Successful cross-faculty collaboration: Study on the motivation of rehabilitation education students published in Frontiers in Education

Based on the RIASEC theory (hexagon approach according to Holland) of professional interests, this study examines different interest profiles of students of rehabilitation education in Germany. It is based on data from 140 students from Bachelor's and Master's degree programs at four German universities. A cluster analysis is used to identify three different interest groups: the "reserved interest group", the "creative-inspired group" and the "pragmatic-analytical group". The results show that (1) students of rehabilitation education have particularly high social and artistic interests, (2) the identified interest profiles differ significantly in terms of their motivational orientation and (3) the Big Five personality traits of openness, agreeableness and neuroticism in particular are related to membership of the interest groups. The study thus provides new insights into the prerequisites for academic success in rehabilitation education and offers starting points for student counseling and the design of motivationally conducive learning environments.

Möhring, M., & Wild, S. (2026). Vocational Interests among Rehabilitation Education Students in Germany: A Typological Approach. Frontiers in Education, 11, 1782121. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2026.1782121