Key Factors of Motivation for Postgraduate Studies

Abstract

The objective of this article is to determine to which extent the military service deferment can be considered as one of the important factors of students’ motivation to study for postgraduate school. The relevance of this study is linked to the difficulties in the implementation of state policy devoted to the increasing share of young specialists in the academic environment. The share of young scientists is declining, and the part of employees over 60 years old is growing. There is also a lack of information in the scientific literature. In the existing studies, this topic is not covered widely enough. In order to achieve the goal, the authors conducted a sociological research among male postgraduate students of military age of full-time education. The authors interviewed 149 postgraduate students from 41 universities. 50 respondents had a military card, 99 did not have one. The respondents were offered a questionnaire in which they had to assess the level of motivation to study at postgraduate school on a scale from 1 to 10 according to seven factors. In order to accurately interpret the respondents’ answers, the authors used the Mann-Whitney parametric test. The authors note that the key motivator for both groups of postgraduate students is “The possibility of obtaining an advanced degree.” The difference between the groups of respondents with and without a military card is observed in terms of the motivation factor “Interest in scientific and teaching activities.” This indicator is higher for postgraduate students with a military card. For the other five factors of motivation (except for the factor of “deferment”), there was no significant difference among the samples of respondents. Military service deferment is an important factor of motivation, but not it’s not a key one. The authors highlight that there is no need for additional roles for postgraduate students and applicants with and without a military card. The study showed that both are approximately equally motivated to study. The results of the study also show that the factors of motivation “The prestige of the profession of a scientist” and “The size of salaries” motivate postgraduate students less than other factors, although it is known that these factors are decisive when choosing a profession. The authors point out that in order to promote the young staff within the academic environment, it is necessary to pay attention to the mentioned factors.