Hanusch, F., Mellado, C., Boshoff, P., Humanes, M. L., de León, S., Pereira, F., Márquez Ramírez, M., Roses, S., Subervi, F., Wyss, V., & Yez, L. (2014). Journalism students’ motivations and expectations of their work in comparative perspective. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 70(2), 141–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077695814554295
- Abstract: “Based on a survey of 4,393 journalism students in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, this study provides much-needed comparative evidence about students’ motivations for becoming journalists, their future job plans, and expectations. Findings show not only an almost universal decline in students’ desire to work in journalism by the end of their program but also important national differences in terms of the journalistic fields in which they want to work, as well as their job expectations. The results reinforce the need to take into account national contexts when examining journalism education across the globe.”
- Is this study experimental or nonexperimental? This study is nonexperimental. I gathered this from the fact that there is no “cure” being introduced. There is no control group and experimental group, just a study to gather information.
- Is it quantitative or qualitative? This study, I found, is qualitative. It is providing research on how college education affects students’ reasoning to become a journalist and other qualities they develop over the course of their education.
- What is the population? I would say the population being studied is all journalism students, ever.
- What is the sample? The sample is the 4393 students from 33 universities in 8 countries.
- Method of Measurement? 4 different research questions were presented: 1) Do journalism students prefer to work in hard news or in soft news beats? 2) What are journalism students’ motivations for studying journalism at university? 3) What are journalism students’ expectations of their future employment in journalism? 4) What are the commonalities and differences across national contexts in students’ preferences, motivations, and expectations?
- Method of analysis? Researchers used statistics to analyze their results. They gathered all of the data and accurately compared the sample statistics to the population.
- Conclusion? The first question was met with just under half wanted to work in hard news, one third in soft news, and almost one quarter stated they didn’t want to go into journalism at all. The answer to question 2 proved that students are still choosing to pursue journalism because they want to, one in three chose that option. Behind that option, 28.5 percent chose journalism because they are talented or like writing. The 3rd most popular was to create change. Answering question 3, students answered the top 3 expectations for their future employment, first being collegiality (coworker relationships), public service, and career progression. Question 4 was observing different responses across national contexts. In conclusion, there were several differences between different students of different nationalities. For example, students in Chile, Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil were more concerned about financials than any other dimension.
- What’s Next? The next step would be to possibly dive into each question in their own individual studies. I, for one, would like to know WHY students chose hard news over soft. The different questions could each entice a new study with new information.
Hello Shayna,
I liked reading your review. I really understand the article well from reading through your answers. I think that your answers were short, sweet, and to the point, so I didn’t have to do a bunch of reading to figure out what was trying to be done. I also think your whats next question was a great idea. I, too, would be curious to see why students want hard rather than soft news.
Great job, thank you so much for helping me understand the article. I also appreciate the swiftness of your answers! I am very curious why the students were more interested in hard news than soft news as well!
Thank you so much for helping me understand the article. I also appreciate the swiftness of your answers! I am very curious why the students were more interested in hard news over the soft news, seems very odd to me for some reason. Great job!
I find it interesting that so many showed an interest in hard news, over soft news. Perhaps hard news simply seemed more “legitimate” to many of them, or perhaps they were inspired to go into journalism because of hard news. Personally, I’d find soft news more fulfilling. That information about those worried about financials was interesting too. I wonder what factors they all shared in common.
It’s equally impressive and disheartening to see that almost 25% of all journalism students don’t actually want to peruse a career in the industry. It’s a sad state of affairs honestly, although it’s not without precedent. Journalism is a career path that’s always changing, and I have to imagine that researching it is tricky at best. Today, many of these students probably have completely different jobs than what they anticipated. Such is the nature of qualitative research. That’s why I personally prefer it so much. It’s always changing! For every study that “solves” a trend in society, more trends pop up to replace them. It’s an endless spectrum of possible research testifying the diversity of the human condition. To that end, I’m glad this study surveyed students from underrepresented regions like South America. Understanding journalism is impossible without their input.