non-traditional tertiary students, internal locus of control, external locus of control, education-oriented profession

Locus of control, as a psychological characteristic, influences the experience and behaviour of individuals in all life situations, including the moment when an adult enters university and becomes a non-traditional student. Research on the locus of control of students at a faculty preparing experts for educational professions (teachers of all levels, social and special pedagogues, and andragogues) was initiated due to the increasing failure rate of non-traditional students within university efforts to achieve quality in all teaching activities and the need to verify the assumption that most applicants with an internal locus of control (ILC) choose an educational profession requiring management of other people’s learning. The Zemanová Dolejš Locus of Control Scale revealed a dominant ILC or external (ELC) localisation of the locus of control in all 411 tertiary students, 152 of whom were non-traditional students. Considering their distribution into ILC and ELC, statistically significant relationships were identified in locus of control according to the form of study. For non-traditional students, no statistically significant relationships were found for age or type or years of study for either ILC or ELC.