Value-driven employability: How work values and ethics shape Generation Z's career preferences

Purpose This study examines how Generation Z's work values and ethics differ by gender, academic discipline, and prior work experience, and how these integrated value–ethic profiles shape early-career preferences. The aim is to support universities in improving person–organisation fit and designing value-informed career-guidance interventions that foster smoother and more sustainable school-to-work transitions. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey of 721 undergraduates combined two validated instruments – the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-40) and the Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP) – with a ranking of ten job-selection factors. Group comparisons and effect-size analyses were conducted across gender, discipline, and work-experience bands. Findings Significant subgroup differences emerged in both values and ethical orientations. Across all groups, career progression and effective management consistently ranked as the top job selection priorities, while compensation and organizational culture were less emphasized. These insights underscore the importance of personalized, value-driven career guidance. Practical implications Universities can use integrated value–ethic profiles to tailor guidance, strengthen person–organisation fit diagnostics and design evaluable interventions – such as value-informed workshops – that support smoother and more meaningful transitions into work. Originality/value The study introduces an integrated value–ethics–employer-choice lens that links Schwartz's motivational values with Weberian ethical enactments via the joint use of PVQ-40 and MWEP. This approach reveals experience-contingent shifts in students' profiles and outlines testable mediated and moderated pathways for future employability research.