The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Matthew Binion

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 7, 2017 at 3:30 pm in 301 Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

Students Affairs Administrators’ Understanding of Motivations to Attain a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration

ABSTRACT: 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 three major themes that described the participants experience with considering pursuing a doctorate in HEA; Motivational Orientations, Discernment Processes and Environmental Factors. Implications and recommendations for action and future study are presented. 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.