A Quantitative Study Measuring Urban Youth’s Conception of Work

Abstract

In order to understand how urban youth define the concept of work, a quantitative study measuring conceptions of work will be given to 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students at an inner-city school district. The study included sixty high school students enrolled in career and finance management courses or involved in vocational programs such as the Career Exploration Internship program, or the Diversified Cooperative Occupational program. Study results reveal that for categories of race and ethnicity, five of the seven races displayed a higher preference towards intrinsic work belief statements in comparison to extrinsic work belief statements. Narrative data along with questionnaire results suggest that involvement in vocational educational programs influences urban youth’s intrinsic work beliefs and impacts their perceptions towards future work.