A grounded theory study on the admission and major selection process of non-major students

Objectives In this study, in a situation where the non-major admission system is expanding, a grounded theory study was conducted on the non-major admission and major selection process of non-major students. Methods To this end, the study was conducted by applying grounded theory research methods appropriate for identifying structural phenomena in understudied social phenomena. 19 non-major students from K University in J region were selected as research participants, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were collected by adding observation data. The collected data went through the process of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding according to the grounded theory research method to derive categories according to the evidence. Results Through this, 102 concepts, 1 central phenomenon, 15 categories, and 37 subcategories were discovered. Causal conditions, contextual conditions, central phenomena, mediating conditions, action and interaction strategies, and result paradigms were presented in a table, and the research results were structured to present a paradigm model. In addition, a process analysis model and a situational model for the admission and major selection process of non-major students were presented. Conclusions This study is significant in that it is the first study attempted using grounded theory research methods to in-depth understand the major selection process of non-major students, and the meaning and suggestions of the study are described.