Abstract
Holland’s RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) career theory is generally recognized as one of the most important and influential in the field of career development and vocational psychology. We examined data that might verify such an observation, and we used bibliographic research tools to identify all of the publications from 1953 to 2011 on this theory. We categorized the number of citations into five areas: (a) application of the theory in practice, (b) research and practice directed to specific populations (e.g., K–12, age, occupation), (c) tools or instruments operationalizing the theory, (d) validity and efficacy of RIASEC theory, and (e) diverse populations studied in terms of ethnicity, disability, and status. We located a total of 1,970 reference citations to Holland’s theory and applications during the 58-year period, and this article describes the methods, findings, and implications of this research.
We undertook a bibliographic study of publications based on John Holland’s RIASEC theory, practical applications, and tools for several reasons. First, we wanted to refine and extend earlier research reported by Ruff, Reardon, and Bertoch (2008) using new methods and research tools. Second, we wanted to examine whether the frequency of reference citations to Holland’s work had changed from 1953 to 2011 in 9- to 10-year intervals. Third, we wanted to examine the distribution of reference citations across five categories, for example, (a) application of the theory in practice, (b) research and practice directed to specific populations (e.g., K–12, age occupational group, major field of study, area of interest), (c) tools or instruments operationalizing the theory, (d) validity and efficacy of RIASEC theory, and (e) diverse populations studied (e.g., ethnicity, disability, and socioeconomic status). And, fourth, we wanted to explore the utilization of new tools for making the database more accessible to other scholars and practitioners.
Several larger conditions contributed to our thinking about this. We wanted to address an issue noted in an award citation that Holland received (American Psychologist, 2008, Vol. 63, pp. 672–674): “Ironically, earlier versions of the theory had been so influential that many practitioners and researchers seem to have failed to note the improvements and extensions in the theory’s 1997 revision” (p. 673). The inattention to changes in RIASEC theory and its applications over time appeared to be a problem that might be impacted if scholars and practitioners had easier access to relevant literature.
In a somewhat related vein, Reardon, Lenz, Sampson, and Peterson (2011) noted that the field of career development and vocational psychology is confronted increasingly with important questions about the proliferation of sources of new knowledge that will inform theory developments and practice. Given almost 2,000 publications related to RIASEC theory, we wondered about the potential contribution of a bibliographic study in helping practitioners and scholars seeking to utilize the extensive literature based on Holland’s work.
Finally, some contemporary career literature has been critical of matching models such as Holland’s. Blustein (2006) noted that trait-and-factor theorists perpetuate a tendency to focus on the privileged, well-educated worker. Mitchell and Krumboltz (1996) criticized Holland’s notion of congruence and matching by suggesting that “trying to place an evolving person into the changing work environment is like trying to hit a butterfly with a boomerang” (p. 263). Others have said that RIASEC theory focuses on the parts and not the whole career development experience (Miller-Tiedeman & Tiedeman, 1985). Savickas et al. (2009, p. 240) wrote that “the core concepts of 20th century career theories and vocational guidance techniques must be reformulated to fit the postmodern economy. Current approaches are insufficient.” We wondered whether scholarly productivity in the literature related to Holland’s theory would reflect this “insufficiency,” given the call for a new theoretical paradigm for the field (Savickas, 2000). We wondered whether literature based on Holland’s work would be narrow in scope, for example, White, European males, and so on, or more diverse and globally based (various groups of people in multiple settings, countries, and conditions).
This bibliographic study was based on Holland’s theory (Holland, 1997) that rests on four basic assumptions. The first assumption states that individuals can be categorized into Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and Conventional (C) types. A primary tool for assessing individuals is the Self-Directed Search (SDS) inventory developed by Holland (1994). The second assumption asserts that environments (e.g., occupations) can also be categorized into these same six types. The third assumption is that individuals tend to choose environments that fit with their personality. The fourth assumption highlights the importance of one’s personality being congruent with his or her environment. It states that behavior is determined by the fit between an individual’s personality and the environment by which he or she is surrounded.
