TPC-Journal-V5-Issue1

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 1 12 specialists base their judgments on the application of classification criteria, and there is the possibility of error in the use of this system of analysis. Third, we used the first letter in each Holland code in our analysis in order to simplify reporting. While this decision reduced some of the precision inherent in the Holland classification when three-letter codes are used, it increased the accuracy of occupational classification. Fourth, our analysis was based on a sampling procedure used by the U.S. Census Bureau over 6 decades, and we generalized from this sample to the entire U.S. population. We assumed that the sampling procedure used by the U.S. Census Bureau was appropriate for this study. Fifth, the method for calculating the income levels reported in this study differed across the 3 decades, and comparisons should be made with caution. We used mean levels rather than median levels, and information about the skew of the distribution is not provided in this study. For example, Lowe (2010) noted that while the American Community Survey data are more current, they are not as precise (margins of error are generally higher) as data obtained in the long form used by the U.S. Census Bureau previously. Finally, it is possible that occupations may be shifting within or among industry groups, which would mask some of the findings regarding income reported in the present analysis. Implications for Counseling Practice Limitations notwithstanding, the results of this analysis of six kinds of work and employment over 6 decades have implications for counselors. Holland (1997) noted several rules to use in interpreting the Self- Directed Search interest inventory, such as the Rule of Asymmetrical Distribution of Types and Subtypes. This rule reminds both counselor and client that the distribution of types across the six RIASEC areas is very uneven and unequal; moreover, the distribution of jobs across the six types is not symmetrical or equal. Codes associated with small employment numbers may have fewer positions and fewer openings. The research in the present article underscores the validity of this rule. In each census period, the Artistic area was the smallest area of employment at 1% or 2%. At the other extreme, the Realistic area was the largest area of employment, ranging from 55% in 1960 to 27% in 2010. Career counselors should be cautious in advising workers to look for employment outside the Realistic area, because it has been the largest area of employment for the past 6 decades, with ongoing replacement needs (Reardon et al., 2007). We can add that even the numbers of named census occupations are extremely uneven across six kinds of work. For example, the schema based on RIASEC types used in 2010 to examine occupations was heavily skewed in the direction of the Realistic area ( N = 211), with very few occupational titles associated with the Artistic area ( N = 19). We surmise that these findings reveal little evidence of instability and change in the use of the occupational schema by the U.S. Census Bureau, at least from a RIASEC perspective. Some of these findings may be interpreted in different ways. For example, the Realistic area employed the most persons in 2010, but employment in that area has dropped 28% over the 6 decades. The loss of jobs in the Realistic area is greater than the changes in any other area, decreasing from 42.7 million in 1990 to 31.8 million in 2010. The Investigative area almost tripled in employment from 1960–2010, from 3% to 10%, but fewer than 10% of total U.S. jobs are in the Investigative area (11.5 million). These findings seem related to the issue of big-growth and fast-growth jobs described by Horrigan (2003–2004), in which very few occupations appear at the top of both lists. For example, only home health aides and personal care aides are included in both the top 20 big-growth and fast-growth employment areas. This information underscores the importance of understanding demography and an aging population in using labor market information. The information used in career guidance programs often touts the rapid growth in information and technology jobs; however, this information must be balanced with the understanding that only 8% of U.S. employment is in the Investigative area.