Trajectories of work values among Chinese university graduates during the university-to-work transition

Purpose Major life transitions provide critical contexts for work value development. Despite extensive research on work values, little is known about how they evolve during the transition from education to employment, particularly in non-Western contexts. This study examines longitudinal changes in work values among Chinese university graduates during the transition from higher education to full-time employment. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on four waves of data collected over 18 months from 455 graduates, we used latent growth modeling to examine trajectories across multiple work value dimensions. Findings Results showed that the importance of pay and comfort increased following workforce entry, whereas the importance of meaning, variety, prestige, development, fairness, and security declined over time. In contrast, self-direction and relationship values remained relatively stable across the transition period. Originality/value These findings highlight the university-to-work transition as a critical context for shifts in work values and extend existing evidence on their dynamic nature to a non-Western setting using multi-wave longitudinal data.