Abstract

RIBEIRO, Marinalva Lopes; SILVA, Fabrício Oliveira da; BRAGA, Maria Cleonice Barbosa  and  MALTA, Helia Lucila. What are students’ motivations for choosing a career?. Educ. Puc. [online]. 2018, vol.23, n.2, pp.155-173. ISSN 2318-0870.  https://doi.org/10.24220/2318-0870v23n2a3903.

Choosing a career has been a dilemma for many students in our present days. The study consisted of an exploratory qualitative research by means of a questionnaire that was applied to two hundred and twenty-four students from the areas of Education, Engineering, and Health in a public university in the state of Bahia. The main objective of the study was to understand the reasons for choosing the undergraduate course. The instrument used to investigate the career choice was an open questionnaire composed five questions. The results revealed that there is a variety of reasons for the choice, such as: the job market, passion or personal identification with the field, lack of options, ideological choice, ability with the disciplines in that area, career status, and parent’s or teacher’s influence. However, educational experiences can build the foundations for new motivations that enable students to understand and redefine their choices.

Keywords : Professional choice; Career development; Motivation.

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