Holland's+Theory

 Holland’s theory of vocational choice is a Trait-and- Factor Theory based on several assumptions. First, he postulates that an individual’s personality is the primary factor in vocational choice. In that, individuals must select vocational environments congruent with their personalities to maximize their job satisfaction and achievements. He goes on to describes his six work environments, which are congruent with his six personality types. These are: (1) realistic, (2) investigative, (3) artistic (4) social, (5) enterprising and (6) conventional. Holland believed that individuals seek a work environment that is closely related to their personality type. The more congruence there is, the higher job satisfaction and achievement.   A description of the personality types/working environments:  1. Realistic: Avoid subjectivity and deal with the environment in an objective, concrete manner. Can be described as masculine, unsociable, emotionally stable, and materialistic. Preferred vocations include agriculture, technical, skill/trade, and engineering.  2. Investigative: Use intellect to deal with environment. Can be described as masculine, persistent, scholarly, and introverted. Preferred vocations include sciences, theoretical tasks, reading, algebra, foreign languages, and in creative environments.  3. Artistic: Deal with environment through creative means. Can be described as unsociable, feminine, submissive, introspective, sensitive, impulsive, and flexible. Vocation choices include musical, artistic, literary, and dramatic environments.  4. Social: Utilize skills in relating to others to deal with environment. Can be described as sociable, nurturing, cheerful, conservative, responsible, achieving, and self-accepting. Work environments are described as educational, therapeutic, and religious based.  5. Enterprising: Deal with environment through adventure, dominance, and impulsivity. Can be described as persuasive, extroverted, self-accepting, confident, and aggressive. Prefer work environments in sales, supervisory roles, and leadership positions.  6. Conventional: Choose goals that carry social approval to deal with environment. Can be described as masculine, shrewd, dominant, controlled, rigid, and stable. Work environments include clerical, computational, business/economic matters. 
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"> Personality Patterns
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"> listing traits from most similar to least
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"> 720 possibilities

<span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"> His next assumption states that interest inventories are in fact personality inventories. For his third assumption he states that individuals develop stereotypical views of occupations that have psychological relevance. He believes that these stereotypes play a major role in occupational choice. For his fourth assumption, he states that daydreams about occupations are often precursors to occupational choices. His fifth assumption is that identity is the clarity of an individual’s perceptions of his or her goals and personal characteristics. Holland states that this is related to having a small number of rather focused vocational goals. Lastly, for his sixth assumption, he says to be successful and satisfied in one’s career it is necessary to choose an occupation that is congruent with one’s personality. A congruent occupation is one in which other people in the work environment have the same or similar characteristics as one’s own. <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">Holland also proposes 6 work environments that are analogous to the pure personality types described above. <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">1. realistic environment - involves concrete, physical tasks requiring mechanical skill, persistence, and physical movement. Only minimal interpersonal skills are needed. Types of realistic settings include a filling station, a machine shop, a farm, a construction site, and a barber shop. <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">2. investigative environment - requires the use of abstract and creative abilities rather than person perceptiveness. The work revolves around ideas and things rather than people. Typical settings include a research laboratory, a diagnostic case conference, a library, and a work group of scientists, mathematicians, or research engineers. <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">3. artistic environment - demands creative and interpretive use of artistic forms. The work usually requires intense involvement for prolonged periods. Typical settings include a play rehearsal, a concert hall, dance studio, a library, and an art or music studio. <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">4. social environment - demands the ability to interpret and modify human behavior and an interest in caring for and interacting with people. The work requires frequent and prolonged personal relationships. Typical work situations include school and college classrooms, counseling offices, mental hospitals, churches, educational officers, and recreational centers. <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">5. enterprising environment - requires verbal skill in directing or persuading people. The work requires directing, controlling, or planning activities of others, and a more superficial interest in people than in the social environment, most of that interest centered on what can be had from people. Typical settings include a car lot, a real estate office, a political rally, and an advertising agency. <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">6. conventional environment - involves systematic, concrete, routine processing of verbal and math information. Minimal skill in interpersonal relations is required because the work mostly involves office equipment and materials. Typical settings include a bank, an accounting firm, a post office, a file room, and a business office. One article that outlines the usefulness of this theory is by Chen and Simpson (2015) and it utilized John Holland’s personality inventory to examine facts that may affect students’ self-selection into STEM majors. There were three main questions that were asked in the study. The first questions that was asked in the study was to what extent do gender, race, high school achievement, etc. factor into an incoming college student majoring in a STEM field. Secondly, Chen and Simpson (2015) wondered to what extend does personality play in an incoming college student selecting a STEM major. Lastly, the authors questioned whether or not gender, race, high school achievement, etc. interact with personality and influence whether or not an incoming college student choosing a STEM major (Chen and Simpson, pg. 727, 2015). This study used data from the 2008 administration of the Cooperative Institutional Research Study freshman survey at a large public research university in the southwestern United States and the sample consisted of 2,745 students. 57.9% of these students were female and 41.7% were males (Chen and Simpson pg. 727, 2015). There were also many different races and ethnicities that were included in this study. The results of the study indicated that gender, race, and high school achievement were very good predictors of whether or not a student would choose a major in a STEM field. Male students were actually 2.39 times more likely to choose a STEM major over females and Asians/Pacific Islanders were also more likely than Caucasians to major in STEM fields (Chen and Simpson, pg. 727, 2015). Secondly, the study showed that the investigative, artistic, and enterprising personality types were also statistically significant in predicting the likelihood that a student will choose a STEM major. Lastly, the results showed that even though males were more likely than females to major in STEM fields, men with a high school personality score were less likely than men with a low social personality score to major in STEM fields (Chen and Simpson, pg. 727, 2015). In closing this study offers important insight for understanding how to improve the predictability of a student choosing a STEM major. The conventional way of studying race, socioeconomic status, and high school achievement is not enough to attract students into STEM majors. Using Holland’s typology, students who exhibit a strong investigative personality are most likely to major in STEM fields given the type of environment of STEM occupations.

<span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.

<span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"> Chen, P. D., & Simpson, P. A. (2015). Does Personality Matter?: Applying Holland’s Typology to Analyze Students’ Self-Selection into Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics Majors. The Journal of Higher Education, 86(5), 725-750. doi:10.1353/jhe.2015.0024 <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: #353535; display: block; font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;">
 * Here is a Powerpoint outlining Holland theory, and how to apply the code to college students who may be searching for a congruent major!
 * [[file:Holland Code.pptx]]