A Quantitative Evaluation of Gender, Nationality, and Generational/Age Influence on Academic Motivation

Abstract

Universities are challenged with finding ways to motivate the increasing number of diverse students so that the largest number of students can be expected to succeed. University success is measured by retention and graduation rates, which affect profit. A lack of academic motivation among increasingly diverse students influences student retention, graduation rates, and profits in universities. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental causal, comparative study was to investigate whether there were differences in the academic motivation of university students based on gender, nationality, and generational/age differences. A sample of 210 students at Campbellsville University was tested using The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The questionnaire consisted of scale scores for intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, task value, control beliefs, self-efficacy for learning and performance, and test anxiety. The findings indicated some statistically significant differences. The findings indicated that female students have higher intrinsic goal orientation than male students t(208) = 2.07, p = .04. American students had higher levels of Self-efficacy for Learning and Performance than international students t(208) = 1.97, p = .05. Older participants had significantly higher scores for Intrinsic Goal Orientation, t(208) = 2.76, p = .006 and for Task Value t(208) = 1.97, p = .05. The full model, which combined gender, nationality, and age was not significant F(7, 202) = 1.23, p = .29, η_p²= 0.04) and accounted for 4.1% of the variance. Overall, the statistically significant differences were minimal and may offer evidence that academic motivation is not affected by the diversity of students. Teachers may want to engage in pedagogies that assist in developing academic motivation among male students, international students, and younger students. Increased academic motivation should improve goal attainment and personal achievement among students, thus increasing university retention and graduation rates that lead to increased profits and a competitive edge within the education market. Research might be improved by further study of academic motivation in larger private universities, case studies comparing state universities to private universities, or studying many universities on a larger scale.