Career orientation of Polish and Chinese students from the perspective of national culture

It is an assessment of the impact of national culture on career orientation with regard to the identification of favored values for the career of students of Economics in Poland and China. The characteristics of national cultures were based on research by Hofstede and associates. Career orientation was measured by means of a shortened version of the Career Orientation Questionnaire (COI) developed by Schein by Igbaria and Baroudi. The study was conducted on a group of students from Poland and China. Respondents, regardless of their nationality, ranked individual career anchors in a similar way, which means that almost the same values are important to them. Stability of employment and development of competences are the most important for them. The results, especially the opinions of Chinese students, do not confirm in certain cases the characteristics of cultural patterns made by Hofstede and associates, which is the basis for the supposition that national culture appears rather as a moderator, not a reason for professional decisions. The conclusions were based on research conducted on a small group of respondents, which is not a basis to generalize them. Knowledge about the values important to an individual will allow them to match better the professional development opportunities to their needs, and prediction of their professional behavior. For employees, it is an argument that allows them to make a decision about further focusing on their professional development. The orientations of young people towards their careers in culturally different countries – in Poland and China – were identified. The association of the favored careers with national culture was indicated, taking into account its individual dimensions.