IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/edt/jsserr/v12y2025i1p11-20.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Perspectives on public and private sector and students' choice of career

Author

Listed:
  • Leiv OPSTAD

    (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, (NTNU) Business School, Trondheim, Norway)

Abstract

This study investigates students' perceptions of the public sector and examines how these views influence their career preferences. Data were collected via a questionnaire distributed to 190 students in Norway, comprising undergraduate business students and experienced public-sector employees enrolled in a Master of Public Administration (MPA) programme. Employing quantitative methods, including t-tests and correlation analysis, the study identifies significant differences in attitudes towards the public sector between these two groups, as well as between students aspiring to careers in the public versus the private sector. The public sector is generally perceived as more bureaucratic, less flexible, and less conducive to rapid career progression. By contrast, the private sector is associated with greater efficiency and enhanced individual career opportunities. In particular, access to a professional network is seen as highly advantageous in the private sector. These insights are especially relevant for policymakers and public-sector employers seeking to attract talent in an increasingly competitive labour market, particularly amid ongoing workforce shortages.

Suggested Citation

  • Leiv OPSTAD, 2025. "Perspectives on public and private sector and students' choice of career," Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Department of Communication, Journalism and Education Sciences, University of Craiova, vol. 12(1), pages 11-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:edt:jsserr:v:12:y:2025:i:1:p:11-20
    DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15804502
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://sserr.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sserr-12-1-11-20.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5281/zenodo.15804502?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    career; attitudes towards public sector; business students; management students;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:edt:jsserr:v:12:y:2025:i:1:p:11-20. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dan Valeriu Voinea (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://cis01.central.ucv.ro/litere/cadr_juridic/departament_comunicare_jurnalism_stiinte_ale_educatiei/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.