Perception of Work, Relationships and Career: A Study with Undergraduate Students

Abstract

This study researched how a population of 40 undergraduate students attending a career planning project in a
private college perceived work, career and their relation with interpersonal relationships. The questionnaire
revealed that most subjects perceived work positively, reported through four different perceptions of work,
reported perceiving a social dimension of work, but about half of it reported that they didn’t perceive people in
general working in a way that showed being concerned about changing society. When the subjects listed people
who worked with the same values they held, reports ranged through parents, bosses and friends; when asked
about people that didn’t have the same values, they listed work-mates, peers and siblings; when asked about
most important people for their career, they listed their parents separately, teachers and children. Data suggested
a wide participation of relationships in processing information and constructing conceptions related to work and
career.