Professional identity and satisfaction with studies of students (not) enrolled in their best choice major

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati razliku u profesionalnom identitetu, akademskom uspjehu i zadovoljstvu studijem između studenata koji se nalaze na željenom studiju i onih koji se nalaze na neželjenom studiju te ispitati povezanost profesionalnog identiteta, akademskog uspjeha i zadovoljstva studijem. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo ukupno 228 studenata različitih Sveučilišta diljem Hrvatske. Sudionici su ispunjavali online upitnik koji se sastojao od nekoliko demografskih pitanja, Upitnik zadovoljstva studijem, Upitnika profesionalnog identiteta (Tan, Molen i Schmidt, 2017) i pitanje o prosjeku ocjena. Rezultati su pokazali kako su faktori znanja, iskustva te percepcije profesionalnog uzora više izraženi kod studenata koji se nalaze na željenom u odnosu na one koji se nalaze na neželjenom studiju. Odnosno, profesionalni identitet onih studenata koji su na željenom studiju je izraženiji od onih koji su na neželjenom . Studenti koji studiraju na željenom studiju pokazuju veći stupanj zadovoljstva studijem od onih koji studiraju na neželjenom studiju. Ispitana je i razlika u akademskom uspjehu između onih koji su na željenom i neželjenom studiju, utvrđeno je kako viši akademski uspjeh imaju oni koji se nalaze na željenom studiju u odnosu na studente sa neželjenog studija. Utvrđena je značajna pozitivna povezanost sva tri faktora profesionalnog identiteta - faktora znanja (r=.53), faktora iskustva (r=.39) te percepcije profesionalnog uzora (r=.63) i zadovoljstva studijem. Također, utvrđena je značajna pozitivna povezanost sva tri faktora profesionalnog identiteta - faktora znanja (r=.26), faktora iskustva (r=.16) i faktora profesionalnog uzora (r=.24) sa prosjekom ocjena te zadovoljstva studijem i prosjeka ocjena (r=.27). Zadovoljniji studenti ujedno imaju i izraženiju sliku o sebi u sklopu svoje profesije, odnosno izraženije faktore iskustva, znanja te percepcije profesionalnog uzora te viši akademski uspjeh.The goal of this research was to study difference in professional identity, academic success and educational satisfaction between students who attend wanted majors and those who attend majors which weren’t their best choice, and research relation between professional identity, academic success and satisfaction with studies. Total of 228 students for various universities in Croatia participated in research. Participants completed an online questionnaire which contained of several demographic questions, followed by questions found in “Professional Identity Questionnaire” (Tan, Molen and Schmidt, 2017), “Study Satisfaction Questionnaire“ and question about grade point average. Results have shown that knowledge factor, experience and perception of professional role model are more expressed with students enrolled in their wanted major, compared to students not enrolled in their first choice major. Results also show that students enrolled in their preferred majors show greater degree of studies satisfaction compared to those not enrolled in their best choice major. Results have shown that academic success is higher for students enrolled in their wanted major, compared to students not enrolled in their first choice major. When it comes to connection of professional identity and studies satisfaction, considerable positive correlation has been observed, with all three factors of professional identity - knowledge factor (r=.53), experience factor (r=.39) and perception of professional role model (r=.63). Also, a significant positive correlation has been determined between all three professional identity factors - knowledge factor (r = .26), experience factor (r = .16) and professional role model (r = .24) of professional identity and grade point average, as well as study satisfaction and grade point average (r =.27). More satisfied students also have stronger factors of experience, knowledge, perception of professional role model and better academic achievements