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JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

al. 2011). Academic achievement is still discussed and an
insufficiently clarified term.

According to the pedagogical

terminology

(Průcha, Walterová & Mareš, 1995), Academic

achievement or (academic) performance is the extent to which a
student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long-
term educational goals

In this context, school achievement

means an average grade of all the subjects at the end of the
school year (great point average – GPA; Tomšik, 2015).
Cumulative

GPA and completion of educational

benchmarks represent academic achievement.

Previous research

(Bandalos, Gwske & Finney, 2005; Chemers, Hu & Garcia,
2005; Zohar, 1998) shows, that the achievement of the stated
goals, the fulfillment of the academic tasks, the interest in the
tasks and their achievement positively correlate with the GPA.
Several studies have pointed out that internal motivation is
positively related to students' learning outcomes and their
competencies (Ames, 1992; Blumenfeld & Pokay, 1990).
Internally motivated students engage in activities for their own
purposes, working on tasks, which make them satisfied. On the
other hand, students may also be motivated by external motives
if they believe that work or achievement will be positively
evaluated, for example through rewards, good grades, praise
from parents, teachers, and so on. In contrast, internal motivation
usually leads to greater cognitive engagement than external
(Ryan & Deci, 2000). However, the relationships between
internal and external motivation, engagement and achievement
are complex. It is more appropriate to ponder internal and
external motivation as two separate continuums than two
antithetic poles of motivation, as students can score low in one,
and high in different types of motivation, low in both or high in
both (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Tomšik, 2016). However,
external motivation is not as effective as internal. People tend to
avoid effort, which is also reflected in engagement in a particular
work environment (Watt & Richardson, 2012). However, the
motivation for choosing teaching as a profession is also
associated with other factors, such as gender (Yüce, et al. 2013),
study program (Watt, Richardson & Devos, 2013), satisfaction
with the choice of profession (Tomšik, 2016), impact on work
performance (Watt, & Richardson, 2012), personality traits
(Tomšik & Gatial, 2018), etc. These factors overlap with time.
For example, personality traits, and gender have impact on
motivation, while motivation has an impact on satisfaction or
learning outcomes of the academic achievement. This study
focuses on a number of these factors: gender and motivation for
choosing teaching as a profession, academic achievement and
motivation for choosing teaching as a profession, a previous
secondary school type and chosen study program in relation to
motivation for choosing teaching as a profession. Studies have
shown that the teaching profession is increasingly feminized;
moreover, there are factors such as low income (Blount, 1999;
Johnson, 2008), a low social status (Cushman, 2005) and public
suspicion of men who want to work with children; especially at
pre-primary or primary stage of education. On the other hand,
such problem is rare at secondary stage of education, where men
are the most typically teachers of subjects such as mathematics,
physics or technology (Birrell & Rapson, 2006; Watt,
Richardson, 2012).

Watt & Richardson (2012) found that

women showed stronger motivation than men in their desire to
work with children/adolescents (F =

18.93; ƞ

= 0.023). The

category Benefits for individuals and their families that teaching
profession is offering (F =

5.27; ƞ

= 0.007) was also

significantly higher elected by females respondents as well as
intrinsic motivation, and dedication/passion to the teaching
profession (F =

7.15; ƞ

= 0.009). At the same time, female

respondents showed more experience of teaching than male
respondents (F =

4.83; ƞ

= 0.006). In contrast, men showed a

negative statistically a significantly higher score on a scale
Fallback career motivation – decision to become a teacher (F =

6.73; ƞ

= 0.008).Despite the gender differences, researchers in

the national studies published in 2001 found that among
graduates in the STEM study programs (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics) there is lack of interest in
teaching (Papanastasiou & Papanastasiou, 1997). Watt,
Richardson & Devos (2013) compared motives of choosing
teaching as a profession on a sample of Australian students of
STEM and non-STEM teaching study programs found

differences in following motives of choosing teaching as a
profession: an alternative option (Fallback career), where
students of the STEM subjects score significantly higher (F
(1.799) = 6.66, n

= .008) in the motive of learning experiences.

The students in STEM subjects score significantly lower in
comparison to students of non-STEM subjects (F (1.799) = 4.46,
n

= .006), but they were significantly higher motivated by the

benefits of teaching profession and time for family (F (1.799) =
7.38, n

= .009).

2 Methods

The aim of research is to point out the importance of motivation
for choosing teaching as a profession. This aim involves
measuring the level of specific motives for choosing teaching as
a profession and covariant factors. In order to confirm the
predictions mentioned above, it was decided to carry out
quantitatively oriented research. Validated research tools were
chosen (questionnaires, paper form) for measuring research
variables. Participants submitted questionnaires with their
consent to data processing. All questionnaires were anonymous.
The data were collected by the psychologists at Slovak
universities. Participants had 45 minutes to complete the
questionnaires. The final version of the research tool was
elaborated and piloted in June 2017. The data were collected in
September 2017 (mapping motivation) and June 2018 (mapping
academic achievement). In September 2018 the data were
processed and analyzed.

2.1 Research sample

The research sample consists of 402 teacher trainees. The
respondents aged from 18 to 20 years (M=19.10) were from the
following regions of Slovakia: Nitra, Bratislava, Banská

Bystrica, Prešov, Trenčín, Trnava, Košice and Žilina. The parent
population was 3300 teacher trainee students that were enrolled
in the academic year 2015/2016 into their first year of study.
According to the approximation of Morgan & Krejcie (1970), at
least 346 respondents must be included in the set, with a
percentage distribution corresponding to the size of the parent
population in each region. This criterion is fulfilled (Confidence
95.0%, Margin of Error 5%). Based on the aim of the research,
the research sample was divided into several groups based on
gender, Secondary school and Study program (Tab. 1).

Table 1: Distribution of research sample.

Characteristics

Gender

Males

132

32.8

Females

270

67.2

Secondary school

Grammar School

221

55.0

Secondary Vocational School

116

28.9

Secondary School of Education

10.4

Art School

5.7

Study program

STEM

11.4

nonSTEM

249

61.9

Combination

15.4

Art

3.0

2.2 Instruments

The Scale of Motivation for Choosing a Teaching Profession
(fourth re-edition, version for students (S); thereinafter SMVUP-
4-S) is a validated research and diagnostic tool for identifying
the motives for choosing teaching as a profession. The SMVUP-
4-S scale was based on the globally used Fit-Choice scale (Watt
& Richardson, 2012), which was adapted to the conditions of the
profession and educational system of the Slovak Republic.
Following the agreement of the authors of the Fit-Choice model,

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