Career Orientations and Unionization Among Technical Specialists

Industrialized countries have experienced a considerable expansion in the white-collar sector, particularly at the professional, technical and executive level. This study is concerned with various technical specialists, known collectively as management services, which are representative of a group of emergent technical specialists not readily falling into traditional occupational categories. It examines the attitude of technical specialist staff employed in management services toward future careers and how their career orientations influence their membership of occupational associations. The study supports the view that membership of professional associations and trade unions, increasingly, is regarded as complementary rather than contradictory. Furthermore, the results contain implications for the future organization of technical specialists.