As the year 2000 approaches, the human race is reflecting on the past and anticipating the future. With the approach of this milestone, the enterprise of preparation for work and the role schools play in that process has not escaped scrutiny.
The SCANS Report for America 2000(Secretary’s Commission, 1991) is just such an example. This document identified a three-part foundation employers expect schools to develop in students—basic skills (reading, writing, mathematics, listening, and speaking), thinking skills (creative thinking, making decisions, solving problems, visualization, learning to learn, and reasoning), and personal qualities (individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity).
Schools have recently focused considerable attention on improved instruction of basic skills and thinking skills, but addressing the issue of personal qualities has been a special challenge to most who have considered it. This area of emphasis is broadly referred to as employability skills. Lankard (1990) defined employability skills as including personal image, interpersonal skills, and good habits and attitudes. With respect to work attitudes, the concept of work ethicis related to the desirable characteristics for a potential employee (Custer & Claiborne, 1991; Hill, 1992). In essence, the employability skills needed for the high-performance workplace are a tangible expression of the underlying work ethic, often mentioned in contemporary conversation but seldom clearly defined.
The work ethic is a cultural norm that advocates being personally accountable and responsible for the work that one does and is based on a belief that work has intrinsic value (Cherrington, 1980; Colson & Eckerd, 1991; Quinn, 1983; Yankelovich & Immerwahr, 1984). The work ethic, as we know it today, is a secularized construct derived from Weber’s (1904, 1905) Protestant work ethic (PWE) theory.
The PWE, asserting that Calvinist theology encouraged accumulation of wealth, has been widely used as an explanation for the success of capitalism in Western society. Over the years, however, attitudes and beliefs supporting hard work have blended into the norms of Western culture, and are no longer attributable to a particular religious sect (Lipset, 1990; Rodgers, 1978; Rose, 1985). The elements of work ethic that are of greatest significance in the preparation of people for work are the attitudes and behaviors ascribed to work ethic rather than a sectarian belief system that inculcates these characteristics. Those elements are the focal point for this study.
Work ethic is an often mentioned attribute employers want their employees to have, but one they often say is hard to find. Boardman (1994) reported the efforts in one community in response to employer complaints that they were “unable to locate employees who were reliable, drug-free, motivated, and possessing a work ethic.” In response to the problem, programs were established to provide technical preparation, apprenticeships, Partners in Education projects, curriculum review, mentoring programs, and employability certification. Five years later, however, employers still said they were unable to find a dependable work force.
