Preparing for Higher Education Studies: Survey of Master Level Students, January - May, 2017

The purpose of the study: to investigate the attitude of master's students studying in Lithuanian higher education institutions towards the preparation for the study and to identify the factors influencing the preparation.
Major investigated questions: respondents were asked to indicate their field of study (science, art). It was asked whether respondent had obtained a bachelor's degree in the same field of study and from the same university. They were asked if they had changed cities when choosing their Master's degree and if they had taken a break between their last degree and their current Master's degree. Respondents were asked whether the motivation of first-year students was assessed when they were admitted to the master's programme and whether this helped to select the most motivated students. Respondents were asked to indicate which programme they were studying and to assess whether it was easy to decide to study and when they decided to study for a Masters. It was explained what form of study respondent was studying and why respondent chose that form of study. It was asked whether respondent had to work on scientific projects, read reports at scientific meetings, author or co-author articles, books, book chapters and monographs during the master's degree. In the following, the participants were asked to indicate the most important components for preparing for postgraduate study and to assess their own and other postgraduate students' readiness for this study accordingly. They were asked how prepared they felt for their studies compared to group members. Respondents were asked whether it was important for them to study with very good grades and whether they felt that they were "in their own sled" during their master's studies. After a block of questions, the aim was to find out how much effort the respondents put into preparing for the master's degree. After another block of questions, they were asked what they needed to do differently to be better prepared for graduate study. Respondents were asked if they had heard about the possibility of receiving state support (scholarship, loans, benefits, compensation, etc.) for students studying in non-state funded places (VNF) in Lithuanian HEIs. Those who knew about such a possibility were asked what kind of state support students studying in VNF places can apply for. They were asked what financial difficulties they would face if the respondent took up a VNF place. It was clarified whether respondent had taken out a student loan to study. Those who had not taken out a loan were asked to answer for what reasons they did not plan to do so. Looking to the future, all respondents were asked if they planned to continue their studies after graduation, and if so, they were asked to indicate their degree, field of study, and college education. Those who decided to continue their doctoral studies were asked about the reasons for this decision and asked to rate their readiness for these studies accordingly. Respondents were asked to indicate in which school, Lithuanian city, municipality or rural settlement they acquired secondary education. Further, they were asked whether they had participated in at least one Olympiad in middle and vocational schools in grades 11-12 or high schools III - IV grades and how many subjects were studied at higher level in the last school year. The goal was to find out how much time the respondents spent on homework on average each day and how many books the respondents' family had at home during the last school year. It was asked whether they had siblings at the time of enrolment, whether the respondent's family had support from the municipal social services, and whether there was at least one tutor in the school to help prepare for the exams in the last school year. After a block of questions, respondents were asked to rate the learning environment in the completed school. The approximate yearly average of the respondents in the school in the last year was explained. Respondents also assessed the current situation in general education and higher education and expressed their views on current and planned changes in higher education. It was asked whether the motivation of first-year students should be assessed when entering higher education and how it should be assessed. Furthermore, it was explained how admission to humanities courses should be and what the minimum score for a state matriculation examination should be in order for graduates to attend a college or university. Finally, it was asked who should receive public funding for studies.
Socio-demographic characteristics: age, gender, education, whether living in dormitory, average of grades in last session in master's program, previous field of study, enrolment in undergraduate program or motivation, thesis or final exams in previous program, overall average of bachelor's program, work status, number of hours worked per week, reasons for work, connection of work with studies, intention of graduates to work in an institution of science and studies, education of parents (guardians), or parents (guardians) held senior positions in the school year, financial situation of parents (guardians) in the last school year, income.