Motivational Factors of Two-Year Technical College Students and Graduates: A Comparative Analysis

Motivation plays a major role in the learning process. Therefore, many studies have explored the factors driving undergraduate students to study engineering. However, research on the motivation of two-year technical college students is scarce. In light of the above, the study investigated the factors driving two-year college students to study electronics and compared them to the factors motivating two-year college graduates to work as electronics technicians. The study took place in ten two-year technical colleges and various companies in the private and public sectors in Israel. Three hundred and twenty-nine electronics students in their second year of study and 125 electronics technicians (two-year college graduates) participated in the research. The participants filled out a Likert-type scale, inspired by self-determination theory. The study revealed that both students and graduates were driven primarily by intrinsic motivation and identified regulation. However, significant gaps were found in the relative autonomy index and intrinsic motivation between the two groups. These gaps, in favor of the graduates, indicate that studying electronics is perceived as much less interesting and enjoyable than working in electronics.