Motivation beskrivs som ett tillstånd som förklarar vilken benägenhet individen har att handla i en specifik situation. För att en individ ska ta ett beslut att studera på universitet eller högskola krävs det att denne är motiverad att göra detta. Motivation kan delas in i typerna, inre och yttre motivation. En ytterligare indelning kan göras i sex motivationsfaktorer; to know, toward accomplishment, to experience stimulation samt identified, introjected och external regulation. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vilka motivationsfaktorer som påverkar en individs val att studera på universitetet, och om motivationsfaktorerna i sin tur påverkar prestationen. Även eventuella skillnader mellan könen och mellan filosofisk och teknisk fakultet undersöktes. Data samlades in via en webbenkät, baserad på Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992), där deltagarna fick skatta till vilken grad de ansåg sig ha motiverats av respektive påstående, i sitt val att studera. Resultatet visade att yttre motivationsfaktorer hade störst påverkan på valet att studera, där introjected regulation var den mest betydande motivationsfaktorn. För motivationsfaktorer och prestation noterades inget samband, förutom för faktorn to know. Ingen interaktion noterades mellan motivation och biologiskt kön eller fakultet. Kvinnor var dock mer motiverade än männen. / Motivation is described as a state that explains the propensity of the individual to act in a specific situation. In order for an individual to make a decision to study at university, he or she must be motivated to do so. Motivation can be divided into two types, internal and external motivation. An additional division can be made into six motivational factors; to know, towards achievement, to experience stimulation, identified, introjected and external regulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate wich motivational factors that influence an individual's choice to study at the university, and if this in turn affects performance. Possible differences between the sexes and between the Faculty of Philosophy and Engineering were also investigated. Data was collected via a web-based survey based on the Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al.,1992), where the participants were asked to estimate to what extent they considered themselves motivated by each claim, in their choice to study. The result showed that external motivational factors had the greatest impact on the decision to study, where introjected regulation was the most significant motivational factor. For motivational factors and performance no relation was noted, except for the factor to know. No interaction was noted between motivation and biological gender or the faculties. However, women were more motivated than men.

Att behålla sin anställningsbarhet genom hela livet blir allt viktigare i dagens föränderliga arbetsmarknad. De ökande krav som läggs på individen gällande anställningsbarhet kan vara en anledning till att antalet studenter på Sveriges högskolor stadigt ökar. Men frågan är hur viktigt anställbarhet är för studenters studiemotivation. Motivation delas i huvudsak in i två kategorier, inre och yttre motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). I en mer detaljerad indelning skiljer man på sex motivationsfaktorer; to know, toward accomplishment, to experience stimulation samt identified, introjected och external regulation (Vallerand m.fl, 1993). Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vilka motivationsfaktorer som påverkar en individs val att börja studera på högskola. Vi har även undersökt om motivationen ser annorlunda ut beroende på respondenterna kön och ålder. Empirin samlades in via en webbenkät som var baserad på Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand m.fl, 1992), där deltagarna fick skatta till vilken grad de ansåg att respektive påstående motiverat dem i valet att börja studera. Även om marginalerna var små så visade vårt resultat att yttre motivationsfaktorer hade störst påverkan på valet att studera. Identified var den motivationsvariabeln som fick högst värde vilket innebär att man gör någonting för att man har bestämt det, även fast det inte är kul. Att man istället ser handlingen som en nödvändighet eller för att man tror att man kan ha nytta av det i framtiden. Vi fann inga signifikanta skillnader mellan könen. Dock visade vår analys att de fanns signifikanta skillnader i motivationen, men dessa hängde samman med respondenternas ålder. / Maintaining one’s employability throughout their lives is becoming increasingly important in today's labor market, which is in constant change. The increasing demands placed on the individual regarding one´s employability can be a reason why the number of students at Swedish colleges is steadily increasing. But the question is how important is the factor employability for students' student motivation. Motivation can be divided into two categories, internal and external motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). In a more detailed division, six motivational factors are distinguished; to know, toward accomplishment, to experience stimulation as well as identified, introjected and external regulation (Vallerand et al., 1992). The purpose of this study was to investigate which motivational factors affect an individual's choice to study at college. We have also investigated whether the motivation appears different depending on the respondents' gender and age. The empirical data was collected via a web survey that was based on Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992), where the participants estimated in what extent they considered each claim to have motivated them in their choice to start studying. Even though the margin was small our result showed that external motivational factors had the greatest impact on the choice to study. Identified was the motivational variable ranked highest, which means to do something because one has decided to do it although it is not fun. That the activity is seen as necessary or because one believes that doing an activity will be useful in future. We found no significant differences between the sexes. However, our analysis showed that there were significant differences in motivation, but these were related to the respondents' age.