Students’ Motivation for Choosing Their Major

Abstract

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to look at the reasons why students at Cihan University-Erbil choose to study the medical field as a major. The main goals of the research are to determine the most important types of motivation, to investigate the connections between them, and to learn why people of different genders choose different majors. A total of 241 students were surveyed via questionnaires, while 60 students were interviewed as part of the mixed-methods study. Aydin, Yerdelen, Yalmanci, and Göksu's (2014) Academic Motivation Scale for Learning Biology was used in the survey to gauge amotivation, social and professional aspects of extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation. The interviewees' hobbies, family dynamics, professional goals, and cultural pressures were some of the factors explored in depth as they discussed the factors that impacted their major choice. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and qualitative data was subjected to thematic coding. While the results show that career-related extrinsic motivation has the biggest impact on major choices, intrinsic motivation comes has been ranked a close second. On the other hand, amotivation and extrinsic-social motivation have had weaker effects. Meanwhile, personal passion, familial influences, and career objectives were among the many aspects that were shown to have a role in major selection throughout the interviews. An examination of the correlations between the two kinds of extrinsic motivation revealed strong links between the two, with amotivation having a negative association with intrinsic motivation. These results help universities assist students better in their academic and professional endeavors by shedding light on the multifaceted factors that influence medical school major decision.