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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 21. 5th September 1973

General characteristics

General characteristics.

The university student has been widely publicised as being radical and seeking change. There is evidence that some students meet this description, but it does not apply to the typical business student. Research into business students at Victoria University shows them to be highly conservative, particularly in comparison to those studying arts and humanities. They are not as resistant to change as the average New Zealand manager, a act which [unclear: 'oubted-] ly contributes to the widespread belief among executives that all graduates are likely to be liberals. The level of conservatism among business students is potentially quite a valuable asset — they are resistant enough to change the value of objectives of their employing company, but flexible enough to seek innovative ways of achieving corporate goals. The business graduate also has a relatively high need for power, a characteristic which leads him to seek positions with the potential for influencing others and ultimately to exerting some control over them. Based on these psychological measures, it would be expected that the topic business graduate would look for a job that would provide scope for decision-making responsibility, authority to implement decisions, and recognition for accomplishments. A survey of final year students in business administration at Victoria University was conducted in order to test these assumption and to provide direct information on near-graduate's attitudes toward employment.