IndexContext of the studyObjectivesHypothesesMethodPopulation and sampleResults and discussionContext of the studyValue literally means something that has a price, something valuable and useful. We value what we desire to have or become and thus become the ideals, standards and set of guiding principles for all our activities and endeavors. The philosophers of the great tradition from Plato to Hegel were very concerned with values, even if they did not use the term value, but spoke of desires and purposes. There are altogether four views regarding the nature of values: interest theory, existence theory, experimental theory, and whole-part theory (Jangaiah, 1998). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Western view holds that value judgment does not necessarily depend on religion, but is rather a completely rational, reason-guided activity. When an individual decides that an action is right or wrong; a certain course of action that should or should not be followed implies that these judgments are supported by the reason that supports them (Goyal, 1998). According to Indian philosophy, which is not completely free from the grip of religion, value is associated with activities or efforts directed at spiritual liberation (Moksha). The four Purusharthas, or the supreme goals of life, which have the highest value in Indian philosophy are Economic well-being (Artha), Physical well-being (Kama), Right action (Dharma) and Spiritual freedom (Moksha). Therefore, almost all types of concepts see values ​​in terms of normative ethics that guide us to decide what is right, desirable, should be and vice versa. Implicit in most research studies is that value dimensions are essentially interrelated, influenced and shaped by various factors. Benjamin (2011) revealed that students studying in the high school climate had higher moral, personal, social, aesthetic, humanitarian, and religious values ​​than students in the moderate and low school climate. Bobowi (2011) showed a greater contribution of multicultural personality to variance in stimulation, self-direction, universalism, and achievement values ​​compared to the impact of parental values. Iglesias and Vallejo (2011) found differences in personal and interpersonal values ​​between generational cohorts, gender, and ethnic group. Rajkumari (2011), in his cross-cultural study revealed that the control and protection dimensions of the home environment had a positive correlation with girls' religious and democratic values. Ipgrave (2012) indicated that students' respect for the religiosity of their peers is more influenced by religious experience in the neighborhood and the degree to which being "religious" is seen as "normal" there, rather than by class. (multi-faith or otherwise). Sucharitha (2012) concluded that gender and grade level have no significant influence on the moral judgment of secondary school students. Therefore, numerous value-forming factors such as school climate, culture, gender, parental values, religion, home environment, age, class of study etc. have attracted the attention of researchers around the world. Since value formation is a complex and multidimensional process, there are a number of inadequately explored factors that determine the value pattern such as marital status, various psychological and personality traits, parental education and expectations, educational practice, the nature of the education one is exposed to, the level of aspirationetc. which must be examined in order to improve the body of scientific knowledge regarding value formation. Students examining different types of education may possess different value patterns as the education system is one of the most powerful factors in determining an individual's values. There is a general feeling that the education system is becoming more or less materialistic and professional day by day, where value traditions are slowly being abandoned. Venkataiah (1998) stated that the system, with all its intricacies and intricacies, has so far proved deficient, as it neglects or does not give deserved importance to the values ​​of human life. In some ways, modern academic disciplines are not equipped to engage with values. Instead, they live in perpetual fear of the invasion of values ​​lest their hard-won modernity be contaminated and disturbed by their contact with values ​​(Thakur & Pathak, 2016). However, not many scientific investigations have been conducted to validate the impact of the values. modern education in value formation which is mostly professional in nature. It is evident from the related literature that only few studies are conducted aiming at identifying the values ​​of students of business or medical studies or teacher training programs, etc. Except Manav (1981), who conducted his study on attitudes, self-concept and values ​​of professional and non-professional college students, no other study has been reported so far to reveal the value dimensions of college students of professional courses in general. . Similarly, students with different aspiration levels may also differ in their value model. The aspiration level is closely associated with the value dimensions, in the sense that it can determine or be determined by the value dimensions. Analyzing the literature, it is evident that only three studies by Macneil (1990), Basolene (1992) and Ranu (1995) are reported regarding the relationship between aspiration level and value dimensions. Macneil (1990) studied the relative importance of twenty values ​​and their relationships with the aspirations, life roles, and work of 157 senior college students, where a statistically significant correlation between values ​​and career aspirations was reported. Basolene (1992) studied the aspirations and values ​​of African and Asian theology students. The findings revealed that higher aspiration for education was the way to qualify for political, religious and socioeconomic values. Ranu (1995) reported that level of aspiration and intelligence together were predictors of scores among male and female postgraduate students. Therefore, none of the three studies investigated the relationship between aspiration level and value dimensions of university students of professional courses. Considering the paucity of scientific investigations as discussed above, the present study was designed and as such stated as “Aspiration Level as a Predictor of Value Dimensions: A Correlational Investigation of Undergraduate Professional Course Students”. Objectives To identify and examine the significance of the difference, if any, between male and female university students of professional courses in their value dimensions. Identify and examine the significance of any difference between male and female university students of professional courses in their level of aspiration. Determine the relationship between value dimensions and level of aspiration of university students and female students of professional courses. Studying the level of aspiration as a predictor of the value dimensions of university students and female students of professional courses. Hypothesis H0- 1:There is no significant difference between male and female university students of professional courses in their value dimensions.H0- 2: There is no significant difference between university students of professional courses and female students in their aspiration level.H0- 3: There is no significant difference a significant relationship between value dimensions and aspiration level of male and female university students of professional courses. Aspiration level is the predictor of value dimensions of male and female college students of professional courses. Method Since the present investigation aims at a study of value dimensions and aspiration level among college students involving a relationship between variables, therefore a descriptive correlational research method was adopted. Population and sample The target group of this investigation are university students of professional courses. It has been delimited to the graduate colleges of professional courses affiliated to Gauhati University which are 83 in total. The study excluded conventional graduate schools that offer one or two vocational subjects. Therefore, the study included all students, irrespective of gender and location, enrolled at undergraduate level in all 83 degree colleges affiliated to Gauhati University offering education in professional courses which amount to 7001 in terms of population. Sampling was carried out at two levels. . In the first phase, among a total of 83 vocational schools, 30% of the schools, i.e. 25 schools, were randomly selected, considering the feasibility of the survey and sufficient representation of the population. In the second level, stratified random sampling method was adopted to select the sample students from each of the selected colleges as the study included “Gender” as one of the variables for analysis. There are a total of 7001 undergraduate students in 25 selected colleges of professional courses, of which 4030 are male and 2971 are female. Applying proportional allocation, 5% of students from both the 'male' and 'female' strata were drawn from each of the colleges separately to ensure a more representative distribution of students across all colleges. Therefore, the total sample for the present study consisted of 351 university students of professional courses of which 202 were male and 149 were female. Data Collection Tools The following standardized tools were used in data collection: Study Values ​​Test (SVT) developed by Dr RK Ojha and Dr Mahesh Bhargava which measures the six values ​​based on Spranger man type. Level of Aspiration (LOA) measurement developed by Dr. Mahesh Bhargava and Dr. MA Shah. Data Treatment Since the present study is mainly based on examining the performance of the groups and the relationship between the variables, the statistical techniques employed for the study are mean, standard deviation, t-test, correlation and regression prediction. To understand the efficiency of the aspiration level in predicting value size, the prediction efficiency coefficients (E) for each of the regression equations are calculated and presented in percentages. Results and discussion The results are presented and discussed in the order of the hypotheses of the study. H0-1. There is no significant difference between male and female university students of professional courses in their value dimension. To test the first hypothesis, the mean scores and standard deviations of the different value dimensions are calculated separately for university students and female students of professional courses. Since all six value dimensions have equal scoring probabilities, the rank order was assigned to each value dimension"..