Vocational Choices of Selected Working Women and Holland's Theory.

Holland has found that his theory of vocational choice is a fair predictor of college women's vocational choices. This study investigated the applicability of Holland's theory to women employed full-time. The relationship of the criterion variables of achievement (salary) and job satisfaction to the predictor variables of homogeneity, consistency, congruency and role choice were investigated. A stratified sample of 348 women employed as factory workers, research scientists, teachers, bank employees, managers and supervisors, and commercial artists, interior decorators, writers represented Holland's six occupational types. An inverse relationship existed between homogeneity and salaries for Social and Artistic sub-groups. No relationship existed between homogeneity and salaries for the Total group or the Realistic, Investigative, Conventional, and Enterprising sub-groups. Moderately satisfied women in the Total group had significantly higher homogeneity scores than either the satisfied or dissatisfied women in the Total group. No significant difference was apparent between satisfaction and homogeneity when the group was divided into sub-groups. (Author)