Seven Motivations of Students Selecting Department of Islamic Teaching Education in Public University

Choosing a career as an Islamic teacher has many challenges as well as fun, not everyone is interested in this profession except those who have strong motivation. This study aims to find out the real motivation of students to select department of Islamic teaching education in public university, even though this department is widely offered by state and private Islamic universities. This study uses qualitative methods with a case study approach (case study design). Sources of data were taken from thirty informants through in-depth interviews selected using a purposive sampling technique, all informants were active students who chose the department of Islamic teaching education at Padang State University in 2017, 2018 and 2019. All interviews were analyzed thematically using the NVivo 10 qualitative analysis software. The results of the analysis showed that there were seven motivations of students to select department of Islamic teaching education. Those seven motivations are: i) self-will, ii) parents' encouragement, iii) choice to become a religious teacher, iv) job opportunities after graduation, v) desire to study at public universities vi) opportunity to spread dakwah, vii) to deepen Islamic knowledge. The results of this study can be used as preliminary data for subsequent researchers to examine this problem in different contexts and issues.