The six RIASEC types are optimally represented by a circular order, also commonly referred to as the hexagonal model, and cited throughout this review as the RIASEC model. Holland’s structure of six types into a hexagon is one of the most well-replicated findings in the history of vocational psychology (Rounds, 1995). The six domains are arranged according to their relative similarity in a hexagonal formation of R-I-A-S-E-C. For example, according to Holland’s theory, the Social and Enterprising types, which appear adjacent on the hexagon, are more alike than the Social and Realistic types that appear opposite from one another on the hexagon.
Method
In this section, we describe the methods and procedures used in this archival bibliographic study. We begin with a description of the procedures in the original and the current studies, followed by a description of the methods used for locating references related to Holland’s work. A description of the methods used to categorize references into five areas is provided next, followed by a description of how the bibliographic data were managed in RefWorks, a proprietary software system where reference citations could be electronically uploaded or manually stored, sorted, and altered for later use.
Procedures
Our university’s library website provided most of the references for the development of this bibliography. Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA, 2007) was the tool for researching multiple databases at the time of the original study. CSA provided 34 search engines and commonly used databases, such as ERIC and PsycInfo, which presented the largest number of references. Other online databases were used, including the ISI Web of Science, JSTOR, and Eureka. In the present study, this library website was again used for the extension of the original bibliography and provided the most references.
After 2007, ProQuest (www.proquest.com/en-US/) replaced CSA as a database provider. It housed 53 database search engines, including commonly used ones such as PsycInfo and ERIC. In addition to online databases, print resources (e.g., book chapters, test manuals, articles, presentation materials) were used to identify additional bibliographic citations.
We used RefWorks to manage the large number of electronic and print references. Reference citations were electronically uploaded or manually input into the RefWorks system, where they could be stored, sorted, and altered for later use. RefWorks is a proprietary software that is provided free to the university community through our library. We were assisted in this project by an information management consultant, who was the university’s faculty and graduate research services librarian.
Merging Materials From Original and Current Bibliographies
The original Holland bibliography in RefWorks was described in a technical report (Ruff, Reardon, & Bertoch, 2007), and we used Digitool to gain a complete understanding of how to update this bibliography. We wanted to replicate the previous research by Ruff et al. as closely as possible. The original bibliography ended in February 2007, and the extension began from that date and concluded in December 2011. References that cited the works of Holland during these dates were included in the updated bibliography. Researchers and consultants also collaborated to determine possible new directions for this study, including new ways to share the bibliography.
We found 361 additional references for the bibliography between March 2007 and December 2011. The references found via online databases or print resources were uploaded or manually added into RefWorks, and the duplicates were deleted. The references were then sorted into the five categories using the inclusion criteria from the technical report describing the procedures in the original study (Ruff et al., 2007).
Determine Methods for Locating and Culling References
We consulted with a reference librarian to determine optimal ways of searching, including the most useful databases and search terms. Table 1 shows the search terms and publication types found in the databases. An asterisk was added at the end of some of the key words when it was determined to be an advantageous way of searching. When an asterisk is added at the end of a term, the database will find references which use words that are similar to that term. For example, the term occupation* might also pick up occupations, job, or jobs.
Databases Used in This Study.
Many of the references were found in multiple databases and were uploaded into RefWorks more than once. RefWorks allows users to search for references that are exact and closely match the duplicates. After putting them into RefWorks, the duplicates were identified and then deleted, so that a reference would appear only once in the bibliography. Sometimes duplicate references provided the same information to the researcher, and in other instances a reference would provide more information. For example, a reference might include a link to find the full article in the description, while the same reference found in another database would not include the link. The references with the most information were kept, so other persons reviewing the bibliography would have as much information as possible.
Cross-checks were performed with selected print sources that allowed researchers to determine whether the sources were included in the databases, how long the databases might take to include references, and to ensure that all possible references were found. Some databases took 3 to 6 months after the publication date to upload a reference, while others uploaded a reference in a matter of days. To perform cross-checks, we looked at articles in various print sources which cited Holland to see whether they had been uploaded into the bibliography from a database. We found eight journals with relevant articles not loaded electronically in the database, and these references were manually added to RefWorks by a researcher. These journals included Career Convergence, Career Planning and Adult Development, Journal of Employment Counseling, NACE Journal, Journal of Career Planning and Employment, The Professional Counselor, Career Development Quarterly, and Journal of Counseling Psychology.
