Courses and careers: measuring how students’ personalvalues matter

Abstract

Purpose – Students’ values influence their choice of academic degrees that direct future careers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate measuring personal values by testing the relevance of the original nine personal values in the List of Values (LOV) scale in the situation-specific context of higher education in relation to student's educational choices in pursuing particular career pathways. Design/methodology/approach – The study involved two stages of iterative analysis of data from undergraduate students (N=304) at an Australian university for the purpose of constructing a personal values importance scale (PVIS). The paper assesses construct dimensionality, and convergent and discriminate validities of PVIS. Findings – Results suggest a two-factor PVIS scale of internal and external values is a valid and reliable psychometric diagnostic tool leading to better understanding of choice behaviour in an educational context. Business students reported both internal and external values as important; however, science, engineering and technology, and design and social context students perceived internally oriented values more aligned to their programme choice. Practical implications – This research provides new insights into measuring the values influencing the programme choices with a career focus towards particular fields. It allows educational institutions to make more informed decisions for attracting and retaining those students most suited to the educational and career paths they choose. Marketing and educational implications are discussed. Originality/value – This research offers a psychometrically rigorous measurement instrument valid in an education context.