The meaning and measurement of environments in Holland's theory

A major advantage of Holland's (1997) theory is that it provides a parallel way of describing people and environments. Vocational psychology has provided many ways of assessing people but not environments. One of Holland's major contributions during the past four decades has been to develop techniques for assessing and classifying different vocational environments, principally educational settings and occupations. These techniques have allowed Holland and his associates to plumb the validity of his environmental formulations. His newest environmental measure, the Position Classification Inventory (G. Gottfredson & Holland, 1991) promises to stimulate intensive research, both inside and outside vocational psychology, on vocational environments. (C) 1999 Academic Press.