ERIC Number: EJ1273513
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0273-4753
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Sales Education for Engineering Students: What Drives Interest and Choice?
Scott, Joseph I.; Beuk, Frederik
Journal of Marketing Education, v42 n3 p324-338 Dec 2020
Universities increasingly make their sales curriculum available for groups other than dedicated sales students. This study investigates engineering students' drivers that predict interest in sales certification, as well as drivers that predict actual choice for a sales curriculum. We focus on engineering students (n = 204) and contrast our findings with business students (n = 179). Based on social cognitive theory, we investigate how personality (Big Five personality factors and Trait Competitiveness), ability (ACT, GPA, and Academic Self-Efficacy), and social factors (role models, and perception of salespersons) affect interest and choice. Our results indicate that although the regression models explain a reasonable amount of variance, models that work for business students do not work equally well for engineering students. Also, our analysis reveals that factors that explain interest do not explain actual choice, and vice versa. In addition, we uncover subtle gender difference when it comes to actual choice for a sales curriculum. Finally, the benefits that engineering students perceive of sales certification differ primarily based on whether students are taking sales classes, and not on degree sought.
Descriptors: Student Interests, Engineering Education, Salesmanship, Teaching Methods, Student Attitudes, Self Efficacy, Decision Making, Prediction, Certification, Business Administration Education, Comparative Analysis, Social Cognition, Personality Traits, Gender Differences, Academic Ability, Grade Point Average, Social Influences, College Students, Personality Measures
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Big Five Inventory
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A