Students’ motivation for performing research work and its relationship with their orientation toward building an academic career at university

The requirements for university graduates include the possession of research skills, which implies the inclusion of this type of activity in the curriculum. Research work of students is included in both compulsory types of work and those performed at will of the student himself (over and above the curriculum), the latter being associated with a high level of students’ motivation. The article aims to analyze the structure of students’ motivation for carrying out research work at university and to identify its connection with the orientation of young people to building an academic career at university after graduation. The methodology is based on Talcott Parsons’ model of reference variables. It allowed us to describe the motivation of students at the theoretical level. Some of the selected theoretical positions (affective neutrality, self-orientation) were tested using empirical material collected through a survey of students of Perm national research universities (Perm State University, Perm National Research Politechnic University, Higher School of Economics -Perm). Based on the ideas of T.V. Razina and other researchers of motivation, we developed and tested a methodology for identifying the structure of students’ motivation to conducting research work at university. The following were identified as the most pronounced motives of the interviewed students: firstly, they carry out research work for self-development in the broad sense of the word; secondly, the process itself provides them with interest. Cluster analysis made it possible to classify respondents into 4 groups, based on the specifics of their motivation: strategists, enthusiasts, dependents, and and random people. A connection was revealed between the specifics of students’ motivation and their determination to build an academic career at university after graduation. As a result, we were able to identify and describe the group of students who are more determined to devote themselves to research work in the future. The paper proposes a number of recommendations for scientific supervisors and managing personnel of universities, which can be helpful in building the personnel policy of universities.