Categorizing References
The references were sorted initially into three categories used in an earlier bibliography created by Psychological Assessment Resources (PAR, 1994). These categories included Application, Self-Directed Search (SDS) Alternate Forms, and Theory/Typology/Validity. We created inclusion criteria for each category. The Application Bibliography included all the references that described Holland’s theory or instruments in relation to the way they have been used in practice. The Alternate Forms Bibliography included references that described alternative copyrighted forms of Holland theory–related instruments published by PAR and others. The Theory/Typology/Validity Bibliography included all references pertaining to relevant theoretical constructs and empirical evidence for the reliability and validity of Holland’s theory and related instruments.
In the process of creating this comprehensive database, we decided to add another category, Diverse Populations, because we wanted to show the RIASEC publications in this category. However, we found this term did not adequately describe the varied publications included. For example, a study of Australian users of the SDS is different from a study of the leisure activities of female firefighters in the United States. Therefore, we created two categories, Diverse Populations and Specific Populations. The Diverse Populations Bibliography included references that described populations specified by gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, special abilities, disabilities, socioeconomic status, and sexual identification. The Specific Populations Bibliography was developed with respect to citations describing populations such as specified major field of study, occupation/field, area of interest, level of education, and age.
Some references could be categorized in multiple ways, and our data reflect this fact. For example, although 1,970 unique references were identified, a total of 3,312 references were cited across the five categories because some references fit multiple categories.
Managing the Data
A few references were difficult to categorize because limited information was provided. This problem was addressed if the articles were easily accessed using the university library system, and more information could be obtained, but other references had only the title of the article and citation with no abstract.
Results
In the following sections, we examine the overall findings of the study and then focus on results for each of the five areas.
Refining and Extending Previous Results
In the original study, Ruff, Reardon, and Bertoch (2007, 2008) found 1,609 reference citations from 1953 to February 2007 on Holland’s theory and research. The present study located 361 additional references from March 2007 to December 2011 for a total of 1,970 literature citations. Our research revealed that Holland’s work has appeared in 275 publications (including books, journals, periodicals, reports, and chapters) produced in countries around the world in varied professional fields and disciplines.
More specifically 243 journals published worldwide included 1,617 citations of Holland’s work. For example, a German journal, Zeitschrift Fur Personalpsychologie, is translated into English as the Journal of Personnel Psychology and includes references to Holland’s work. A complete list of journal names located in RefWorks is shown in Table 2.
Periodicals and Journals Cited as RIASEC Reference Sources.
Frequency of Reference Citations
Analysis of the reference citations over time provided a number of findings. We found 1,970 references related to Holland’s theory and applications in this study and saw no evidence of decline in the number of references over time. The first literature citations were reported in 1953, and references built rapidly from 81 in 1962–1971 to 556 in 2002–2011. Table 3 shows the number of reference citations from 1953 to 2011 by decade (the first entry includes only 9 years).
Publication References Related to Holland’s RIASEC Theory and Applications, 1953–2011.
Reference Citations in Five Categories
In the following sections, we present findings relative to reference citations across five areas of work.
Applications of RIASEC Theory in Practice
The Applications Bibliography was developed using references describing the way Holland’s materials have been used in practice by counselors and others, for example, services for specific groups, programs with special populations, development of targeted programs, and the like. We categorized 1,298 (66%) reference citations of the 1,970 in this area, which was clearly the largest part of the complete bibliography. An example of a reference that would fall into the Applications category is one in which Holland’s theory of personality types and work environments was applied to undergraduate music majors.
Research and Practice for Specific Populations
The Specific Populations Bibliography was developed with respect to citations pertaining to a specific occupation or career field; a major field of study; or an area of interest, level of education, or age. We identified 745 (about 38%) references in this category. An example of a reference that would fall into the Specific Populations category is one that uses Holland types in a study of high school students or examines the distribution of Holland types in relation to occupational area.
Alternative Forms of Instruments and Tools
The Alternate Forms Bibliography included references that described alternative copyrighted forms of Holland theory–related instruments published by PAR and others. It included instruments for operationalizing the theory such as various forms of the Self-Directed Search as well as the Vocational Preference Inventory, My Vocational Situation, or Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory among other instruments. We identified 153 (8%) citations in this category.
