A study examined the work value preferences of young women in their late teens and early twenties. A descriptive self-report instrument was administered to 496 female undergraduate students at a midwestern university. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of 30 work values that were organized into two groups--work values that directly reflect work and career activity (such as status and monetary reward) and those values more closely associated with personal and situational variables. A total of 20 values were rated as important by 50 percent or more of the respondents; of these, 8 variables related to work and career preferences and 12 related to personal and situational preferences. Based on these results, it was recommended that instruments to assess the career interests of women comprise both questions relating to career factors and questions dealing with personal and situational factors. (MN)