Where can I find hard data on students' reasons for being students?
This is an active area of inquiry in US academia, as market research for admissions departments and also as part of the larger investigation into student "success". Our dean likes to remind us that the main reason for going to college used to be "to get an education" but now it's "to get a job" (and thus we need to be more get-a-job focused). I don't actually know which study he's quoting, but an article out this month seems to support his contention.
Twenge and Donnelly have published a retrospective study of students entering college between 1971 and 2014 surveying the students' reasons for pursuing higher education. From the abstract:
Millennials (in college 2000s–2010s) and Generation X (1980s–1990s) valued extrinsic reasons for going to college (“to make more money”) more, and anti-extrinsic reasons (“to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas”) less than Boomers when they were the same age in the 1960s–1970s.
(Twenge, J. M., & Donnelly, K. (2016). Generational differences in American students’ reasons for going to college, 1971–2014: The rise of extrinsic motives. Journal Of Social Psychology, 156(6), 620-629. doi:10.1080/00224545.2016.1152214)
Other articles that may be of interest (by no means an exhaustive list):
Balloo, K., Pauli, R., & Worrell, M. (2015). Undergraduates’ personal circumstances, expectations and reasons for attending university. Studies in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/03075079.2015.1099623
Bui, K. V. T. (2002). First-generation college students at a four-year university: background characteristics, reasons for pursuing higher education, and first-year experiences. College Student Journal, 36(1). 3+.
Kennett, D. J., Reed, M. J., & Lam, D. (2011). The Importance of Directly Asking Students Their Reasons for Attending Higher Education. Issues in Educational Research, 21(1) 65-74.
Kennett, D. J., Reed, M. J., & Stuart A. S. (2013). The impact of reasons for attending university on academic resourcefulness and adjustment. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14(2). First published on June 10, 2015. doi:10.1177/1469787415589626
Phinney, J. S.; Dennis, J.; Osorio, S. (2006). Reasons to attend college among ethnically diverse college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12(2).347-366. doi: 10.1037/1099-9809.12.2.347
Schultz, J., & Higbee, J. (2007). Reasons for Attending College: The Student Point of View. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education, 23(2), 69-76.
It's quite likely that students entertain a collection of motivations (and de-motivators) rather than just one, so if such data exist they would probably be highly specific (to particular regions, economic conditions, personal circumstances and so on...) and difficult to extrapolate to other settings.
That said, in terms of general or potential categories, this study of students in HUNGARY AND SERBIAN VOJVODINA lists the following motives, with interest, employability and economic reward covering most of the sample.
I wanted to study in this field because I am interested in it. 45%
I believe it is easy to find a job in this field. 13%
I believe I can make good money in this field. 12%
I have professional connections in this field. 8%
My parents decided that I should study in this course. 8%
I had no other idea what to study. 4%
I had no particular reasons. 3%
This was the course I could afford financially. 3%
This was the only available course nearby. 2%
Other 2%