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

Abstract

's typological theory of persons and environments is regarded as the most influential in the field of career counseling (Brown, 2002), but few have carried the theory over to the field of higher education and academic advising (Smart, Feldman, & Ethington, 2000

Faculty Emphases on Alternative Course-Specific Learning Outcomes in Holland’s Model Environments: The Role of Environmental Consistency

“…The value of our findings is that they contribute to an evolving collection of research findings over the past three decades (see, for example, Peters, 1974;Smart, 1982;Smart & Thompson, 2001;Umbach, 2006) that collectively aid in understanding the importance of disciplinary-based academic environments in contributing to what students do and do not learn as a result of their college experiences and the socialization mechanisms of those environments by which faculty members reinforce and reward students for their display of different repertoires of attitudes, interests, and abilities in their interactions with students, both in classroom and more informal out-of-class settings. For example, Reardon and Bullock (2004) recently described a three-tiered ''service-delivery model'' where they use Holland's theory to assist academic advisors and career counselors in their efforts to help students make more informed choices among alternative academic majors and career options. They argue that ''If students can use Holland's theoretical model to recognize, differentiate, and understand these diverse academic environments and the faculty members who dominate them, we believe they are more likely to find a place within the university where their satisfaction, involvement, and persistence will be increased'' (p. 111).…”

Differential Patterns of Change and Stability in Student Learning Outcomes in Holland’s Academic Environments: The Role of Environmental Consistency

“…The value of the findings of the current study is that they contribute to an evolving collection of consistent research findings that collectively aid in understanding the importance of disciplinary-based academic environments in contributing to what students do and do not learn as a result of their college experiences. Reardon and Bullock (2004) developed a three-tiered ''service-delivery model'' in which they use Holland's theory to assist academic advisors and career counselors in their efforts to help students make more informed choices among alternative academic majors and career options. They argue that ''If students can use Holland's theoretical model to recognize, differentiate, and understand these diverse academic environments and the faculty members who dominate them, we believe they are more likely to find a place within the university where their satisfaction, involvement, and persistence will be increased'' (p. 111).…”

Higher Education

“…This approach, which is much less restrictive and constraining, focuses the advice given students on what they hope to be rather than what they presently are. Reardon and Bullock (2004) recently proposed a three-tiered "service-delivery model" to assist academic advisors and career counselors in their efforts to help students make informed choices among alternative academic majors and career choices based on this more developmentally and futuristically oriented utilization of Holland's theory. Their model is predicated on the following premise: "If students can use Holland's theoretical model to recognize, differentiate, and understand these diverse academic environments and the faculty members who dominate them, we believe they are more likely to find a place within the university where their satisfaction, involvement, and persistence will be increased" (p. 111).…”