Abstract:

A significant body of research exists on factors that promote student success at higher education institutions and the reasons underlying student drop-out from university. Fewer studies have focused on why students decide to attend higher education institutions and how this relates to student participation at university. This is particularly the case in the context of developing countries. International research has demonstrated that students’ motivations for attending university have a bearing on their academic engagement and throughput yet this remains an under-researched area of study in developing contexts. This study was conducted at a historically disadvantaged South African University and aimed to investigate South African undergraduate students’ motivations for attending university and whether this related to attendance/non-attendance at lectures and student performance. The study used a quantitative correlational research design. Participants for the study were undergraduate students (n=900). Data was collected using three self-report instruments namely a demographic questionnaire, the Student Motivations for Attending University Questionnaire - Revised (SMAU) and a self-report questionnaire regarding lecture attendance and student performance. Descriptive statistics (percentages, means and standard deviations) were used to summarise the responses to the questionnaire (SMAU). To compare groups (e.g. gender and year level) Multivariate Analysis Of Variance (MANOVA) was used.The study found that specific motivations for attending university including wanting to make meaningful changes to society, financially supporting their families and improving their quality of life were primary motivations for attending university and had a bearing on lecture attendance and student performance. The implications of these findings for student and academic affairs practices within universities in developing countries are discussed.

Keywords:

Motivational orientation, higher education, South Africa, student academic performance.