Resumo:
Propsito do Trabalho:
This study aims to investigate secondary students’ career choices from the perspective of the Theory of Values proposed by Schwartz (1992). Values come from culture, society and its institutions and personality, manifesting themselves in virtually all human actions. Thus, as Schiefer (2013) points out, cultural values can manifest themselves in diverse forms such as poetry, art, education and social practices. So career choice can be considered one of them.
This study will use a qualitative approach to address this issue. Many studies regarding the decision to choose a career in accounting analyze it using quantitative approach with few exploring it qualitatively. We will discuss this issue using the focus group method. It is a technique that allows us to understand and identify psychological and behavioural aspects. There is a wide range of study areas that have been using this method for qualitative data collection, such as communication, education, political science, public health, marketing and the social sciences.
To achieve our objectives three focus group were conducted, one with senior high school students, one with undergraduates from diverse courses at University of São Paulo and one with freshman Business students also from University of São Paulo. It is our intention to hear Brazilian students themselves in order to better understand their points of view, expectations, concerns and strengths. This will be performed in the light of the Theory of Values proposed by Schwartz (1992).
Base da plataforma terica:
The first important name in values theory is Rokeach (1973), known for providing an impetus in values research, bringing an specific concept of values distinguishing from related concepts and developing a values survey (Rohan, 2000). Before conceptualizing values, Rokeach (1973) affirms that values concept may contend 5 hypothesis: (1) the total number of values of each person is relatively small; (2) every man everywhere have the same set of values, but in different range; (3) values are arranged in a system; (4) values’ background comes from culture, society and it’s institutions, and personality; (5) values manifests virtually in all human actions.
Rokeach’s theory has a limitation, it’s doesn’t describe or explain the content and the structure of human values. In manner to solve this problem, Schwartz & Bilsky (1987) developed a universal theory that treat about the structure and content of human values. Also, the authors points out that values serve as standards or criteria to evaluate or to select behaviour, people and events, therefore constructing reality.
Rokeach (1973) states that everyone everywhere has the same set of values, but what does differ from person to person is the importance given to each value. Values are a way of communicating these basic needs, allowing individual and group needs to develop cognitively, to express themselves and live in community, according to Schwartz (1992).
Basically, the structure of values are formed by four big motivational groups: Openness to Change, which is composed of values that express a preference for creativity, exploration, challenges, innovation, novelty and self-reliance; Self-Transcendence, which express concerns of social welfare, enhancement of others, transcendence of selfish interests; Conservation, expressing conformity, great respect for social norms, security, harmony and stability of society, respect for customs and ideals of culture and religion; and finally, Self-Enhancement, relating to goals like sense of pleasure or gratification of self, social status over people and resources, need for recognition by demonstration of competence. These motivational types are organized into a circular structure with individual values expressing a continuum of related motivations. For example, some motivational types are the opposite of others such as collective values and individual values (Self-Enhancement x Self-Transcendence).
Mtodo de investigao:
The intended sample for this study comprises of senior secondary students. Due to some difficulty in constituting the three focus groups that we initially proposed with secondary students, we resorted to another strategy. Two other groups were formed for our research, one of them composed of freshman undergraduate students taking a degree in Nursing, Statistics, Engineering, Dentistry and Economics and another one including only business students. All from the University of São Paulo. So our final sample consisted of five secondary students which we called G1 (one female and four males), seven undergraduate Nursing, Statistics, Economics, Engineering and Dentistry students, all also from the University of São Paulo (two females and five males, G2) and, finally, the business students’ group with five undergraduates in Economics, Accounting and Actuarial Science students (two females and three males, G3).
It was opted not to use a rigid set of questions that should be asked in a predetermined order. We asked the initial question and the following questions were asked according to the ideas brought up by the students. First, we asked them to briefly and freely describe themselves. We chose to analyze the three focus group interviews as a whole and not question by question, because, as it was said, it was semi-structured.
Analyses were made grouping them according to major areas – Business, Health Sciences and Exact Sciences. In Business we included Economics, Accounting, Actuarial Sciences and Management; in Health Sciences we included Nursing and Dentistry and in Exact Sciences Engineering, Statistics and Physics. Through their speech we apprehended their value goals, and then we categorized them according to the motivational types of Schwartz’s (1992) Theory.
