Vocational Pathways of Australian Schoolleavers: A Longitudinal Study. Occasional Paper.

The occupational pathways of a representative national sample of Australian school leavers were examined over a 7-year period after leaving school. The study was based on the initial vocational interests of male (n=1436) and female (n=1273) high school pupils and formed part of the longitudinal 1970 Youth in Transition study, a national probability sample of Australian youth. The interest inventory used was a 24-item questionnaire of the Holland typology of interests. In a followup over the 7-year period, the full-time occupation was classified in terms of realistic, investigative, artistic social, enterprising, or conventional interest categories. Results indicated a major disparity between initial vocational interests and occupational destinations at the commencement of a career. Sufficient evidence was found to argue that the vocational interests of youth were not always reflected by their initial occupational pathways. The results indicated greater congruence with the passage of time and pointed toward a period of career exploration followed by consistency. (Appendixes include 27 references, 1 figure, and 3 data tables.) (Author/YLB)