Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence In this enlightening study of modern working lives in Britain, leading experts on the sociology of work draw on detailed statistical analyses to assess job quality and job satisfaction. Drawing on decades of research data on hundreds of occupational groups, the authors challenge conventional notions of 'good work' and consider them afresh through the lens of workers themselves. With examples from many professions, the book examines why some occupations feel more rewarding than others, regardless of factors like pay and security. Exploring fresh policies to promote the agenda for fulfilling employment, it builds an important case for genuine and sustained satisfaction in working lives.

Studies have shown that preservice teachers often value the practical aspects of their program of study, such as field experience, more highly than courses which present theories. This book compares 80 preservice teachers' academic motivation in a theoretical course, a field experience, and a Liberal Studies course by examining three motivational constructs, namely goal orientation, task value, and self-efficacy. Data were collected by means of four questionnaires and an interview with eight subjects. Descriptive statistics were collected and statistical tests were conducted first at the level of individual courses, and then were compared across the courses to find out if these three motivational constructs varied as a function of subject area. The relationship between subjects' teaching beliefs and their beliefs about those courses was also investigated. Results indicated that subjects' goal orientation basically remained the same across the courses, their perceived self- efficacy was significantly higher in the field experience, and their perceptions of task value of the three courses varied.