When I started to think about what I wanted to blog about today, I first thought of what motivated people to do things, anything, which eventually lead me to wonder what motivational principles underlie peoples need to attend college.
The first, most obvious answer would be a need for achievement. Many people feel a strong desire to achieve their maximum potential and the most readily available outlet in which to to this is by attending college. Many people with a high need for achievement would be very god students and likely in fields in which their job outlook would be something in which they could help people or feel good about themselves for what they are doing. I think that this is the reason why everyone should be in school, but that is simply not the case.
Another reason for going to college would be a need for power and money. In our society if you do not go to college this is seen as a failure of some kind. In reality, this is because there are simply no other outlets in which people can excel. Going to a 4 year university has practically become a pre-requisite for many job opportunities, especially if the many goal is that of power and money. From my stereotypical image of business majors, if you asked them why they were in school the likely outcome would not be to change the world or help others. If your a finance major your reason for being there is in the title, finances. I would love for someone to give me another opinion on this topic because I know it's stereotypical, but it only comes from my experiences.
Finally, I feel that many people go to college because of societal pressures. Many families, like mine, do not see going to college as an option, but a requirement. Even if I wouldn't have wanted to go to college I wouldn't have had a choice. I see so many students that are just letting college pass them by, trying to get passing grades, without any real focus or passion for what they are doing. I think that it's a shame that our society puts so much pressure on people to go to college, when in reality, college is simply not for everyone.
With this being said, I think that the fact that college has become the norm has made college very different for our generation. In many instances, college has become too easy. I know I have classes where all I have to do is study for a test every 4 weeks and then I can forget the material and move on with my life. What does it say about college if I get mad when I get a B? Or when I get extremely upset when I get a C? Historically, C was the average, but from what I have encountered, most students would not feel very average if they were getting C's, they would feel more like they were failing. This, in turn makes an A the only really good option for students and makes a D just as bad as failing.
I wonder what others have to think about this. Am I just a crazy student that wants to feel like my college degree actually stands for something? Am I being too harsh on the school system? And honestly, do you feel like a college degree is something that is a serious commitment and something that is hard to accomplish?
So far, I've been accepted into a good number of graduate programs. However, right now I'm pretty burnt out on school... going to class day after day, writing papers, reading, studying... It's getting a little redundant and strenuous for me!
Because graduate school is WAY more expensive than undergrad (although many institutions offer tuition waivers, assistantships, etc.), I've been thinking harder about whether this is a step that I really am prepared for.
However, I've concluded that I'm in between a rock and a hard place... As we all know, social science majors don't make a lot of money. In fact, did you know that the highest paid Business professor makes more than twice as much as the highest paid Criminology professor?! When I declared Criminology and Psychology as my majors, I knew that there would be no other option than to go on to grad school.
I would say that, although I would consider myself to be a highly intrinsically motivated individual, my decision to attempt grad school is more based on extrinsic motivation.
First, as I've already discussed, social science majors don't make a great deal of money. This makes it even more difficult to get a job with just a BA - most social science majors, in my opinion, go on to teach at colleges and universities.
Secondly, I think my decision to continue school is due to achievement. My long-term career goal is to teach - either at a community college or university (I would prefer to be at a university, but 7 more years of school doesn't sound appealing!). I want to achieve my graduate degree to be able to obtain my career goal.
In addition, one part of my family are extreme achievers... To put this in perspective, they all have attended ivy league undergrad schools, and have gone to prestigious law schools and grad schools. The youngest in their family began college at age 12. This, of course, makes me feel like an idiot. Cool, I'm at UNI getting my undergrad - on time. I just feel good that I'm graduating in 4 years with a double major! haha. So this is could be considered an intrinsic motivator - I want to get my graduate degree so I have some sense of dignity in my family. This would somewhat satisfy my need for affiliation, as then I could fit in with that part of my family. It's also an extrinsic motivator, going along with your reason about societal pressures.
For me, the reasons you posted for why people go to college (or even continue into graduate school) are totally in sync with my reasons, and are the 3 main reasons (and the "catch all" reasons) why people continue their education. I think that people's reasons to do anything are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated.
I am motivated i would say pretty evenly intrinsically and extrinsically. I know what i want from life and am motivated on my own to get there, but i also would like to make a god living and have everything that i want, which i guess is probably most of us. My family i would say also is an extrinsic motivation for me, my dad has always been pushing me to go to school and be the "best person i can be". I do not want to let him down, so that is a very motivating thing for me.
I would say my need for achievement is pretty high also. I want to go onto grad school, and am in that process right now. With the major most of us are in, grad school is pretty much one of the only options if we want a good job. Like the post above me mentioned, i am also getting VERY burned out on school, but i know that i have to go to grad school to get the job i want. I would say this ties in with my need for power and money. I do not really think i am a power oriented person, bit i would like to have money; that is why i am going to school!
Societal pressures was an initial reason for me. It was always just assumed i would go to college. I do not think i was given a choice really, my parents told me i would either go to school or they were cutting me off financially... so i chose school. I think though, i would have gone to school regardless of the societal and family pressures.
I am motivated i would say pretty evenly intrinsically and extrinsically. I know what i want from life and am motivated on my own to get there, but i also would like to make a god living and have everything that i want, which i guess is probably most of us. My family i would say also is an extrinsic motivation for me, my dad has always been pushing me to go to school and be the "best person i can be". I do not want to let him down, so that is a very motivating thing for me.
I would say my need for achievement is pretty high also. I want to go onto grad school, and am in that process right now. With the major most of us are in, grad school is pretty much one of the only options if we want a good job. Like the post above me mentioned, i am also getting VERY burned out on school, but i know that i have to go to grad school to get the job i want. I would say this ties in with my need for power and money. I do not really think i am a power oriented person, bit i would like to have money; that is why i am going to school!
Societal pressures was an initial reason for me. It was always just assumed i would go to college. I do not think i was given a choice really, my parents told me i would either go to school or they were cutting me off financially... so i chose school. I think though, i would have gone to school regardless of the societal and family pressures.