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Testing the relationships of motivation, time management and career aspirations on graduate students’ academic success

Ademola Amida (Teaching and Leadership, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA)
Sameera Algarni (Teaching, Leadership and Professional Practice, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA)
Robert Stupnisky (Educational Foundation and Research, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA)

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education

ISSN: 2050-7003

Article publication date: 11 December 2020

Issue publication date: 13 December 2021

1835

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored graduate students' academic success by testing a hypothesized model based on the self-determination theory (SDT), which posits that motivation, time management and career aspiration predicts perceived success.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative methodology was employed to garner data from a population of 324 graduate students, and then analyzed using structural equation modeling in R.

Findings

Intrinsic motivation was the strongest motivation type that predicted graduate students' perceived success. Time management was another important predictor of perceived success, while career aspiration did not impact students' perception of success. Doctoral students showed significantly higher relatedness when compared to master degree students. In addition, male students showed significantly higher career aspirations than females, while female students showed significantly higher time management than their male counterparts. The results of this study support the SDT as a framework to understand graduate students' academic success.

Originality/value

Implementing the research findings may increase graduate students' academic success. This study suggests direct ways of increasing graduate students' achievement through intrinsic motivation, time management and autonomy, as well as reducing amotivation (lack of motivation) to indirectly enhance academic success.

Keywords

Citation

Amida, A., Algarni, S. and Stupnisky, R. (2021), "Testing the relationships of motivation, time management and career aspirations on graduate students’ academic success", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 1305-1322. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-04-2020-0106

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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