FACTORS AFFECTING TO THE DECISION MAKING OF MATHAYOM 3’s STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION (GENERAL OR VOCATIONAL PROGRAME) : THE CASE OF THE SCHOOL IN SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE 2

Abstract

The objectives of this research is to study the factors that affect the decision making in higher education (general scheme or vocational program) focusing on 22,475 students in Mathayom 3, academic year of 2017, from schools under the Secondary Educational Service Area Office 2. The sample group consisted of 660 students was conducted by the method of the Multi Stage Random Sampling. The questionnaire was the tool of this research and the Logistic Regression Analysis was employed for data analysis.

            The result can be concluded that there are 12 prediction variables that affected the decision making on higher education between general scheme and vocational program at 0.01 level of significance. These prediction variables are academic performance, performance on science subject, performance on mathematics subject, performance on social study subject, performance on physical education subject, performance on foreign language subject, performance on arts subject, parents’ secondary education, ethical skills, innovation and teamwork skills, gender and the influence from their role model, life skills and analytical skills, parents’ level of vocational certificate, parents’ average income between 20,000 – 30,000 Baht and between 40,001 – 50,000 Baht. All of these variables have an impact on the selection of general scheme or vocational program at 0.10 level of significance. Other variables that are not listed displayed no level of statistic significance. It is found that this model predicted students who decided to pursue general scheme for higher education at 92.40 accuracy rate, and students who selected vocational program at 88.60 accuracy rate from 660 students.