Intrinsic Motivation and Higher Education

In this show, we will be discussing the reasons why we do what we do when making educational, professional, and life decisions. What sort of motivation is behind our goals and ends, and how does higher education mold the content of our goals? We are concerned because much of the motivation and message behind modern university education is career oriented. This ultimately seems to be producing a generation of citizens focused on monetary or status-oriented ends. The message is that one ought to know what kind of “career” he/she wants rather than what it is that is driving them or what they are able to contribute. The question that ought to be asked is— how ought educated, enlightened beings define “success” and what kinds of ends are best for us as students to be most successful? We will be addressing these questions first in relation to education and secondly with longer-term goals and how one knows what her ends are and why.