ENSAYO DE DESGASTE ADHESIVO

Past literature on students’ motivations to study in higher education utilises a variety of research methods and varies in the emphasis upon extrinsic or intrinsic motivators. The main motivating factors to study in higher education appear to be:

 Extrinsic: career-related reasons, including working towards a certain career, enhancing employability and developing skills

 Intrinsic: Interest and personal fulfilment  A mixture of the two: interactive motivations

These motivations will now be discussed, focusing on research surrounding postgraduate students.

Extrinsic motivation

Much research highlights the importance of extrinsic motivations for choosing to study, in particular career-related factors. O’Neill (1995) found that students were motivated to study taught postgraduate courses for the following reasons:

1. To initiate a change in career direction 2. To enhance career prospects

3. To prepare for PhD study

4. To concentrate interests towards certain careers 5. Previous lack of success within the job market

O’Neill employed a mixed-methods approach, conducting qualitative focus groups with taught master’s students followed by a larger postal survey within a range of UK higher education institutions. Studies involving music subjects have corroborated points 1, 2, and 4

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from O’Neill’s study, suggesting that music students may be motivated to improve their skills or chances of entering desired careers. Gee (2010) found that many students going into postgraduate music performance courses were motivated to further their technical and musical skills, or professional development. The music postgraduate degree provided time for the students to either delay the next step (Roberts, 1990) or to build upon existing or new skills. Gee (2010) suggests that a postgraduate degree can enable a facilitated transition into the music profession, as students can remain within the safety of the educational institution whilst building up experience and contacts for their future career.

An individual’s motivations and career plans impact upon their choice of institution. Kite (1990) suggests that students choose conservatoires to focus upon performance. This may be reflected in the conservatoires’ aims to have as many as 75% of their graduates working as performers (Rogers, 2002). Those studying music at university are therefore likely to have different career aims than those studying within Music College (Burt & Mills, 2006). This appears to be supported by Gee’s study (2010) in which she found that master’s students planning performing careers all chose to study within a conservatoire, even if they had previously attended a university. University music students therefore provide an interesting point of comparison to previous studies which have tended to focus on conservatoires (Burland, 2005).

Intrinsic motivation

In terms of musical motivations, most past literature revolves around the decision to continue playing instruments (Hallam, 2002; Yoon, 1997) and tends to concur that for commitment to music to be continued, intrinsic motivation is vital (Hallam, 2006). Intrinsic motivation may initially arise from simply finding a task interesting, however, in order to continue to be motivated this must become internalised and a part of the individual's identity (Hallam, 2005). Intrinsic motivation to study music degrees may stem from a love of music, which is known to be highly influential for students majoring in music education (Thornton & Bergee, 2008). Love of music is used within the thesis to refer to an individual finding enjoyment and satisfaction from their musical involvement. Individuals can feel strongly connected to music through this love so that music is not only what they do, but part of who they are, becoming part of their self-concept (Roberts, 1990). However, at times a love of music can be motivation not to study it (Burland, 2005) as focusing entirely on music means it is no longer a ‘treat’ (Pitts, 2005, p. 132). In order to persist with the effort required to succeed in music a strong musical self is important (Pitts, 2005). The musical self

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is part of the self-concept and contains the beliefs, schemas and perceptions about one’s own musical abilities (Schnare, MacIntyre, & Doucette, 2012). In the context of the current thesis the musical self is considered to be a personal identity which forms part of an individual’s self-concept.

To study at postgraduate level an individual is likely to be motivated to some extent by intrinsic interest, especially those enrolled on non-vocational degrees. Studying can provide individuals with a sense of achievement and the chance to do something for themselves, thus enhancing personal identity and self-confidence (Blair et al., 2010). Becoming a mature student can be seen as part of a continual process of identity formation as individuals explore areas of interest which may previously have been unavailable to them (Britton & Baxter, 1999). Postgraduate study provides an opportunity to gain personal fulfilment through exploring a topic of interest and achieving personal goals.

Interactive motivations

Some research has shown that individuals are motivated to study by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors (Boer, Kolster, & Vossensteyn, 2010; Donaldson & McNicholas, 2004; de Oliveira Pires, 2009; Soilemetzidis et al., 2014). The relative importance of each type of motivation has differed across studies, as some have found employability to be more important than personal satisfaction (Donaldson & McNicholas, 2004), whilst others found developing knowledge to be more motivating than employability factors (de Oliveira Pires, 2009). Differences between findings may be due to variances in the enrolled students and types of courses observed, including the extent to which courses are viewed as vocational or research preparation. The differences may also reflect the complex nature of the

experiences of students, which can be hard to quantify. Recently, the Higher Education Academy [HEA] commissioned their annual survey on the experiences of postgraduate students (Soilemetzidis et al., 2014). The study reported the opinions of 67,580 taught postgraduates, of which 82.4% were studying taught master’s degrees. The findings showed that motivations to study were dominated by extrinsic factors, primarily those related to employment. However, the HEA survey also highlights that over half of the 54.8% who were driven to study their postgraduate degree in order to improve employment prospects also cited being motivated by personal interest (Soilemetzidis et al., 2014). The authors suggest that the motivations are therefore complex, and less polarized between research

preparation and career preparation than may often be suggested. Soilemetzidis et al. used a survey method in order to obtain a large response rate, which may mean that more complex

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motivations and interactions are not shown in the analysis. An example is the motivating influence of lifestyle found within the studies by HEFCE (2013d) and Boer et al (2010) which was not given as an option within the multiple choice questions in the HEA questionnaire.

Boer et al. (2010) investigated the motivations of prospective master’s degree students and reported four main motivational themes (listed in order of importance): extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, disappointments and lifestyle. Disappointments referred to students who felt their undergraduate degrees were unsatisfactory and wished to enhance their educational experiences, whilst lifestyle referred to the desire to prolong the student lifestyle. The themes seem vague as they could all be considered extrinsic or intrinsic factors, although some may span both. Lifestyle, for instance, consists of interactive motivations as it may include extrinsic factors (e.g. working hours and location) alongside intrinsic factors (e.g. a sense of control and stability). Boer et al’s (2010) findings focus upon the desire to extend the student lifestyle as a motivating factor to study, however, a more long-term lifestyle change may also act as a motivation. I-graduate’s report to HEFCE (2013d) highlights that a desire for a change in lifestyle can motivate students to study a taught postgraduate degree. The emphasis upon lifestyle is rarely mentioned within other literature; but was found to be important within the current study, particularly as the lifestyle of working musicians can be characterised as being unstable.

This section has indicated that individuals are motivated to study postgraduate degrees as a result of interactive motivation, a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, with the relative importance of each still debated. Variations in the literature may relate to the subjects observed, differences between vocational and academic programmes, and the participants’ self-concepts. The results gained from grouping postgraduate students on a variety of courses together (as in the research above) may not faithfully represent the nuances of music students’ motivations and experiences.