Meaning of academic work: motives and benefits of students' ad-honorem participation in academic activities

Investigaciones recientes en el campo de la sociología y la psicología del trabajo evidencian la importancia de considerar una concepción ampliada del trabajo. En este sentido, no quedaría reducido a la noción de empleo sino que abarcaría las actividades productivas que realizan las personas, reciban o no una remuneración a cambio. Desde una concepción ampliada del trabajo, puede entenderse entonces como trabajo la participación de estudiantes en actividades académicas en calidad de adscriptos no rentados. Cabe preguntarse en este contexto, cómo lo perciben los estudiantes y qué sentidos le asignan a la participación no rentada en actividades académicas.Nowadays, there is an increasing tendency in Argentinean youth to work and study simultaneously due to a context of uncertainty and fragmentation of the labor market and the educational system. The paper is part of a current study at the National University of Mar del Plata, which has de objective of analyzing the meanings that ad-honorem academic work has for students. This is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative and qualitative methodological approach. Results indicate that the main motives students work an academic jobs ad-honorem are: their interest in initiating an academic career, the learning of new knowledge and the practice of teaching and researching. Based on these results, six categories of ‘meaning of ad-honorem academic work’ were design. Many of them are consistent with results of previous research , except for one category which is specific for this type of organization, i.e. the university. This information from the student’s perspective may contribute to the characterization of this population, allowing a more complete comprehension of the relation that students established with the academic work. The value of this contribution to the field of psychology of work is also stated.Trabajos libres: Psicología laboral y organizacionalFacultad de Psicologí