Kirsten Wüst,

University of Pforzheim,

Pforzheim, Germany,

E-mail: kirsten.wuest@hs-pforzheim.de

STUDENTS' CAREER PREFERENCES: INTERCULTURAL STUDY OF CROATIAN AND GERMAN STUDENTS

Mirna Leko Šimić,

University of Osijek,

Osijek, Croatia,

E-mail: lekom@efos.hr

Abstract. Students' career preferences are an important issue to various stakeholders: to university administration, career counselors, higher education policy makers as well as to human resource managers in companies. Students, whose career preferences and goals are fulfilled, are better and more highly motivated employees. By a questionnaire survey carried out in 2016 in two institutions of higher education the present study compares career preferences and attitudes of 478 German and Croatian students. Factor analyses identify latent variables behind students’ preferences. The identified significant differences between the Germans and Croatians are related to differences in socio-economic environment and cultural differences derived through the Hofstede model. German students value safe jobs, trust and a high income significantly more, whereas for Croatian students stimulating tasks, career opportunities, a recognized profession and social responsibility are more important. Our results indicate that Hofstede’s findings for the uncertainty avoidance index and the individualism/collectivism index might be questioned for the subsample of a young student population who show different value criteria in their career preferences.

Received: February, 2017

1st Revision: March, 2017

Accepted: June, 2017

DOI: 10.14254/2071- 789X.2017/10-3/10

JEL Classification: J24

Keywords: career preferences; intercultural contexts; Germany; Croatia; Hofstede model.