INTENTION TO ENROLL IN A MASTER DEGREE OF TOURISM AT OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING UNIVERSITY IN INDONESIA

Abstract

This study aims to examine the the students’ intention to enroll in a master degree of tourism at  Open and Distance Learning University in Indonesia. We use four motives that possibly detremine their intention, namely: personal development, social support, career enhancement, and academic fit. Using a convinience sampling method, we collected 332 respondents which 197 of them are active-senior college students, 94 of them are finished their bachelor’s degree, and 41 of them are finished their master’s degree. The results show that personal development, social support, career enhancement, and academic fit are positively effect their intention to enroll in a master degree of tourism for all the group of respondents. As for the group of senior-college students and bachelors, the results show that social support, career enhancement, and academic fit important consideration factors, instead of personal development. These results have implication that the college students and bachelors do not yet pursue a higher level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, namely self-actualization when considering enrolling in the magister program of tourism. The main factors of motivations are to pursue safety (academic support), belonging (social support), and esteem (career enhancement). It means that the university may consider these factors when designing master program curriculum if he positions the college students and bachelors to become their key customers.