Student Affairs Administrators' Understanding of Motivations to Attain a Doctorate in Higher Education Administratio

Students are motivated to pursue education for various reasons and understanding those motivations can help administrators and faculty better serve graduate students who choose to participate in doctoral studies. This study analyzed qualitative data in an effort to better understand how student affairs administrators perceived their motivations while discerning doctoral study in the field of Higher Education Administration (HEA). This study used Self Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework for understanding how motivational factors influence students to participate in doctoral education. The results showed that there existed four major themes that described the participants experience with considering pursuing a doctorate in HEA; Professional, Personal and Dual Role Motivations, and Environmental Factors. As a result, the findings suggest that changes in how doctoral education is promoted and encouraged, the importance of the doctorate as a credential as well as creating communities of support can help to increase doctorate representation in the area of Higher Education Administration.