1. Starting Meaningful Conversations with Students about Meaningful Work
Christopher Michaelson, University of St. Thomas

2. Meaningful work is…
Subjectively experienced as meaningful (“Realization”)
Justified as socially worthwhile (”Subjective justification”)
Normatively good (“Objective justification,” a.k.a., “All for the common good”)
(Michaelson, 2017, building on Lepisto & Pratt, 2016)

3. Facts and figures about St
Facts and figures about St. Thomas’ Class of 2016 (May 2017) (courtesy of the Career Development Center)
Employment status
Employed full time – 551 (74.36 percent)
Employed part time – 72 (9.72 percent)
Volunteer service – 13 (1.75 percent)
Military service – 5 (0.67 percent)
Not employed, currently seeking – 55 (7.42 percent)
Not employed, not seeking – 45 (6.07 percent) 40 of the 45 were currently enrolled in graduate school.
Median salary $40,001-$45,000
College of Arts & Sciences – $35,001-$40,000
Opus College of Business – $45,001-$50,000
School of Education – $35,001-$40,000
School of Engineering – $60,001-$65,000
School of Social Work – $25,001-$30,000

4. Meaningful information that the numbers don’t tell us
Are our graduates employed by purpose-driven organizations?
How will it support our graduates’ own pursuit of meaningful lives?
Will it help our graduates promote the common good, including meaningful work and lives of those they influence?
How can faculty advisors support these figures with both meaning and money?

5. What can advisors do to start student conversations about meaningful work?
In small groups, take one of these tools.
Job, career, calling
Calling scale
Meaning in and at work
Intrinsic and instrumental value of work
Market fit, social responsibility, dream job
Review the basic theory behind it.
Discuss how you might use it in an advising conversation.
Prepare to report out.

6. Conversation starters: Work orientation
Tool: Job, career, and calling framework in Wrzesniewski, A., McCauley, C., Rozin, P., & Schwartz, C Jobs, careers, and callings: people’s relations to their work. Journal of Research in Personality 31:
Application:
Which of these examples is most like how you expect to feel about your work?
Which of these examples is most like how you wish you would feel about your work?

7. Conversation starters: Calling
Rate each item from 1 to 7, where 1 = Strongly Disagree and 7 = Strongly Agree
Tool: Calling scale measure in Dobrow, S.R. & Tosti-Kharas, J Calling: the development of a scale measure. Personnel Psychology 64:
Application:
How would you score your anticipated work?
What kind of work would generate your highest sense of calling?
Item
Score
I am passionate about being a ___.
I enjoy being a ___more than anything else.
Being a ___gives me immense personal satisfaction.
I would sacrifice everything to be a ___.
The first thing I often think about when I describe myself to others is that I’m a ___.
I would continue being a ___even in the face of severe obstacles.
I know that being a ___will always be part of my life.
I feel a sense of destiny about being a ___.
Being a ___is always in my mind in some way.
Even when not acting as a ___, I often think about being a ___.
My existence would be much less meaningful without being a ___.
Being a ___is a deeply moving and gratifying experience for me.
Total

8. Conversation starters: Meaning in versus at work
Tool: Meaning in and at work definitions in Pratt, M.G., and Ashforth, B. E Fostering meaningfulness in working and at work. In K. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, and R. E. Quinn (eds.), Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline: San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Application: What matters more to you: meaning in work or meaning at work?
Meaning in work has to do with the content of the work we do (e.g., making music, trading bonds, caring for animals, etc.)
Meaning at work has to do with the context in which the work is performed (e.g., workplace culture, setting, co-workers, flexibility programs, etc.)

9. Conversation starters: Intrinsic versus instrumental value
Tool: Value(s) of work matrix in Michaelson, C The value(s) of work. In Jeffrey J. Froh and Acacia Parks-Sheiner (eds.), Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology: A Guide for Instructors. Washington, DC, USA: American Psychological Association.:
Intrinsic value: Valuable as an end in itself – roughly, work that you would do for free
Instrumental value: Valuable as a means to an end – roughly, material compensation for work performed
Application:
Where on this graph would you plot the kinds of work you are considering?
How do you define the thresholds between low and high value, intrinsically and instrumentally?

10. Conversation starters: Market fit, social responsibility, dream job
Tool: Three questions about work in Michaelson, C The importance of meaningful work. MIT Sloan Management Review 51(2): 12-13,
Application:
What do/don’t your answers to the above questions have in common? Why?
A year out of this program, what do you expect your job will be?
What kind of job contributes the most to general well-being?
Practicality aside, if you could be doing anything 10 years from now, what would it be?