ANALYSIS OF THE MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING UNIVERSITY CHOICE OF ETHNIC HUNGARIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM SLOVAKIA
ANALYSIS OF THE MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING UNIVERSITY CHOICE OF ETHNIC HUNGARIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM SLOVAKIA

Summary/Abstract: Research problem: Choosing a university is a key step in each individual’s life because it can have a significant impact on the opportunities presented to him in life for decades to come. The students’ choices are of equal significance to the higher education institutions too because the university’s development but even its very survival could depend on the number and the talents of the students choosing the given institution. In our study, we aim to find out which factors have the strongest influence on the university choice of ethnic Hungarian secondary school students from Slovakia. Methods and the study sample: Based on the studied international literature, we compiled a written questionnaire to assess the role of the individual motivational factors in university choice. In order to be able to generalize our conclusions, we needed to learn the opinions of as many students as possible. For this reason, we contacted every secondary school in Slovakia with classes where the language of instruction is Hungarian. We were allowed to carry out our survey in a total of 22 institutions (31.42 percent). We included final-year students attending classes with Hungarian as the language of instruction who planned to go to university. In the end, we managed to collect 393 usable responses, which corresponds to 23.06 percent of the entire population. To determine the significance of the individual motivational factors, we used 10 point Likert scales to analyze a total of 12 factors. Based on the available international literature, we used simple descriptive statistics to evaluate the results. Results: We were successful in determining which motivational factors influence the university choice of ethnic Hungarian secondary school students from Slovakia to the highest degree. These are the chances of graduating, the perceived certainty of being admitted, the reputation of the university and the level of external recognition of the cultural life inside the institution. These are the factors higher education institutions need to focus on if they wish to reach out to secondary school students.

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