MOTIVATION OF EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OF HIGHER EDUCATIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: PRIORITIES AND CONTENT-DYNAMIC FEATURES

Abstract

Psychological literature, the idea has long been established that the success of an individual’s personal and professional development is determined by his responsible attitude and ability to master educational and professional activities, in the process of which he realizes his personal potential. A prominent place in the general structure of any activity belongs to motivation. It is the motivational sphere, its most significant motives that explain the purposefulness of action, organization and stability of holistic activity aimed at achieving a certain goal. Motivation has always been the focus of attention of many researchers, regardless of which area of psychology they worked in. Despite the huge number of works devoted specifically to the motivational sphere, the issues of forming a highly motivated personality of a student continue to remain the main problem of the modern system of higher education. The results of our study allowed us to state that one of the most important motives for the educational and professional activities of foreign medical students is the conviction that the profession they have chosen should ensure their material well-being. At the same time, they see further self-realization not only in the medical field. In contrast, domestic students give preference to the motives of successful mastering the profession, the solidity of the acquired knowledge, professional competence and the achievement of public recognition and high status. Comparison of the empirical data we obtained with the indicators of 20 years ago convincingly demonstrated that current students have practically no motivation for doubt, dissatisfaction and disappointment in the chosen profession (6–7%), while in the early 2000s it was 35–43% (Beley M.D., Yurchenko V.I.). It was found that a number of motives are not relevant at all for both the Ukrainian and foreign sample of students under study: motives of condemnation or approval (from teachers, parents); motives of satisfaction with the learning process; motives of increasing status in the group, gaining authority.