Mapping the World of

Work

Tony Crowley
Mapping the World of Work

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between various
occupational profiles and, using a mapping technique, to see where different types of
work would be located. The original study was undertaken some years ago but the
results will still be of interest to those involved with careers guidance and the
provision of careers resources.

Procedure: 200 occupations requiring formal entry qualifications were carefully

coded under a range of headings (Appendix 1) with the help of experienced careers
officers, careers teachers, industrial training advisers, publications and people at work
in the jobs. The headings covered a wide range of factual information including
educational requirements, skills, work environments, social relationships, working
conditions and restrictions. Following this procedure, twenty five clusters or job
families were identified and these are listed with sample occupations in the table
below.

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Data profiles from occupations representing the 25 clusters were correlated and the
results subjected to factor analysis and a spatial mapping procedure known as
Smallest Space Analysis. In a spatial representation, related items appear closer to
each other and the least related are widely separated. The results of the spatial
analysis indicated that the occupational clusters were related to each other in a
distinctive circular pattern as presented in the figure below:

The axes at the centre of the diagram, Ideas-Data Objects-People, help to anchor the
configuration and provide a useful link between the occupations and basic underlying
skills. One occupational cluster, medical technology, was located towards the centre
of the original plot and was not easily accommodated in the diagram. Though all
clusters are multi-skilled, the findings suggest that this area demands a complex range
of skills and interests.

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Less-formal entry qualifications

A second study involved 200 occupations with less formal entry qualifications. The
occupations were coded under range of headings (Appendix 1) and from this 22
clusters or job families emerged.

As in the first study, a spatial analysis indicated that the occupational clusters were
related to each other in a distinctive circular pattern. The few jobs of an artistic nature
were not related closely enough to form a strong cluster at the point in the circle
where it might have been anticipated. Similarities between various occupations at
this level are often more likely to be associated with the job context rather than the
contents of the work. Nevertheless, the results are very similar to those obtained in
the earlier stage of the study.

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Mapping Occupational Interests

There is an interesting similarity between the two diagrams and the results of studies
concerning the structure of occupational interests. Statistical relationships between
the scales of occupational interest measures have been widely investigated over many
years and the results invariably produce an identical spatial distribution. Here, for
example, is a spatial mapping of data from the Occupational Interest Explorer which
is available on scribd.com. The six scales of the questionnaire are located near the
centre of the diagram on p 5.

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Also included in the diagram are the items from a self-report adjective checklist
which were significantly more likely to be selected by those with a particular
occupational interest. The two axes, introvert-extrovert and stable - less stable, have
been included to provide a link to research involving underlying personality traits but
should not be taken to mean that all those of with artistic interests are unstable or that
those who prefer office work are stable! For a manual and copy of the Occupational
Interests Explorer see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23507255

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Summary

Probably the most useful purpose for a map of work is to help students, who are
interested in a particular field of work, identify other fields which have the potential
to offer the same type of work activities, work environments or job satisfactions. In
this respect, students are encouraged to be adaptable in their career plans and to
broaden their horizons.

To aid this objective, the categories of the revised Careers Library Classification
Index (currently known as the the CRCI) have been plotted to reflect the results of the
survey and appear on p.6. A few categories were difficult to place, but the final result
has a logic to it and the diagram could be turned into a useful poster for a careers
room or library.

Although a careers library classification reflects the nature of recruitment literature, it

also indirectly reflects the way a nation earns its living. The map is a salutary
reminder that Britain has abandoned key industrial technologies and no longer
manufactures the goods it wants to consume. The workshop has been replaced by a
health club.

Tony Crowley
January 2010

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Appendix 1