Constructions of Work Among Adolescents in Transition

To analyze the conception of work and its relationship with the various indices of progress in career development, we administered a structured, open-ended questionnaire that explored beliefs about working among a sample of Italian high school students considering university options. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, we found that the majority of students considered work as a means to an end; a smaller proportion of students viewed work as a source of psychological satisfaction. The quantitative analyses revealed that students who considered more than one dimension of work in their internal constructions tended to rely on more adaptive means of career decision making. The results are discussed in light of previous research and current perspectives in career development theory.