Investigation of Vocational Interest Among Workers
- Author:
Harry Dexter Kitson
Professor of Education, Teachers’ College, Columbia University Most of the investigations in the field of vocational interest have been directed toward the development of means for the detection of vocational interests in young people before they choose a vocation.
The author has been working 011 another approach, that of studying the interest which people already at work have in their occupations. We know almost nothing about vocational interests, and it would seem reasonable, before we search for them in immature and inexperienced persons, to discover something about their nature. Perhaps we shall then change our methods of vocational guidance, at least with respect to interest. Among the phases of interest which can be examined among workers are the following: (a) changes of occupational interest within the individual ; (b) age when the interest first arose; (c) length of time it has endured; (d) the extent to which the individual is interested in his work. In years past the author has investigated the first of these questions.2 More recently the others have been subjected to study.
1 Address delivered at the meeting of the National Vocational Guidance Association, Atlantic City, February 20-22, 19.’0. 2 II. D. Kitson and Louise Culbertson, The Vocational Changes of One Thousand Eminent Americans?Vocational Guidance Magazine, I, March, 1923, pp. 128-130. II. D. Kitson and Lucille Kihtley, The Vocational Changes of One Thousand Eminent American Women?School and Society, XIX, No. 474, Jan. 2G, 1924, pp. 1-3. H. D. Kitson, Psychology, of Vocational Adjustment, Philadelphia. J. B. Lippiucott, 1925, Chapter VIII and pp. 46-50.
100 90 80. 70 to ? SO 40 30 ? 20. icy > Fig. 1 Occupational Interest Scale
Table I Showing number of teachers and nurses at each of the decile points on the occupational interest scale. Teachers Nurses No. % No. % 100 42 17 46 33 90 96 39 46 33 80 64 26 29 21 70 21 9 7 5 60 7 3 0 0 50 5 2 9 6.5 40 3 1 0 0 30 3 1 1 .5 20 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 1 .5 0 3 1 1 .5 Below 0 3 1 0 0 247 100 140 100 Investigating the Depth of Vocational Interest For use in the investigation of the extent or depth of interest an Occupational Interest Scale has been developed. (See Figure 1.) This is a vertical scale covering 100 degrees, divided into ten steps. The worker is given the following instructions: “Please indicate, by making a check on this scale, the degree of interest you have in your occupation (not your present job, but the occupation itself).” Since this point can be only subjectively determined, the attempt is made to define the top limit (100 degrees) in some absolute terms. Accordingly, the individual is given the further instruction: “As the 100 degree point, think of that activity in which you would spend the major portion of your time if you had a million dollars and were not obliged to work. Then check the point on the scale which denotes your interest in your present occupation.” An honest estimate is facilitated by requesting the subject not to sign his name.
Though the scale has been used on hundreds of workers in a number of occupations, results will be reported with reference to only two groups?247 high school teachers and 140 graduate nurses.2 The per cent who placed their interest at each of the decile 2 See II. D. Kitson, Measuring the Interest of Teachers in Their Work, Teachers College Record, October, 1928, Volume XXX, pp. 28-33; also At What Age Do Nurses Choose Their Profession, American Journal of Nursing, June, 1929, pp. 649-651.
points on the scale is shown in Table I. In both these groups there were a considerable number who claimed an interest of 100 degrees in their occupation?nurses, 33 per cent; teachers, 17 per cent. The most significant phase of the results is the revelation of the very considerable number who do not like their work. The number at or below 70 is, in the case of teachers, 18 per cent; in the case of nurses, 13 per cent. Several of them stated bluntly that their interest was at the zero point. Surely such workers are in a most unhappy plight, and constitute a serious menace to the effectiveness of their professional group.
Significance of Age in Vocational Interest Another question regarding vocational interest, to which attention has been devoted is the age at which workers decided to enter their vocation. Figures for two groups?130 nurses and 28 policemen are shown in Figure 2. The median age at which the nurses decided on this occupation is 18. It is interesting to note that this is the age at which girls are accepted in a nurses’ training school. The median age at which the policemen decided is 21. Again it will be observed that this is the age at which one is legally eligible to appointment in this occupation.
Of even greater significance, however, are the extremes. One woman decided to become a nurse at the age of three, one at six; about twelve per cent of the entire number decided at or before the age of twelve.
A number of the policemen also decided during their tender years?one at four, one at five; about fourteen per cent at or before the age of 12. In both groups some individuals did not make the decision until they were in their thirties.
These figures show clearly that if interest was one of the important factors in leading these workers to enter the occupation they chose, the interest appeared at various ages, ranging from three years to thirty-four years.
The length of time these workers have been interested in their occupations may be estimated partly by finding the difference between the age at which they first noted the interest and their present age. This could not be done, because data on the ages of the workers were not available. A second measure, however, is the length of time they have been in the occupation. The medians are as follows: High school teachers, 10 years; nurses, 5 years; policemen, 10 years.
An attempt was made to discover if any relation exists between length of service in the occupation and degree of interest. This was difficult, in as much as the number of steps on the interest scale was so small. Only in a group of 67 elementary school teachers was a notably close relationship found. Those who had taught .sixteen years or longer had an average degree of interest represented by 92, while those who had taught ten years or less had an average of only 75 degrees.
Only a few of the problems in the field of vocational interest which ought to be investigated have been treated in this report. But there are numerous facts which we can discover if we will go directly to workers who have already developed a vocational interest.
By studying their histories we shall secure information that can AJURSZS PQUCmZN ? *Kt z-ic 7-10 11-11 /5-I8 H-21 25 2L 27-30 3/-34 Figure 2 Ages at which 130 nurses and 28 policemen decided to enter their vocation.
be obtained in no other way. This seems to be a more fruitful approach than the more common method of searching for “potential” vocational interests among boys and girls who have had no contact with occupational life. Such investigations have given results which are at best ambiguous. The reason is that the “thing” we have been searching for does not exist. Most boys and girls have no vocational interests. We should not expect most immature persons to have an interest in any particular vocation. The psychologists who have written extensively on interest agree that it is a product of experience. A practical deduction is that the vocational counselor should not waste his time searching for a mythical vocational interest within the person he is advising, but should help the individual to develop an interest in a suitable vocation. And the best way to discover how to do this is to study persons who have already developed a vocational interest and to learn how they did it.
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