Students aspirations is a term commonly used in education, yet there is little agreement of what it means and even less understanding about its motivation. It is a purpose of this paper to trace the students' aspirations for their enrolment in the Diploma in Music program at UiTM. Sample for this study were 185 diploma students. Questionnaires were distributed to students which consisted of questions that sought to investigate the reasons why they had chosen to study music at UiTM and their aspirations posterior to the completion of their course at UiTM. Findings indicate that most of the students plan to further their study to improve themselves. Bachelors degrees in Music Education and Music Performance are two most chosen programs for further study. Interestingly, female students choose to further in the Music Education while male students prefer the Music Performance program. Interest in music, wanting to make music as a career, the Bumiputera policy and low fees are some of the main reasons why the students chose to pursue their studies in music at UiTM

Yusop, Abidsa

Universiti Teknologi MARA Institutional Repository

FACULTY OF MUSIC 
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA 
ASPIRATIONS OF STUDENTS IN THE DIPLOMA MUSIC PROGRAM 
EDU 650 
Abidsa Hj Yusop 
2005386880 
Bachelors Degree in Music Education (Hons.) 
MU220 
2009 
ASPIRATIONS OF STUDENTS IN THE DIPLOMA MUSIC PROGRAM 
Abidsa Yusop 
Abstract 
Students aspirations is a term commonly used in education, yet there is little agreement 
of what it means and even less understanding about its motivation. It is a purpose of this 
paper to trace the students' aspirations for their enrolment in the Diploma in Music 
program at UiTM. Sample for this study were 185 diploma students. Questionnaires were 
distributed to students which consisted of questions that sought to investigate the reasons 
why they had chosen to study music at UiTM and their aspirations posterior to the 
completion of their course at UiTM. Findings indicate that most of the students plan to 
further their study to improve themselves. Bachelors degrees in Music Education and 
Music Performance are two most chosen programs for further study. Interestingly, female 
students choose to further in the Music Education while male students prefer the Music 
Performance program. Interest in music, wanting to make music as a career, the 
Bumiputera policy and low fees are some of the main reasons why the students chose to 
pursue their studies in music at UiTM. 
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 
Most parents believed that education is the ticket to good jobs and higher income. We 
know that, each year, secondary school students throughout the country act upon their 
interests and desires to enter colleges and pursue their dreams in different fields and 
choose diploma programmes as the minimum level of tertiary education. According to 
Norziha (2006) a university is an institution of higher learning, where teaching and 
research at the undergraduate and postgraduate level is the core business. 
Each year, there are a growing number of students in higher education institutions. As 
stated by Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (2009), "Institusi Pengajian Tinggi (IPT) 
seluruh negara menawarkan 260,700 tempat untuk tahun 2009 termasuk 83,700 tempat 
di universiti awam yang mencatat peningkatan hampir 18 peratus berbanding 70,941 
ambilan tahun lalu" (Bernama, Sunday, January 18, 2009). In Malaysia solely, there are 
21 universities that are owned by the government and more than 500 private institutions 
which offers an array of courses in various fields. He adds that "ketika ini, terdapat 21 
universiti awam (IPTA), 41 universiti dan kolej universiti swasta (IPTS), 21 politeknik, 37 
kolej komuniti dan 485 kolej swasta di seluruh Negara" (Bernama, Sunday, January 18, 
2009) 
One of the courses that are rarely offered by higher institution is music at the diploma 
level. Universiti Teknologi Mara Malaysia (UiTM) is one of the Higher Institutions that offer 
the music course at the diploma level. It is a three-year (now two and a half years) 
preparatory programme in music where the learning structure of the program provides 
both practical and theoretical components in music. The programme introduces students 
the fundamentals of music theory, aural training, history, vocal or instrumental studies, as 
well as providing students with opportunities to perform in a group setting. Interestingly, 
the program offers Entrepreneurship subject in the course to develop independent and 
creative thinking ability among students. Generally, the standard prerequisite 
requirements to undertake a diploma program in music is a minimum grade 3 of any 
external music examination certificate or an equivalent standard performance. Being an 
institution that caters for the Bumiputera, lenient requirements have been laid out for the 
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program. However, interviews and auditions are made compulsory by the Faculty of 
Music for these students. Therefore, UiTM accepts students who may not have an 
extensive experience, knowledge or background in music. 
PROBLEM STATEMENT 
Music helps us to explore our emotions and imagination as well as encourages creative 
thinking outside of music. It also indirectly develops self confidence by involvement in 
music making activities. The influence of music develops progressively throughout 
childhood and on to adolescence. During adolescence, individuals begin to plan for their 
future career by considering a number of occupational choices. Counselors, parents, and 
educators may assist them to explore the occupational options by providing career 
information, and giving support for their career plans by developing a greater 
understanding of their occupational aspirations. "Early adolescents make early career 
decisions in the form of curriculum choices for high school, and these choices can 
influence future postsecondary education and career paths" (Akos, Lambie, Milsom, & 
Gilbert, 2007, p.58). 
Besides diploma programs, Faculty of Music UiTM also offers 3 degree programs. There 
are the Bachelor of Music Education (Hons.), Bachelor of Composition (Hons.) and 
Bachelor of Performance (Hons.). Rationally, each institution which offers several levels 
of tertiary education hopes that their diploma students will be the feeder for the next level. 
It is the same thing with UiTM where the hope is that the diploma level graduates will be 
the feeder for the degree programs. The intakes of students in the Faculty of Music in 
