Predictive relationship between motivation and perceived career choice among undergraduate students in Ghana

Abstract

The study investigated the predictive relationship between motivation and perceived career choice among undergraduate, professional, and Diploma students from the University of Professional Studies, Accra. Descriptive correlational research design was used to investigate the relationships among motivation (e.g., intrinsic and extrinsic) and perceived career choice. Using reliable questionnaire, data were collected from 170 respondents. The hypothesized relationships were tested using Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression test. The result showed that motivation significantly and positively predicted perceived career choice, and accounted for 8.9 percent of the variance in perceived career choice. In addition, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation significantly and positively predicted perceived career choice with intrinsic motivation accounting for more variance in perceived career choice (6.5%) than extrinsic motivation (1.9%). The findings were consistent with Herzberg Two-Factor and expectancy theories of motivation. The implications and limitations of the study have been discussed.

Keywords: motivation, perceived career choice, students, Ghana