Preferences for different types of occupation among freshmen and sophomores of liberal arts courses were investigated. In Study 1, a scale was constructed to measure preferences for different types of occupations and the degree of each preference. Data collected from 327 Japanese students were analyzed. A scale was constructed consisting of five subscales to measure preferences for occupations characterized by learning and the development of knowledge and skills, autonomy, cooperation with coworkers, altruism, and qualifications. Scores on these subscales revealed high preferences for altruism and low preferences for autonomy.
Study 2 compared preferences among students divided into three samples by the level of difficulty of entering their university and the nationality of their university. Data were collected from 196 Japanese students from universities with low entrance difficulty, 105 Japanese students from a university with high entrance difficulty, and 112 Chinese students from a university with high entrance difficulty. Not only the nationality of the university but also difficulty of entering could have a relationship with preference for various types of occupations, and preferences for occupations characterized by altruism and by qualifications could adequately discriminate between the three samples.