Clusters of Occupations Based on Systematically Derived Work Dimensions: An Exploratory Study.

The study explored the feasibility of deriving an educationally relevant occupational cluster structure based on Occupational Analysis Inventory (OAI) work dimensions. A hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to the factor score profiles of 814 occupations on 22 higher-order OAI work dimensions. From that analysis, 73 occupational clusters were identified and interpreted. Although those clusters were for the most part individually meaningful, the desired hierarchical pattern of clustering did not emerge in an interpretable form, and 155 of the 814 occupations in the sample failed to cluster in a logical manner at any stage of the hierarchical process. Several factors are considered that may have attenuated the clarity of the hierarchical structure. There is a long review of literature and a brief description of the clusters grouped under the following occupations: technical/scientific, business/organizational, clerical, sales/service, health-related, teaching/counseling, art/decorative, stationary machine operating, service/repair of electrical and mechanical systems, environmental/earth-working, and manual. Nearly half of the document comprises appendixes treating: importance scale, occupational clusters formed on the basis of OAI-derived higher-order work dimensions, and mean work-dimension and attribute-requirement profiles for 73 OAI-derived occupational clusters. (Author/PR)