Values in transition from apprenticeship to occupational work 1This article is based on the research project “Socialization of Values in Early Adulthood - A 10 Years Comparison of Career Patterns and Quality of Life” which was a subproject of the network “Work Experience and Quality of Life in Switzerland: Work, Stress and Personality Development” funded by the Swiss National Science

Abstract

The early years after finishing an apprenticeship and entering the labor market constitute a very important phase in the life of a young person. Individual values learned and developed during the earlier life course seem to influence the decisions for choosing a specific occupational training as well as the plans and behavioral patterns during the transition. In this study the values of about 500 young people from five occupations (electronics, banking, nursing, sales, and cooking; see Kälin et al. in this issue.) were studied and analyzed at the end of the apprenticeship and again one and two years later (1997, 1998, 1999). Factor and cluster analyses revealed five value types - based on the fundamental value orientations Integration, Individuation and Social Relationships - which are specific for several sociodemographic and biographical characteristics. The value types were named as follows: The Conventionalists, the Realists, the Idealists, the Resignatives and the Social Oriented. The transition from apprenticeship to occupational work one and two years later is different according to the value types. Conventionalists and the Social Oriented show a more stable occupational career than the other types (e.g. staying in the same company and having more continued education). The Resignatives have a less concrete occupational perspective and show some ambivalence concerning plans and decisions. They seem to be in a search and orientation phase. The Realists are willing to arrange their careers with their family plans and they remain more often in the same occupation (but not necessarily in the same company). The Idealists plan more often to travel abroad to widen their occupational and personal horizons and they have more often begun to start a new training.