Abstract:

One of the most crucial moments in the educational and professional stage of the individuals is the choice of studies, profession or occupation that best suits them according to their abilities and possibilities offered by the medium (Mira & Lopez, 1947).
The different approaches to explaining the election process demonstrate the existence of several variables that influence the selection process, among which we can highlight personal, psychological, academic, contextual and socio-economic variables. Among the psychological variables that influence the choice various authors point out the motivation defined by most of the theoretical tendencies, as the set of processes involved in the activation, management and maintenance of behavior.
The authors that have approached the study of the motives on middle grade training cycles (Monreal, 2002; González, 2003; Núñez, 2010), highlight the differences in academic and professionals motivations of male and female students taking different training cycles. In line with these studies, in our work we try to know the academic and professional motivations of a sample of students in the vocational training of Administrative Management, Facilities and Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacy, Nursing Care Assistance, Commerce Consumer Electronic Devices, Installation and Maintenance of Cooling Facilities, Air Conditioning and Heat Production, Bodywork Driving of Sports and Physical Activity in the Natural Environment, Social and Sanitary care and Machining, in public and private centers of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. For the collection of information it was developed and validated a structured questionnaire entitled "Questionnaire on Motivation and Academic and Labour Expectations", selecting in this paper the questions that directly address the issue of academic and professional motivations.
The data reflect differences in academic and professional motivations depending on the training cycle completed. The most prevalent reasons for academic choice in the different cycles are because it is a cycle that they like and because it has many career opportunities, while reasons that have less weight in choosing are the low academic requirement of dedication and study, the follow of the family tradition and the fact that it is a course suitable for people of a particular sex. With respect to professional reasons we find greater diversity in the answers given by male and female from the different cycles. This way, the motivations vary from those students that indicate as professional reason that they like to create and build the taste and care of people, having good communication skills and being allowed to lead groups. Among the professional reasons that have had little relevance to career choices are being a sensitive person, the need to use physical force, the involvement of making decisions and having well-developed sense of esthetic.

Keywords:

Academic motivations, professional motivations, vocational training.