Gender, timing and life circumstances – Motivational factors influencing student participation

Author

Tony Hooper
School of Information Management
Victoria University of Wellington
Tony.Hooper@vuw.ac.nz

Executive summary

The motivation of mid-career students can be expected to be more considered and intense than students whose studies continue from undergraduate programmes. The way that students perceive their personal circumstances and their career when they first make the decision to enrol, and what happens as a result of their studies can reveal how mid-career management programmes can be structured to ensure greater alignment with student needs and therefore greater student satisfaction. This investigation explores the motivations of mid-career students and how they evolved as a result of the study experience, leading to deeper learning and greater satisfaction with learning outcomes. On the basis of Constructivist Theory, Self-Determination Theory and the Theory of Andragogy, providing autonomy support in course content and curriculum design, as well as competence support and relatedness in assignments and assessments should lead on to greater intrinsic motivation and deeper learning.

  This work is published under the Creative Commons 3.0 New Zealand Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike Licence (BY-NC-SA). Under this licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform the work as well as to remix, tweak, and build upon this work noncommercially, as long as you credit the author/s and license your new creations under the identical terms.