Student's motives for enrollment in Montana's cooperative business education programs

Abstract

In this paper, the researcher has sought to determine the enrollment motives and the attitude structure of students in secondary and post-secondary Office and Distributive Education programs in the state of Montana. Eight hundred sixty-two (862) responses were received to a questionnaire mailed to all currently enrolled Business Education students in the state. A T-test of significant difference was administered against each of the thirty statements on the research instrument in order to identify differences in motives and attitude amongst students of different programs, at different education levels and of different sexes. It was concluded that secondary Distributive Education students are more influenced in their enrollment decision by other students, and less influenced by parents, counselors and teachers, than were secondary Office Education students or post-secondary Mid-management students. It was also concluded that secondary Distributive Education students have a less well-defined career orientation than have secondary Office Education students, or post-secondary Business Education students. Male students exhibited a lower career orientation than did female students, and post-secondary students indicated a more powerful economic motive in their enrollment decision than did secondary students.