A Holland Perspective on the U.S. Workforce from 1960 to 1990

Abstract

This paper analyzes civilian employment data collected by the Census Bureau in 1960Bureau in , 1970Bureau in , 1980Bureau in , and 1990 with respect to six kinds of work (Holland classification), occupation, employment, gender, occupational level, and income over four decades. Implications for further research, employment policy, and career services are offered.June 25, 2001 1 The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Britton Powers and Darrin Carr with analysis of census data, and of James Flora for technical assistance in preparation of tables and figures. We also thank John Holland, Gary Gottfredson, Charles Nam, Janet Lenz, James Sampson, and Gary Peterson for helpful comments on early drafts of this manuscript. 2 A Holland Perspective on U.S. Workforce from 1960 to 1990Abstract Some career theorists and researchers view the occupational world as increasingly unstable and unpredictable. Indeed, they view the concept of job or occupation as less than useful in thinking about work and career guidance. Such a view appears to call into question the appropriateness of an approach to career guidance that seeks to link personal characteristics to jobs in a time of rapid labor market changes. Holland's typological theory (Holland, 1997) specifies a connection between vocational personalities and work environments that makes it possible to use the same RIASEC classification system for both persons and jobs. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, a small group of researchers began to examine the labor market using Holland's typological system. Altogether, these studies examined a variety of variables with respect to Holland codes, including percentage of men and women in occupations, ethnicity of workers in occupations, salaries earned by occupational incumbents during the preceding year, educational and training levels associated with occupations, and complexity ratings for occupational activities.The present study examined trends in labor market characteristics using census data from 1960 to 1990. We found stability in the census data for the use of occupational constructs for six kinds of work from 1960-1990, e.g., the Realistic area includes many more named occupations in the census than the other five areas, averaging between 46% and 50% of all occupations included over the 40 year period. Regarding levels of cognitive complexity associated with occupations, we found Investigative and Artistic areas were associated with the highest Cx ratings, and Conventional was associated with the lowest ratings. We found that employment trends did not support claims of a major shift in employment across the six kinds of work. While employment declined by 18% in the Realistic area relative to other Holland types, it remained the largest area of employment through 1990 and actually increased in real numbers. Only 1% of employment was in the Artistic area. There were marked differences in employment between men and women across the six areas from 1960-1990, e.g., between 79% and 85% of male workers were...

Holland's Theory and Implications for Academic Advising and Career Counseling

“…Reardon, Vernick, and Reed (2004) reported that the estimated mean Cx ratings across the six kinds of work types are as follows: realistic = 52; investigative = 72; artistic = 69; social = 63; enterprising = 60; conventional = 55. Reardon et al (2004) revealed a profile rating for the six types of work in order of highest to lowest level of needed preparation and ability as IASECR. In recent study samples, Smart et al (2000) found few college majors, faculty members, or students categorized as realistic or conventional, which led them to exclude these two types from their research.…”

A Holland Perspective on the U.S. Workforce From 1960 to 2000

“…They found that those employed in the Investigative area had Cx ratings only in the highest two levels of cognitive ability, whereas individuals employed in the Realistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional areas had Cx ratings in all six levels. Reardon et al (2004) found that whereas employment declined by 18% in the Realistic area relative to other areas, it remained the largest area of employment through 1990 and actually increased in real numbers. Only 1% of the U.S. population was employed in the Artistic area.…”

“…After a 15-year hiatus in research on census data and Holland codes, Reardon, Vernick, and Reed (2004) analyzed the 1990 census data in relation to data from 1960, 1970, and 1980. These authors considered the variables of gender, income, and cognitive complexity (Cx).…”

“…They reported marked differences in employment between men and women across the six areas from 1960 to 1990. Reardon et al (2004) examined income and gender with respect to six kinds of work and found that the average income profile ranging from highest to lowest was IESARC. The discrepancy across the six areas was very large, with the average Investigative income more than 2 times larger than the average Conventional income.…”

Internet Applicants to the State of Washington: A Demographic Analysis

“…27 Research has clearly shown that women are more attracted to jobs involving helping other people and developing interpersonal relationships, while men are more attracted to jobs with higher salaries and leadership positions; 28 an analysis of the U.S. workforce indicates similar patterns in terms of incumbents. 29 Differences in application patterns may also be a result of discriminatory hiring practices that serve to discourage women from applying-the EEOC received over 23,000 claims of sex discrimination in 2005. 30 Individuals currently in leadership positions may be more likely to select others that are similar to them, either for their own benefit 31 or due to ignorance of the impact of different backgrounds and life experiences.…”