Motives for undertaking education degrees at the University of Huelva

Abstract

Several variables inherent to the profile of new university students affect their likelihood of achieving optimal adaptation and finishing the studies they embark upon. A cornerstone of this is the vocational factor as, to some extent, it influences the commitment and willingness of students to tackle the learning process with ambition and enthusiasm. The main aim of the present work was to identify student profiles based on their reasons for undertaking Early Childhood Education, Primary Education and Social Education degrees. The present study adopts a surveytype methodology and follows a cross-sectional, descriptive and associative design, in which the set of individuals that make up the sample are grouped using a hierarchical approach. To this end, data are processed according to multivariate statistical methods (clustering). The sample was selected incidentally and is composed of 376 first year students undertaking one of three degrees within the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sports Sciences at Huelva University. Findings reveal the existence of three possible groupings in terms of the profile of students enrolled on degrees. Two of these groups pertain to variables that are linked with vocational aspects, although a smaller group also exists in which this is not the case. Moreover, degrees in Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Social Education continue to be feminised, whilst the “wild card” entry option continues to be applied to Primary Education degrees.