Resultados, concluses e suas implicaes:
Data analysis shows that all five students responded in the same way: “I like to do…” or “I am shy”, things that they usually DO. It’s really interesting, because Rokeach (1973) says that values are used as standards to introduce oneself. Schwartz & Bilsky (1987) points out that values serve as standards or criteria to evaluate or to select behaviour, people and events. And that's what we identify in their speech; they define and present themselves through their behaviours, their actions and what they like.
The first group, Health Sciences, we identified the motivational types SelfTranscendence from the Nursing undergraduates, as in their speech were able to see their will to help people and take care of people; and Conservation from the Dentistry undergraduate student as he spoke about the importance of his parents, who are themselves dentists, in his career choice. As he chose to do the same he clearly identifies with a Conservation goal because of the importance he attaches to tradition. and Self-Transcendence are two congruent motivational values.
The next group, Business group, we identified the motivational types SelfEnhancement, as can be identified by them envisioning a prestigious career one in Openness to Change, that can be apprehended by individual G2P7 demonstrating he is open to new experiences, personal pleasure; and one in Conservation, that appears in G3P3, looking for stability when he thinks of his father's work, where his hours are flexible, but he works too. Interesting here is that Openness to change and Conservation are opposites; indeed both are congruent to Self- enhancement. There are two opposite motivational types in the same career choice. As Moreno Marimón and Sastre (2010) explain reality is what human mind’s can create as result of cognitive process. So what may represent Conservation for one could represent Openness to Change to another person due to the different socialization process that each individual experiences, following Dubar (2005). The case of secondary students we identified the motivational types Self-Enhancement, from those who chose Economics as one of the options; Conservation from a student who sees Economic as a way to have stability in his life; and the last one that chose Economics was found to have Openness to Change because he wants to try something new.
In the Exact Science group we identified the motivational types Self-Enhancement from the Engineering and the Statistics students because they justify their choice of career in terms of the high level of incomes these career may provide; and Self-Enhancement from the secondary student because he is looking for self pleasure as a Physicist.
An early study by Schwartz (n.d.) confirms our findings. In his research he found that Business students (Economics Accounting, Business, Administration) identified themselves as predominantly Self-Enhancement motivational types. Schwartz also found gender differences. According to his study males are expected to have Self-Enhancement types and females Self-Transcendence type and in our study we confirm this situation in the Nursing students.
In this study, we envisioned a role for accounting education as providing a basis for value creation and discussion. One of the most important questions accounting education is facing is what is its role in the value formation of accounting students and future professionals. From the accounting scandals we saw back at the beginning of 2000 passing through the Enron case and Sarbannes-Oxley Act in 2002, all the way up to the financial crisis starting in 2008, all business schools have had to provide answers to questions regarding what was wrong. We are not sure they have provided convincing answers to that question.
Referncias bibliogrficas:
Dubar, C. (2005). A socialização - construção das identidades sociais e profissionais. [The socialization - construction of social and professional identities]. (Andréa Stahel M. da Silva Trans.). (1a ed.). São Paulo, Brasil: Martins Fontes.
Moreno Marimón, M., Sastre, G. (2010). Cómo construimos universos. [How we consctruct universes]. (1 ed.). Barcelona, España: Gedisa S.A.
Rohan, M. J. (2000). A rose by any name? The values construct. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4 (3), 255-277.
Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values (p. 438). New York: The Free Press.
Schiefer, D. (2013). Cultural values and group-related attitudes: a comparison of individuals with and without migration background across 24 countries. Journal of CrossCultural Psychology, 44 (2), 245262.
Schwartz, S. H. (n.d.). A Proposal for Measuring Value Orientations across Nations. European Social Survey. Retrieved January 03, 2014, from http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/docs/methodology/core_ess_questionnaire/ESS_core_questionnaire_human_values.pdf
Schwartz, S., & Bilsky, W. (1987). Toward a universal psychological structure of human values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53 (3), 550-562.
Schwartz, S. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in experimental social psychology, 25.
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