UiTM fluctuate each year. However, the numbers of students who pursue to the degree 
level in music are not consistent with the number of graduates in the diploma program. 
The table below shows the number of intake for the Diploma in Music at the Faculty of 
Music for the past 4 semesters. 
Table 1: Student intake for the Diploma and the Degree programme for the past 4 
semesters 
intake Student intakes in Diploma Music D i P l o m a ^ y S S S 0 0 " " " 1 1 6 
July08 104 11 
Dec08 52 17 
July09 78 11 
Dec09 57 19 
Concern for the fact that not all diploma graduates continue on to the degree programme 
has led to this study. There is a need to understand students' interest to continue their 
studies. Intentions and aspirations to pursue higher educational qualification among 
music students will include students' academic ability, their aspirations and personal 
goals in the future. 
Therefore this research is to examine the aspirations of students undertaking Diploma in 
Music at UiTM and to uncover and identify the issues why a large number of diploma 
students prefer not to further their studies to the Degree level after graduating from the 
Diploma in Music programme. 
3 
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 
The main objectives of this research are: 
1. To investigate the reasons why students in the Diploma in Music program at UiTM 
chose to pursue the course. 
2. To examine the expectations of diploma students towards their studies in UiTM. 
3. To investigate the aspirations of diploma students upon completion of their course 
at UiTM. 
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 
The main contribution of this research is the understanding of the diploma students' plans 
towards achieving their goals in the field of music. Findings from this study can provide 
information to the faculty regarding what the diploma students intend to do after 
graduating and if they plan to further their studies if they want to continue on to the 
degree. In addition, it can help the faculty to understand which degree courses are 
favored among the diploma students. It can be an important measurement of the demand 
of music courses at the Faculty of Music. 
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 
This study is focused on students in the Diploma in Music program at UiTM Malaysia in 
Shah Alam and does not aim to look at other diploma in music students at other 
institutions of higher learning or colleges. 
RESEARCH QUESTIONS 
This study sought to answer the following research questions: 
1. What are the reasons for choosing to study music at UiTM? 
2. What do diploma students aspire to do upon graduating from this course? 
3. Which degree programs offered by the Faculty of Music would diploma students 
be most interested in? 
LITERATURE REVIEW 
Adolescence is a phase when individuals are more concerned about their future rather 
than any of other developmental phases. According to Erikson, adolescence is the phase 
during which individuals prepare for their adult lives. This is when they start to develop 
their plans for the future. Their aspirations will be occupied with factors that will assist 
them in defining their desired path. Future aspirations are expounded as an expression of 
the desire to achieve and improve. Parents and adults surrounding these adolescents 
have the opportunity to help them to achieve their goals. 
Definition of aspiration 
Aspiration has been defined by Sirin, Diemer, Jackson, Gonsalves, and Howell (2004, p. 
438) as the "educational and vocational ,dreamsm that students have for their future. 
Quaqlia and Cobb (1996), on the other hand explained, "aspirations can be defined as a 
4 
student's ability to identify and set goals for the future, while being inspire in the present 
to work toward these goals". 
Kasser and Ryan (1993, 1996) suggested that there are two types of aspirations namely 
intrinsic aspirations which provide relatively direct satisfaction of basic needs, and 
extrinsic aspirations which are more related to obtaining external signs of worth and are 
less likely to provide direct satisfaction. Both intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations relate 
positively to the achievement of goals. Figure 1 shows the types of aspirations and 
examples: 
Types of aspirations 
Intrinsic aspirations 
affiliation 
personal growth 
community contribution 
physical health 
Extrinsic aspirations 
• wealth 
• fame 
• image 
• popularity 
Figure 1: Types of aspirations and example 
Factors that influence students' aspirations 
Family and Parental Influences 
The relationship between parents and children is a most important relationship. Different 
parenting styles may guide children in different ways through interaction between parents 
and their children. This is an important component that shapes children's view about 
themselves. In a study of educational aspirations in 12 countries, Buchman and Dalton 
(2002) reported on significance of parents in shaping, guiding, and supporting this 
process. According to Laming (2007), anxiety has made families worry about their 
children's future especially regarding their children's qualifications will can help secure 
employment. From research by Abbott-Chapman (2000), 88% of respondents indicated 
that their mother's advice and 76% their father's was important in making them study. 
However, a research by Brooks, Milne, Paterson, Johansson and Hart (1997) revealed 
that family conflicts or breakdown can have an extremely negative effect on young 
people's schooling aspirations. It can often explain why people leave school, and why 
they do not aspire to go on to higher education. Thus, family factors have been identified 
as influences in the aspirations of their children's include the family as a source of 
encouragement and family members as role models. 
Individual Influences 
Studies have been conducted on the factors of personal influence on academic and 
career aspirations. From the findings by Gottfredson (2002), career and academic 
aspirations are clearly influenced by multiple intrapersonal and systemic factors. Other 
studies done by Marjoribanks (2002) and Sirin et al. (2004) found that some individual 
factors related to students' aspirations include their level of interpersonal skills, self-
reliance, self-control, self-concept, and level of maturity and responsibility. 
5 


Aspirations of students in the diploma music program / Abidsa Yusop

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Aspirations of students in the diploma music program / Abidsa Yusop

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