Volume_5_Issue_1_Digest

1 TPC Digest Robert C. Reardon Mary-Catherine McClain In this article, the authors address the matter of Holland’s RIASEC theory and the environment by examining census data in relation to prior studies of occupational employment in 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010. The number of annual job openings is strongly related to the number of people currently working in an occupation, so knowing the number employed is of practical importance in career counseling because of the need to replace workers. In the early 1970s, researchers began to examine the U.S. labor market using census data and the RIASEC classification system, and the present study is a continuation of that line of research. The authors focused on the detailed occupations in the 2010 census ( N = 494) and excluded military-based occupations. The three questions explored in this study, along with principal findings, are indicated below. First, how many occupational titles were reported in the census from 1960–2010 relative to the six areas of work? Occupational titles provide schemas or tools for career exploration. The Realistic area included many more named occupations in the census than the other five areas. For example, the 2010 census specified 211 occupations in the Realistic area and 283 occupations in the other five areas combined. Only 19 occupations were identified in the Artistic area. Second, what were the numbers and percentages of occupational employment in 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010 in relation to the six kinds of work? The percentage of Realistic employment declined 28% from 1960 to 2010. However, the Realistic area showed 31.9 million persons employed and continued to have the highest level of employment across the six RIASEC areas in each The U.S. Workforce from 1960 to 2010 A RIASEC View census period. The Artistic area had the lowest number employed in 2010 with 2.0 million. The employment percentage in the Social area increased from 9% in 1960 to 24% in 2010. During the same period, employment in the Investigative area increased from 3% in 1960 to 10% in 2010, or 2.0 million to 11.5 million persons. Third, what were the mean incomes for the six different kinds of work in 1990, 2000 and 2010? The Investigative area consistently showed the highest income levels over the 3 decades, with the Conventional and Realistic areas the lowest. The average income over the 3 decades for the Investigative area was $54,587 compared to those of the lowest areas: Conventional, $28,047 and Realistic, $27,981. Mary-Catherine McClain is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Georgia. Robert C. Reardon is a Professor Emeritus at Florida State University. Correspondence can be addressed to Robert C. Reardon, FSU Career Center, PO Box 3064162, 100 South Woodward Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4162, rreardon@admin.fsu.edu. Read full article and references: Reardon, R. C., & McClain, M. C. (2015). The U.S. workforce from 1960 to 2010: A RIASEC view. The Professional Counselor , 5 , 1–4. doi:10.15241/rcr.5.1.1