A Comparative Study Of Work Values Between China’s Post-85s And Their Parents

Over the past three decades, China has undergone unprecedented changes inevery aspect of society. As Schell and Shambaugh (1999) put it,"No nation in modernhistory has undergone as total a transformation as has China during the last quarter ofthe century"(p.126). Indeed, we can experience changes first-hand: from lifestyle toway of thinking. People’s work value is no exception.Work values have long attracted many scholars’ and experts’ attention. For onething, a person’s work value can well reflect his or her interests and personality andthus can direct him or her to find a suitable job. For another, the study of work valuesmight shed light on issues related to the job-hunting market and human resourcedepartments.Chinese young people born between1985and1989, who were once labeled as"being selfish, irresponsible and nonchalant," are now in their early twenties. Within afew years, this post-85generation will become the main force for China’sdevelopment. As a result, their work values are of vital importance to our futureprogress and thus deserve academic study.This thesis compares work values between Chinese "Post-85s" and their parents.It studies the context and changes of these youth’s orientations toward work. Amid theunpredictable global economic environment, the surging property price, the increasingliving costs in metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, how do theseyoung Chinese define their own "ideal job", and what does a "good job" look like intheir parents’ eyes? Does the phenomenon that an increasing number of collegestudents participating in the national civil-servant exam reveal some factors thatinfluence the work values endorsement of present Chinese post-85s and their parentsalike? Are there any other factors that explain generational variance?Based on a combinational questionnaire of an American psychologist JohnHolland’s VPI (Vocational Preference Inventory) and a self-made questionnaire onwork values by two Chinese scholars Jin Shenghua&Li Xue, the author did quantitative research on390questionnaires and adopted T-test and variance analysison the collected data. Given some demographic factors, the author had one separatequestionnaire for both generations, and the34items included in the twoquestionnaires were identical, only some demographic information differed slightly.The results showed that both generations chose civil servant or teacher to be theirmost ideal jobs; civil servant, teacher and university teacher ranked the top three onthe list of the most ideal jobs for China’ post-85s. The most salient differencesbetween the two generations were found in the following six dimensions concerningwork values: family maintenance, status pursuit, society development, relaxation andstability, interest and personality, welfare and benefits. Those similarities anddifferences on work values reflected the cultural diversity between China’s post-85sand their parents.