness; Higher Education; Academic Motivation; Career Motivation; STEM Students

Abstract

Motivation is crucial for students’ success in higher education. Strong academic motivation fuels the effort and engagement needed to excel in coursework and research. When students are clear about their career goals (have a higher level of career decidedness), they can tailor their studies and experiences to prepare for their desired professional path. This combination fosters a sense of purpose and direction, leading to higher graduation rates and better career outcomes. The current study investigates the relationship between students’ dominant academic motivation type and their level of career decidedness. Our research is supported by a comprehensive review of literature from the past seven years and, is rooted in the foundational principles of Self-Determination Theory (outlined by Deci and Ryan in 1985). According to this Theory, intrinsic motivation -frequently equated with autonomy- is the cornerstone of personal self-regulation and effective behavior, which consistently demonstrates strong associations with academic motivation and clairvoyance in career choices. Utilizing a sample of 458 students from a Portuguese public higher educational institution – the University of Coimbra, the study encompasses diverse faculties (STEM, Art and Humanities, and Social Sciences), age groups, and genders, to explore this interconnection. The conduct of the investigation employed a quantitative methodology, utilizing validated questionnaires to assess participants’ academic motivation types (the Academic Motivation Scale by Vallerand, 1992) and levels of career decidedness (the Career Decision Scale by Osipow, 1976). The findings hold considerable potential for practical applications designed to improve academic methodologies in higher education institutions, thereby ultimately fostering a positive influence on students’ career decidedness and associated outcomes.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Tetyana Masliyenko
AU  - Carlos Sousa Reis
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/04/28
TI  - Motivation Differences Between STEM/HASS Students Regarding Career and Academic Achievements
BT  - Proceeding of the 10th International Conference on Lifelong Education and Leadership for ALL (ICLEL 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 250
EP  - 273
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-686-4_20
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-686-4_20
ID  - Masliyenko2025
ER  -