Why are we here? An Investigation of Academic, Employability and Social Facets of Business Undergraduates’ Motivation Using Thurstone Scaling

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi

Examines how business undergraduates’ motivation is shaped by employability alongside academic success and social fulfilment within the UK higher education context. Uses Thurstone attitude scaling to convert judges’ ratings into a structured research instrument administered to 75 students, after collecting and scoring several hundred responses. Finds employability to be a significant motivational aspect, meaningfully associated with academic and social components, and suggests learning support should emphasize experiential, skill-driven approaches.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Employability and Student Motivation

Method: Thurstone Attitude Scaling

Findings and Implications

Why are we here? An Investigation of Academic, Employability and Social Facets of Business Undergraduates’Motivation Using Thurstone Scaling By John Buglear 􀀍 In the UK employability is a key university performance measure. This reflects both the tightening graduate employment market and the demands on the sector for greater accountability. The literature on employability considers the implications for institutions and the student motivation literature examines students’ intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientations. This exploratory study complements both areas of work by considering employability, currently deemed an allpervasive extrinsic goal, asfar as students’ motivation is concerned relative to the more conventional drivers of decisions to enter higher education; achieving academic success and social fulfilment. It aims to establish both the significance of employability as a motivating factor and ascertain the degree of association with the academic and social factors as well as profile variables. The research design applies Thurstone attitude scaling. Several hundred business undergraduates were asked to encapsulate why they were on their course. The responses were collated and scored by a set of judges against scales of academic, employability and social motivation. The judges’ scores were used to determine the most appropriate statements to use in the research instrument, which was then used to survey the attitudes of 75 students. The results suggest that employability is a significant aspect of students’ motivation and is associated with the academic and social aspects of motivation. This significance of employability suggests effective learning support strategies are likely to be those that are based on experiential and skill-driven learning alongside more tightly drawn cognitive approaches. The balance of motivational aspects can also inform institutions’ student recruitment. 􀀍Head of the Management Division, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK. [https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.1-2-1](https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.1-2-1) doi=10.30958/aje.1-2-1 Introduction ‘Employability’ has long been an implicit outcome of the UK higher education sector. Yorke traces the association between higher education and labour market outcomes back to 1963 (2004: 409) . Knight and Yorke argue that ‘ UK higher education institutions […] are now charged with promoting graduate employability-contributing directly to the stock of human capital – and their performances are monitored’ (2003: 3) and Tomlinson notes that degrees ‘have been presented as crucial for economic development’ (2008: 49) . From September 2012 English institutions must provide publicly accessible Key Information Sets (KIS) for potential applicants. These will contain data about employment, including occupational status six months after graduation, the proportion of graduates in ‘graduate jobs’ and pay levels (Department for Business Innovation & Skills, 2011: 28-29) . Employability and Student Motivation Notwithstanding the current emphasis on employability there is no clear consensus about its meaning. Pool and Sewell (2007: 277) refer to ‘this elusive concept of employability ’ and Tymon (2011: 2) records the ‘lack of coherence about what is meant by the term ’. After noting the ‘various definitions ’Saunders and Zuzel (2010) adopt Yorke’s formulation of employability as ‘a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes - that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy’ (2006: 8) . This is student-focussed, epitomising what Wilton describes as ‘the policy emphasis on the supply-side of the labour market’ (2008: 18) and anticipates employability being aligned with student motivation. It follows that the significance of employability within students’disposition to enter higher education is key

FAQs

What question does the study address about business undergraduates’ motivation?

It investigates how academic achievement, employability, and social fulfilment relate to business undergraduates’ motivation when choosing and pursuing higher education.

How was Thurstone attitude scaling used in the research design?

Responses were scored by judges against academic, employability, and social motivation scales to select statements for the research instrument, which then surveyed 75 students.

What do the results indicate about employability’s role in motivation?

Employability is found to be a significant aspect of students’ motivation and is associated with both academic and social facets of motivation.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi