Research Report

“Motivating and demotivating factors of private university students to join in

the government service”

Course Title: PAD 201 (Introduction to Public Administration)

Section: 06

Submitted to:
Dr. Syeda Lasna Kabir
Professor

North South University

Submitted by:
Name: A B M Sheril Sarwar

NSU ID: 1812762630

Date of Submission: 1st of September, 2020

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I thank the Almighty for His graceful sight upon us.

Utmost thanks and regard also go out to our esteemed faculty, Dr. Syeda Lasna Kabir, for
guiding us regarding this research report. I would also like to acknowledge all the student
participants in the conducted interviews, which helped me fruitfully conduct my Primary
Research.

ABSTRACT

There has always been a notion that private university students don’t want to join the
government service sector as much as the public university students. The purpose of this research
project was to find out the motivating and demotivating factors of private university students
regarding joining government services. The research has also brought out crucial reasons why
most private university students have a pessimistic attitude towards government jobs and
services. Their reasons have helped me understand where the underlying problem is.

In order to find out information as authentically as possible, I have conducted telephonic

interviews with 19 undergraduate students from 3 different private universities of Bangladesh.
The private university students were from North South University (Dhaka city), East West
University (Dhaka City) and Premier University (Chattogram City). Due to the ongoing Covid-
19 pandemic situation, telephonic interviews were the most efficient way of collecting data and
insights.

My primary research have led me to find out critical information regarding why most private
university students don’t want to opt for government service roles. Although students know of
the motivating aspects of being a government service holder, they prefer to stay away from it due
to reasons such as corruption, unethical political pressure, low salary and low accustomedness.
However, the interviewees have also poured in a few important suggestions which would help
bring more private university students in the government service platform. Suggestions include
points such as improving the working environment of government workplaces, updating the
assessment criteria while recruiting and offering more transparent monetary benefits.
 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1
RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................... 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 3
RESEARCH FINDINGS ....................................................................................... 4
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................13
CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................13
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………....14
APPENDIX ……..........…………………………………………………………..15
Bibliography .........................................................................................................16
 INTRODUCTION

There are a total of 106 private universities in Bangladesh today, from which numerous students
graduate every year and move on to jobs and formal workplaces (List of private universities, 2020).
There has always been a debate regarding the question that why private university students don’t
be as interested towards government job services as public university students. Well it is said that
there are various important factors which drive most private university students towards the private
sector jobs. It has been statistically proven and has been ensured by the Government of the People’s
Republic of Bangladesh that the country is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But
we need to keep in mind the unemployment rate of Bangladesh, which is about 4.19% as of 2019
(H. Pletcher, 2020).

Therefore, it is an increasing concern why many private university students have negative notions
regarding government jobs and choose to avoid them. This research project will help in
understanding the perspectives of a diverse group of private university students. Various students
have participated in interviews conducted for the solidification of this research project. Their
views, concerns and answers have helped me to construct in-depth analysis before coming to a
conclusion.

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 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

It was my purpose to get understand the perspective of private university students regarding
Government jobs or services. I also wanted to understand the motivating and demotivating
factors of private university students regarding joining the government service. As such, I will
give an idea and factual relativeness about the following questions in my research report:

1. What is your gender?

2. What is your age?
3. What is your Educational qualification?
4. State the monthly Income of your family.
5. Occupation of Parents? (Both father and mother)
6. What do you think are the advantages of joining in the government services?
7. What do you think are the disadvantages of joining in the government services?
8. Are you interested to join in the government services?
9. If yes or maybe, identify the most important reason (tick only one answer)
a. job security
b. long term benefit
c. social status and prestige
d. exercise of power
e. influence of parents
f. others: _________________
10. If no, identify the most important reason (tick only one answer)
a. corruption
b. low salary
c. political interference
d. family commitment
e. lack of supportive environment
f. others: _________________
11. Identify two main reasons why private university students have negative notions to join
in the government services?

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 12. Give at least two suggestions to the government for attracting the private university
students towards government jobs.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

I have conducted interviews on a group of 19 private university undergraduate students of

Bangladesh. The students were from the private universities: North South University (Dhaka
city), East West University (Dhaka city) and Premier University (Chattogram city). The students
were interviewed in friendly manner regarding their thoughts and views about getting involved
in Government jobs and services in Bangladesh. The interviews consisted of 12 vital and
effectual questions. Due to the ongoing corona virus pandemic situation, most of the interviews
were telephonic interviews. It involved me to write down my answers as thoroughly as possible
during the interviews.

The reason I’ve taken interviews of students from 3 different universities and two different cities
is because I wanted to make sure that my research is more concrete. I wanted to make sure I take
information from different private university students so that there is not issue of biasness in my
research work. I also made sure that the students are from different cultures and backgrounds.
Thus, in a way I was receiving a diverse range of responses from these individuals. Their
information has definitely helped me to strengthen my primary research.

For my definitive secondary research, I mostly relied on trustworthy online newspaper portals,
articles from informative online magazines and various newspaper and journal reports.
Optimization of search engines such as Google/Google Scholar have solidified my research base
regarding the motivating and demotivating factors of private university students to join in the
government service.

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 RESEARCH FINDINGS

I have conducted effective interviews in order to find out regarding motivating and demotivating
factors of private university students to join in the government service. There were 11 female
interviewees and 8 male interviewees. The age groups of the interviewees varied from 19 years
to 24 years old. As stated before, it must be noted that all the interviewees were private
university undergraduate students. The average monthly income of their families varied
from 50,000+ BDT to 1.5+ lakhs BDT to 5 lakhs BDT being the maximum. Below stated are the
responses to the other detailed interview questions. Analyzed information and graphical
representation of data are given below as well.

1. What is the occupation of your father and mother?

Father's Occupation

Business Man Private Sector Employee Government Employee Others

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 Mother's Occupation

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House Wife Private Sector Employee Government Employee

The above pie-charts show the occupation of the parents of my interviewees. The fathers have a
mixed range of occupation between business, government sector jobs and private sector jobs.
Whereas the occupation of mothers are primarily housewives and a minority of them represent
the private sector employees.

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 2. What do you think are the advantages of joining in the government services?

Advantages

4
8

Job Security and Stability Social Status, Recognition and Honor

Enjoying Government Benefits Comfortable and Flexible Timings

This question helped me understand the positive perspective of private university students
towards government jobs. Most of them think that job security/stability and the social status
factor are the most important advantages of being a Government Employee, as it can be seen in
the graph that 14 students feel like that. I’ve recorded other answers such as enjoying
government benefits and rewards, and also the fact that being a government employee means that
you can do your job in a very comfortable and flexible manner.

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 3. What do you think are the disadvantages of joining in the government services?

Disadvantages

1
2
6
1

Low/Fixed amount of Salary

Corruption and Unethical Political Pressures
Regional Transfers
High Competition in the field
Other reasons like Bureocracy and Old Fashioned System

This question helped me understand the negative perspective of private university students
towards government jobs. Many students feel like that corruption and unethical political
pressures is the most important reason to stay from Government jobs. Furthermore, the fact that
Government jobs provide a low amount of income is also a striking factor. Many interviewees
mentioned that unless there other unethical means of receiving money (for e.g. Bribes, Black
Money etc), one cannot be financially affluent in the Government Sector. Students also
mentioned that a lot of people apply for these government jobs and there is high competition. If
one doesn’t have sufficient networks in the Government body, it is quite difficult to get jobs in
government services.

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 4. Are you interested to join in the government services?

Interested to Join In The Government Service?

Yes No Maybe

When I asked the students regarding their viewpoint towards joining Government Services,
almost everyone did not want to join the Government Services or is in a dilemma regarding
joining. As it can be observed from the graph above, 9 students said No straight away when they
were asked if they want to join the Government. Also, another 9 students mentioned that they are
confused regarding the cumulative benefits of joining a government service. Also they have
some negative perceptions towards the job as well. As such their answer was a “Maybe”. Last
but not the least, only one person was confident that he wants to join government services. This
question helped me understand that there are very few private university students who are
adamant about joining a government sector job.

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 5. If yes or maybe, identify the most important reason (tick only one answer)

If yes or maybe, identify the most important reason

2
3

Job Security Long Term Benefits Social Status and Prestige Influence of Parents

Since there were 10 students who said that they may join the government service or they are sure
that they want to join, I asked them what the most important reason was for which they might
join the government service. I gave the privilege to choose from the following options below:

Job Security, Long Term Benefit, Social Status And Prestige, Exercise Of Power, Influence Of
Parents Or Others.

Thus, 6 students stated that they might join due to enjoying long term government benefits and
the factor of job security. This shows that people who are in a dilemma regarding joining or want
to join know of the pros of joining a government service.

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 6. If no, identify the most important reason (tick only one answer)

If no, identify the most important reason

3 5

Corruption Political Interference Low Salary

There were 9 students who did not want to join the government service at all. I asked them what
were the reasons for not wanting to join the government service. I gave them the privilege to
select from the options below:

Corruption, Low Salary, Political Interference, Family Commitment, Lack of Supportive

Environment or Others.

Corruption and Politcal Interference was identified as the main reason why students think of not
wanting to join the government service.

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 7. Identify two main reasons why private university students have negative notions to
join in the government services.

Two main reasons for negative notions

5 4

3
6
1

Not comfortable with the environment of Government Jobs/Services

Looking for high salary private sector/commercial jobs
Don't want to shift to other regions of the country
Difference of Family Background
Wants to avoid corruption and political pressures

The answers I received for this question aligns perfectly with the responses I had been receiving
so far on the previous questions. Most private university students want to join the corporate
sector or private sector, where there are opportunities of earning high amount of salaries. This
drives them away from government related services or jobs. Also, the families of many private
university students are not from government backgrounds. As such they are particularly not
interested and are uncomfortable in adapting to the culture of government services. Last but not
the least, another important reason for the negative notion towards government services is that
there might be corruption and unethical political pressures involved. Therefore, these are the
primary reasons why private university students don’t want to join the government jobs/services.

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 8. Give at least two suggestions to the government for attracting the private university
students towards government jobs.

I received numerous suggestions from the students regarding this question. The answers actually
proved that everyone took the interview very seriously and wanted some changes. They were
also very vocal regarding suggesting some improvements to the government, which would drive
more private university students towards the government service sector.

Below stated are most of the suggestions voiced out by the private university interviewees:

1. Decrease corruption and stop political pressure in the working place. It will increase the
reputation of government services among students.
2. Improve the working environment, introduce HR or people management systems in the
government job sectors.
3. Give sufficient training to the incompetent employees who are working in government
offices. Only then will the skilled youth be more comfortable to work there.
4. Hire more eligible candidates from government job sectors. Another aspect would be to
change/improve their assessment criteria, government offices should start looking for
analytical ability, interpersonal skills etc in their candidates.
5. Offer more transparent benefits to government service employees, including raises in
monetary benefits.
6. More driven and engaging campaigns by the Government to capture the interest of skilled
Bangladeshi graduates.

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 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

I have mentioned that my primary research was based on the interview answers of 19
undergraduate students from 3 different private universities, and they comprised of different
cultures and backgrounds. However, I could’ve constructed a more detailed research if I
interviewed more number of private university students, from all over Bangladesh. Getting
adequate insights and perspectives from an older audience would have further structured my
research paper as well.

This research project definitely shows critical information regarding why most private university
students don’t want to opt for government service roles. Although students know of the few
benefits of being a government service holder, they prefer to stay away from it due to reasons
such as corruption, unethical political pressure, low salary and low accustomedness. It would be
the recommendation of me and many other private university students that the government bring
in a few necessary changes. A few suggestions like improving the working environment of
government workplaces, updating the assessment criteria while recruiting and offering more
transparent monetary benefits – all these would drive more private university students towards
Government jobs and services.

CONCLUSION

Through my overall research and analysis, it can be clearly interpreted that private university
students generally have a negative perception towards Government jobs and services. However,
as more and more students are getting enrolled in private universities, the Government of
Bangladesh must think of ways to attract the skillful youth. Of course the public university
students are very talented and dexterous, but the private university student community would feel
more encouraged if the Government appeals to them as well. Once the challenges and drawbacks
of the government job sector starts to decrease, more and more private university students will be
interested in developing careers there as well. In the long run, this will not only help the private

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university student community, but also help the Bangladesh youth and economy flourish further.
Hopefully, the developing nation of Bangladesh will emerge as a strong and independent
Developed Country in the future, courtesy of a flourishing employed youth body.

REFERENCES

These are the names and information of the undergraduate private university students who have
participated in telephonic interviews with me. Their insights helped me to solidify the basis of
my primary research.

1. Shihab Ahmed – North South University – 3rd year

2. Farzana Majid – North South University – 3rd year
3. Samiha Zohora – North South University – 3rd year
4. Najmus Sakeeb – North South University – final year
5. Samin Monzur – North South University – 2nd year
6. Shanjida Shanju – North South University – 2nd year
7. Muntaha Ferdousi – North South University – 2nd year
8. Auntorip Karim – North South University – 2nd year
9. Seemran Rashid – North South University – 3rd year
10. Mowree Mubtasim – North South University – 3rd year
11. Kazi Sumaiya – North South University – 3rd year
12. Asif Iqbal Niloy – North South University – final year
13. Sadia Nazneen Nisha – North South University – 3rd year
14. Tasfia Mehnaz – Premier University – Chattogram – 2nd year
15. Enamul Haque Uzaifa – East West University – 3rd year
16. Khadija Tabassum Iftia – North South University – 3rd year
17. Moinul Hasan Rony – East West University – 2nd year
18. Mohammad Sami – East West University – 3rd year
19. Sumaya Ahmed – North South University – 3rd year

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 APPENDIX

Figure- A few sample pictures of my notes, when I was collecting insights and
information from the students via telephonic interviews.

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 Bibliography

H. Pletcher. (2020). Bangladesh: Unemployment rate from 1999 to 2019. Retrieved from
https://www.statista.com/statistics/808225/unemployment-rate-in-
bangladesh/#:~:text=Unemployment%20rate%20in%20Bangladesh%202019&text=In%202019%
2C%20the%20unemployment%20rate,steady%20at%20around%204.3%20percent.

List of private universities. (2020). Retrieved from University Grants Commission of Bangladesh:
http://www.ugc-universities.gov.bd/private-universities

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