Job values, gender and profession: a comparative study of the transition from school to work

Abstract

Professional practice is important in the lives of many people and it is often assumed that professionals are motivated with a desire to serve the public interest. However, studies have increasingly addressed the professional dilemma of combining demands for efficiency with the obligation to help others. This study examines what professionals want from work as well as any changes in their job values during the transition from school to work. Based on data obtained from a Norwegian study, the results do not support the assumption that professionals find it difficult to serve the public interests. However, job values, like job security and high income, seem to become more important as the professionals move from school to work. In addition, the change in emphasis on part‐time work when caring for small children is different for men and women with the same education and occupational prestige.

Keywords:

• Job values
• Job rewards
• Gender
• Profession
• Transition from school to work

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Arne Mastekaasa for comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article. I also wish to thank Dag Dæhlen and the journal’s referees for useful comments.

Notes

1. It can be argued that the groups in this study are not professions. However, the concept of profession differs in the literature. While lawyers, priests and doctors have been considered the ‘origin of the professions’ and connected to the transition between traditional and modern societies, teachers and social workers, for instance, have been regarded as ‘semi‐professions’ (Etzioni, 1969), linked to changes in society in the post‐war period. However, the distinction between profession and semi‐profession has been accused of being condescending, and even though the concept of profession still differs between countries and fields of study, a wider definition seems to have become more common. In this study, professions and professionals refer to all the groups/employees included.

2. Own analyses based on information from the professionals (StudData).

3. It could be the case that the decrease in the emphasis on part‐time work is due to the method in this study. Students who are most keen to work part‐time may have a higher drop‐out rate (from the profession and/or working life) and consequently may not be included in the analyses after three years (Wave 2). However, comparing the part‐time emphases among students who participated only in Wave 1 with the students who have answered the questionnaire in both waves shows no significantly differences.

4. Note that Table 3 controls for Wave 1 values and consequently the results show changes in men’s and women’s job values rather than ‘absolute’ differences between men and women. However, differences in job values between men and women, both as students and as workers, are examined. The results from these analyses show that women compared to men (controlling for profession, children and rewards in the Wave 2 analyses) put more emphasis on helping others, useful to society, contact to others and part‐time work. For the remaining job values, the gender differences are small and not statistically significant.