[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-598706-105":59,"doc-detail-598706-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","motivations-for-going-to-university-a-qualitative-study-and-class-project","Motivations for Going to University - A Qualitative Study and Class Project","","Exploration of student motivations for attending university examined how motivations evolve across a postsecondary career. Semi-structured interviews with eight upper-year undergraduates were analyzed using grounded theory to identify recurring themes across participants. Results show a shift from predominantly external/extrinsic motivators early in university toward increasingly internal/intrinsic drivers as students discover interests. Unexpected extrinsic themes included unhelpful high-school guidance-counselling and motivation to disprove underestimation, while the strongest intrinsic motivation was desire to help others. Findings support student-retention efforts and highlight needed university supports through graduation.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/motivations-for-going-to-university-a-qualitative-study-and-class-project/598706/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/motivations-for-going-to-university-a-qualitative-study-and-class-project/598706.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"awa","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":44},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How did the study analyze students’ motivations for attending university?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Semi-structured interviews with eight upper-year undergraduates were analyzed using grounded theory to identify common themes across all interviews.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What pattern emerged in students’ motivations over time?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The findings show a transition from external/extrinsic motivators early in students’ university careers to internal/intrinsic motivators as students discover passions and interests.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which intrinsic motivation was strongest, according to the study?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The strongest internal/intrinsic motivation reported was a desire to help others.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},598706,1792116758,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":44,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":29,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},3985747858093,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Motivations for Going to University:  \nA Qualitative Study and Class Project  \nHeather Schmidt, Nicole Carocci, Chris Gardner, Alicia Serroul, & Megan Topalovic, Cape Breton University  \nAbstract  \nWe explored student motivations for attending university, including how motivations may changeover the course of one’s postsecondary career, by conducting semi-structured interviews with 8 upper-year undergraduates. Participants were also asked to reflect back on their own experiences and provide advice for new university students. We conducted a grounded theory analysis to identify common themes running across the 8 interviews. What emerged was a pattern of transition from a predominance of external/extrinsic motivators at the beginning of one’s university career, into increasingly internal/intrinsic motivators as students discovered their passions and interests. Two unexpected external/extrinsic themes to emerge included:‘unhelpful high-school guidance-counselling’ and ‘motivation to disprove people who underestimate you’. The strongest internal/intrinsic motivation was ‘desire to help others’. Students can apply these findings to their own lives and as well, universities can gain a better understanding of the supports that are needed to retain students through to graduation.  \nWe designed this interview study as a term-project for a third-year psychology course called‘Qualitative Methods in Psychology’. Rather than only learning about qualitative research, collaborating on this study allowed the 4 student-researchers to gain proficiency and experience with all phases of a qualitative study: from initial design and ethics approval, through to analysis and a poster presented at the 2013 STLHE conference. Afterward, one student-researcher stated that it was “fun and exciting to feel more like a colleague [of the professor], rather than just a student”while another said it was “different than other kinds of courses offered [and] felt fresh.” I (the professor Heather Schmidt) hoped that this sparked a sustained interest in learning about the world for the students, in addition to an appreciation for sound qualitative research practices.  \nOur goal was to acquire an in-depth understanding of undergraduate students’motivations for attending university, including how these motivations may change over the course of earning one’s degree. The students decided to explore this particular topic because they were interested in reflecting back on their own experiences as undergraduates and were excited by the prospect of hearing what their peers had to say about the same topic. What would they have in common? In what ways might their experiences differ?  \nOur literature review suggested that encouragement to attend university from both one’s family and one’s high-school is a very important initial motivator (Woosley & Shepler, 2011) . As is exposure to role-models who have earned university degrees and who can impart‘university-related knowledge’ to ease the student into the post-secondary experience (YorkAnderson & Bowman, 1991) . These also impact subsequent success as a student. However, this inherently gives so-called‘traditional students’ (i.e., those from a higher socioeconomic class, who enter university full-time immediately after high-school, often with scholarships) a distinct advantage over ‘non-traditional students’ (i.e., those from lower socioeconomic classes, who are often the first in their family to attend university, are employed while attending classes, pay full-  \nfees, and may be older) (Munro, 2011) . Non-traditional students receive significantly less exposure to role models and less encouragement from their family, from high schoolteachers/counsellors, and in the form of scholarships to pursue post-secondary education (Saenz & Barrera, 2007) . In spite of this, non-traditional students are attending university in increasing numbers (Munroe, 2011). Universities need to adapt by better understanding how to support nontradit","cbCaijXHMTYtnHM7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijXHMTYtnHM7","pdf",159974,"English","# Abstract\n## Background and Literature Review\n## Methods\n## Participants","[{\"question\":\"How did the study analyze students’ motivations for attending university?\",\"answer\":\"Semi-structured interviews with eight upper-year undergraduates were analyzed using grounded theory to identify common themes across all interviews.\"},{\"question\":\"What pattern emerged in students’ motivations over time?\",\"answer\":\"The findings show a transition from external/extrinsic motivators early in students’ university careers to internal/intrinsic motivators as students discover passions and interests.\"},{\"question\":\"Which intrinsic motivation was strongest, according to the study?\",\"answer\":\"The strongest internal/intrinsic motivation reported was a desire to help others.\"}]","Motivations for Going to University - A Qualitative Study and Class Project | PDF",1792087422,15]