Acknowledgement
I sincerely appreciate my lecturer’s effort in teaching, guiding and encouraging me in undertaking my course of study. In a special way, I appreciate my course mates and more specifically my discussion group members for the substantial support they have offered me in coming up with this original work. I would also like to sincerely thank my dear parents and other family members for supporting me both morally and financially in undertaking my studies. Finally, I thank my relatives, friends and any other person who has contributed to my studies so far.
Abstract
This research seeks to establish the rationale which influences undergraduate students and makes them undertake their courses in universities and colleges. It focuses on what specifically motivates students to go for one course and not another. It describes how the students view learning as a long-term investment in life and choose courses which they think will enable them recover the invested funds and even earn more. It researches on how students choose courses depending on their backgrounds with the aim of developing them and making them better than before. The paper also provides a discussion on employability by explaining how students choose courses that they believe will earn them jobs after completion. It provides a discussion on the availability of information as a motivator which influences students’ choices. It finally gives a guideline on formulation and implementation of higher education policies.
Before an individual opts to pursue a particular area of specialty, he or she considers various forces and elements. The factors are termed as the labor market instigators. The motivators affect the results of undergraduates’ decisions concerning different subjects. They are important to the students and in making public policies. The interests are dictated by the level of employability in the social discourse and in the proposals to direct governmental funding in support of different specializations. Davies et.al, (2013), directs its focus towards the labor market motivations in England to provide a generalized format of understanding the choice of subjects made by the undergraduates. This article gives a review of the information and findings in the journal written by Davies, Mangan, Hughes, and Slack concerning employability indicators that influence the students’ decisions.
Higher education learners in England encounter the prospects of paying the entire financial burden of their tuition fees. Therefore, the significant variations in income differences between different subjects may become an area of interest to them since they would prefer to be remunerated for their years of school and tuition fees. Taking into account the different factors that impact labor market motivation, the writers gathered that non-White ethnicities and males have an inclination to choose jobs that pay high premiums. Students from low-income households are less likely to opt for well-paying jobs. The aspect is of great concern to the policies instituted in social mobility and higher education. Studies present substantial distinctions between the employability outcomes of graduates in different fields. The information reflects why the learners opt for particular subjects and the problems that may erupt making them regret their choices (Davies, et.al., 2013).
According to Davies, et.al., (2013), the existence of challenges brought by labor market motivations is emphasized by the essence of the undergraduates having all the data they require to make informed decisions concerning the value of a discipline. The employability indicators act as a depiction of what is more valuable to the community. For instance, if graduates under subject y are employed in low-income jobs or remain unemployed, it serves as a manifestation of a problem. Another example is if the students in subject x present more social benefits than the others, the society will be more inclined to subsidize those learning the course. The second example is the reason disciplines such as engineering, science, and medicine are essential to the community because they generate public investments.
The undergraduate courses are expected to provide social mobility; that is, when individuals from disadvantaged families choose the high-income professions to raise their living standards. The study presented by the authors provides a detailed outlook of the variations in the motivation of different students. It also examines the extent the instigators align with reported behaviors and the likelihoods that the learners will choose the high-income jobs. The writers adopt a mixed-methods research to study the needs of the undergraduates. They use questionnaires, interviews, and observations on a survey sample of 18 state learning institutions. The results give adequate evidence that the students’ motivations come from high salaries and those who do not conform to the aspect focus on caring for the society (Davies, et.al., 2013).
The instigators vary depending on factors such as gender, ethnicity, and vulnerability. For instance, the authors’ results show that Chinese students tend to look for high premium subjects while those from disadvantaged households are not motivated to pursue well-paying jobs (Davies, et.al., 2013). The information from the writer’s analysis can be used in making higher learning policies to motivate students from poor backgrounds to choose high-income subjects. Through this, the college and university educations system can support social mobility.
Reference
Davies P., et.al. (2013). Labour market motivation and undergraduates’ choice of degree subject. British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 361–382.
