iStartStrong™ Survey: Today's Youth Want Personal Fulfillment from Professional Endeavors

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CPP, Inc. (CPP.com), an industry leader in research, training, and organizational development tools, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment, today unveiled the results of its iStartStrong™ survey of 87 high school and community college students, revealing that young people today value personal satisfaction over money, status, and perks from their future profession. Moreover, they are thinking seriously about their career and trying to connect their studies with personal interests and potential lines of work wherever possible.  

Students Will Sacrifice Income to Enjoy Their Work  

According to survey results, students continue to be idealistic in their vision of their future professional endeavors. Of the respondents,

• 80% believe a career should be something that brings enjoyment and fulfillment to their life
• 53% believe their career will play a role in defining them as an individual
• 72% said they want to choose a career that aligns with their passions
• 78% believe they will achieve the most success in a career for which they have a passion and they enjoy on a daily basis

In addition, they see their job as being about more than merely making a living. They are willing to take less pay and fewer benefits for a job they are passionate about. Consider that 58% believe "enjoyment of the work itself" is the primary motivator for people who are highly successful in their career—more than money and a desire for power, influence, and respect, among other choices.

The survey results appear to indicate that this attitude is a reaction to students' observations of their parents. More than half of respondents indicated their parents either "like what they do, but suspect they'd rather do something else" (30%) or "don't like what they do, but feel they need to do it for the money" (27%).

The Connection Between Academics Today, Work Tomorrow

Students feel there is a two-way positive impact when their personal interests and career ambitions are tied into their studies.

• When asked about what gets them to engage in their academic responsibilities, the largest group of respondents (27%) cited interest in the subject as their primary motivator to study, compared to only 9% who cited "getting into a good college"
• 45% of participants reported they study "much harder" when they perceive a direct connection between their course work and their planned career
• 55% believe knowing their ideal career path will improve their college performance

Students are likely mindful of how their studies affect their career because they are already thinking hard about what they are going to do with their life. An overwhelming majority of participants (81%) said they either "constantly" or "frequently" think about their future career, while no respondents said they "rarely" or "never" give their career any thought.

"Although today's students are very ambitious, they prefer to direct their energies toward achieving gratification from their work more so than a large paycheck or a high degree of prestige," said Catherine Raines, educational consultant for CPP, Inc.

Strong Interest Inventory® Assessment Helps Illuminate Career Paths

Despite their early inclination to give their career plenty of thought, students by and large are still figuring out how to choose a path that will take them in the direction of their true passions. The largest segment of respondents said they had only "an idea" of what they want to do with their career, while a little over a quarter (26%) said they had "little to no defined career direction."

However, 72% of students were "much" or "somewhat" more enthusiastic about their future career after taking the Strong assessment and receiving their iStartStrong™ report, which identified career options that support their personal interests and passions. Additionally, 85% said they became aware of more appealing career options after reviewing their assessment results. Furthermore, 50% reported that knowing their results made them more likely to study.

"For many decades, the Strong Interest Inventory assessment has been a valuable tool for students in developing their careers, but this generation may be better suited than any for the Strong given their inclinations toward personal enjoyment of their vocation," said Raines.

CPP has published the complete survey results in the comprehensive report The Next Generation's View: Career and Personal Fulfillment available on the company's website.

About CPP, Inc.

Since its founding in 1956 CPP, Inc., has been a leading publisher and provider of innovative products and services for individual and organizational development, supplying reliable training solutions to businesses of all sizes, including the Fortune 500. The company's hundreds of offerings have been used by millions of individuals in over 100 countries, in over 20 languages, to help people and organizations grow and develop by improving performance and increasing understanding. Among CPP's world-renowned brands and services are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, Strong Interest Inventory®, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), FIRO®, CPI 260®, and California Psychological Inventory™ (CPI™) assessments, and CPP Professional Services. For more information on CPP, visit www.cpp.com.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Myers-Briggs, and MBTI are registered trademarks of the MBTI Trust, Inc. iStartStrong, Strong Interest Inventory, FIRO, California Psychological Inventory, CPI and CPI 260 are trademarks or registered trademarks of CPP, Inc.

SOURCE CPP, Inc.