For the love of learning science: Connecting learning orientation and career productivity in physics and chemistry

An individual's motivational orientation serves as a drive to action and can influence their career success. this study examines how goal orientation toward the pursuit of a graduate degree in physics and chemistry influences later success outcomes of practicing physicists and chemists. two main categories of goal orientation are examined in this paper: performance orientation or motivation to demonstrate one's ability or performance to others,and learning orientation or motivation through the desire to learn about a topic. the data were obtained as part of project crossover,a mixed-methods study which focused on studying the transition from graduate student to scientist in the physical sciences and included a survey of members of two national professional physical science organizations. using regression analysis on data from 2353 physicists and chemists,results indicate that physicists and chemists who reported a learning orientation as their motivation for going to graduate school were more productive,in terms of total career primary and/or first-author publications and grant funding,than those reporting a performance orientation. furthermore,given equal salary,learning-oriented individuals produced more primary and/or first-author publications than their nonlearning oriented counterparts. © 2010 the american physical society.