ROLE OF STUDENT'S PERCEPTIONS IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS OF SELECTING A PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A STUDY IN PERSPECTIVE OF WEST BENGAL

In this paper a study on the role of student’s perception was carried out to understand how it effect their course selection in private higher education institution. The perceptions of a student depend on various factors that may be students' present condition and their socio-economic background. Primary data was collected from 518 students perusing course in Engineering, MBA, Hotel Management and Allied Health Sciences in various private institutions in West Bengal. Print media advertisement were collected from various private professional Institutes offering multiple courses. Content analysis of advertisements were done to evolve attributes. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS), a unique data analysis techniques adopted here to examine and develop a 2-dimensional matrix to set out (dis)similarity variable. MDS will create a perceptual map (multidimensional space) of students opting various professional course.