Korean Dental Students\' Occupational Values for the Dental Profession
AUTHOR : 김동기,이영희
INFORMATION : page. 87~103 / 2007 Vol.14 No.4
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the occupational values of Korean dental students. Data were obtained from 270 dental students in department of dentistry at Chosun university and 217 responses were used in the analysis (a return rate of 81.5%). Categories included sex, grade of student, hopes on pursuing a career after graduation and satisfaction with the major. The questionnaire consisted of 16 items with 4-point Likert-scale responses. The 16 items were categorized into 5 factors including autonomy, economic security, working conditions, selh-realization and social values. Data analyses were conducted by SPSS. Results are as follows. Autonomy ranked first out of the 5 factors of occupational values. Next was economic security, followed by working conditions, self-realization and social values. The mean score for male students\' autonomy values was higher than that of female students, but the mean score for female students\' self realization value was higher than that of male students. The higher the grade, the higher the self realization, but results were the opposite for other values. Dental students who were satisfied with their major scored higher on occupational values than the others. Dental students who hoped to complete the training course after graduation scored higher in autonomy value than students who hoped to open dental clinics. Many of the dental students were more concerned with the values of autonomy and economic security than with the social values of the profession. The results indicate that some programs that strengthen the internal values of the dental students should be established.