The effect of age and gender on motivation to work: A case study of Duhok Polytechnic University

Motivation to work remains one of the topics addressed in scientific works because all the actions and behaviors of human resources depend on motivation. That is why; my research as master thesis deals with this theme in one of Iraqi academic institution, this country is lacking with these institutions the basics of motivation to work and reflects negative consequences on performance. The general aim of this research is to establish the effect of age and gender on motivation level of the employees at Duhok polytechnic university, The research paper begins by discussing previous works about motivation especially theories about motivation. For this purpose, data were collected from 142 people from the initial 150 that had been requested to participate in the study. A questionnaire was designed which was used to collect the data from the participants of the study. A focus group was also developed to extract data that was necessary for the study. The data collected was extrapolated in a table where it was easier to extract during its analysis, and was analyzed using SPSS. Some of the results were further drawn into graphs, tables and charts, and the results showed that both age and gender have an effect on motivation of an employee at work, and showed that the men were more motivated at work. It also showed that the younger employees were more motivated than their older counterparts at their working stations.