Values Survey

What is a value?

Ayn Rand, philosopher:

A value is something you are willing to act on.

Richard Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute:

Values are a matter of what guides you through every day, every task, every encounter with another human being.

Sarah Spiekermann, Ethical IT:

[A value is] a preference that is felt and/or considered to be justified – morally, by reasoning, or by aesthetic judgments, usually by two or all three of these.

Some questions about values

1. Write the definition of “value” in your own words.

2. Identify your values.

   Begin by circling the values in the list below that are most important to you. (One way to start to do this is to look back on your life to identify when you felt good or confident about a choice. For example, learning to play a sport, instrument or some other skill that involve practice- then maybe you value physical activity, competition or challenge. ) Try to choose 20-25 top values.

3. After you have circled your 20-25 top values, put a W next to the circled values that might inform where you would choose to work when you graduate.

4. When everyone in your group has finished, each person should choose two of the values that they have put W’s next to and describe to the group how that value would influence a job choice.

A list of values