Investigating the Significance of Motivation for the Career Readiness Process in the Changing Higher Education Landscape in South Korea

Abstract: Career navigation in higher education plays a critical role as an initial step for students to make career decisions and prepare for their future careers. Before their graduation, they actively develop robust career competencies (Grossman & Cuyper, 2021), which are fundamental to beginning their careers (Blokker et al., 2019; Kuijpers, 2019) and can contribute to their long-term career success (Baert et al., 2013; Verbruggen et al., 2015). Considering the importance of career readiness in higher education, there has been growing scrutiny about college students’ employability and career success due to increased costs of higher education and great uncertainty in the labor market (Healy et al., 2023). In the process of career readiness, career navigation helps students develop actionable plans for their academic and career goals by providing information and advice based on their interests.
Higher education institutes have provided various career navigation services for students’ career readiness, including job introductions, job searches, and career fairs. However, there is a shortage of research on the role of undergraduate students’ motivation to begin the initial career search. Moreover, the relationship between career motivation and retention in the workplace is well-documented, but little empirical research has investigated motivation in the initial job information search. Thus, this study aims to investigate students’ career search motivation after going through a career readiness program. We selected a career navigating program, which provided a basic content introduction for all majors in the higher institution along with possible career trajectories.
This study adopted Ryan and Deci's (2008) Self-Determination Theory (SDT) derived from the Theory of Motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985), suggesting two primary motivations (intrinsic and extrinsic) that strongly influence an individual's behaviors. Later, Ryan and Deci (2008) divided motivation into autonomous motivation and controlled motivation. They asserted that autonomous motivation could come from even extrinsic sources, in which individuals find alignment with their sense of self that is considered as an internal source, while controlled motivation comes from external rewards or punishment. The SDT contributes to a deeper understanding of individuals’ autonomy rather than focusing on internal or external resources and provides a framework to differentiate students’ motivations to take a job preparation course.
Two research questions were posed to examine if there is any relationship between students’ motivations and satisfaction with a career readiness program. RQ 1. Are the satisfaction levels of a career readiness program affected by students’ motivations including self-motivation, recommendation by others, or credit acquisition? RQ 2. Are the levels of satisfaction of the career readiness program different by gender?
In this study, 427 undergraduates (215 males and 212 females) completed a survey at the end of a career readiness program. Participants were recruited in a course designed to provide students with a better understanding of the characteristics of all majors in the college, and they were asked about their satisfaction with the course’s instructor, content, and helpfulness for their job search, as well as their intention to recommend the course to others. All items used a five-point Likert-style scale (very dissatisfied ~ very satisfied). Students were freshman (2.3%), sophomore (5.6%), junior (20.8%), senior (68.9%), and in their fifth year of college (2.3%). With .70 as an acceptable criterion (Cortina, 1993), Cronbach’s alpha values for the satisfaction scales were verified. The results of the t-test indicated that male students statistically significantly gave higher scores in 'satisfaction with instructor's competency and expertise,' 'satisfaction with lecture content,' 'satisfaction with being helpful in preparation for recruitment,' and 'intention to recommend lectures to others' items compared to female students (p < .001). The result showed that male participants had overall higher satisfaction with the program than female participants. Next, ANOVA tests with Tukey post hoc test showed that there is a significant difference in satisfaction among the three groups identified by (self-motivated for job search, recommended by others, and motivated by credit acquisition) while the group who took the program to earn credits showed significantly lower satisfaction scores compared to the other groups (p < .001).
These findings suggest that self-motivation to seek job information is an imperative factor for students, confirming the difference between autonomous and controlled motivations. In practice, HR professionals and educators may utilize the findings of this study to design and promote career readiness programs. Instead of external rewards or penalties, diversifying the marketing methods and tools students are exposed to can help students acquire the necessary information and have higher satisfaction levels with career readiness programs.