Studies of the Validity and Efficacy of RIASEC Theory
This bibliography category included all references pertaining to relevant theoretical constructs and empirical evidence for the reliability and validity of Holland’s theory and related instruments. We identified 580 (about 29%) references in this category, including those examining the secondary constructs of RIASEC theory (e.g., differentiation, congruence, identity) and studies examining the nature of the hexagon (sometimes called a circumplex). An example of a reference in this category would be the one that discusses the intercorrelations among the six Holland types, the nature of the hexagon (is it really a true hexagon?), or whether the theory is applicable in varied cultures.
Diverse Populations
The Diverse Populations Bibliography included references that described populations specified by gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, special abilities, disabilities, socioeconomic status, and sexual identification. We identified 531 (approximately 27%) references in this category of the total references located in the study. An example of a reference that would fall into this category would be the one that looks at socioeconomic differences among the six Holland types.
Bibliography Dissemination for Increased Accessibility
Since 2007, RefWorks upgrades have made it possible to share this RIASEC bibliography more easily and to create customized versions of it. The current version of the RefWorks system allows databases to be shared by creating a URL link for a database. The Holland Bibliography database can be viewed at the RefShare website http://www.refworks.com/refshare2?site=020751135918800000/RWWEB1061316284/012991109946687000.
Discussion
In this section, we discuss the findings of this study in relation to the use of such bibliographic studies to inform scholars and practitioners in the career development field, locations of literature related to Holland’s RIASEC theory, the rate of publications over a 59-year period, categories of topics covered in the citations, the dissemination of the findings of this study, and limitations of this archival bibliographic study.
RIASEC Bibliography Description
This RIASEC bibliography includes 1,970 literature citations in 275 publications, including books, reports, journals, and chapters. Most of the references were located in periodicals and journals (1,314 journal references from 1953 to 2011). By our tabulation and analysis from RefWorks, 243 different journals published these articles. Inspection of this list reveals these journals are in many different languages, and some of the publications have both English and other language editions. The other most common types of publications besides journal articles were dissertations (398), reports (145), and books (93).
In the first 9 years after the first publication of Holland’s work in 1953, the rate of publications increased dramatically. The most dramatic increase in publications occurred between the decades of 1962 and 1971 and 1972 and 1981, with a difference of 374 publications between those decades. In the next two decades, there were 387 and 478 citations, respectively. In the most recent decade that includes Holland’s death in 2008, 556 citations were recorded. These findings suggest that although Holland’s model has existed for over 59 years, it is still widely studied in the career development field.
We were interested in journals that were publishing Holland’s work most frequently, and we focused on the period from 2007 to 2011 to obtain a sample for study. We found 221 citations referenced in 84 journals with 6 journals publishing 98 of the 221 citations. The journals included Journal of Vocational Behavior, 15%; Journal of Career Assessment, 14%; Career Development Quarterly, 7%; Journal of Counseling Psychology, 7%; Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, .9%; and Journal of Applied Psychology, .45%. This means that slightly less than half (44%) of the journal articles were in six journals and the remainder (56%) were in the other 78 journals.
Categories of the RIASEC Literature
We placed each of the 1,970 references into one or more of the five categories based on the topic and contents of the reference (some references were categorized in more than one area). This process involved judgments made by the researchers, in some instances with limited information available besides the title of the article. The largest reference category we created was Applications (1,298; 66%), followed by Specific Populations (745; 38%), and Theory/Typology/Validity (580; 29%). The Theory/Typology/Validity category includes references that are relevant to the theoretical constructs and empirical evidence for the reliability and validity of Holland’s theory and applications. The Diverse Populations category included references based on gender, race, nationality, disabilities, and socioeconomic status.
The Applications category includes references that describe the way Holland’s theory, and applications have been used in practice, for example, for specific groups, with special populations, to develop specific programs, and so on. References in these three categories provide evidence that Holland’s work is useful to practitioners in general and to those working with diverse and specific populations from varied cultural traditions. This finding is consistent with the fact that 243 journals worldwide have published articles related to RIASEC theory, 16 language translations of the Self-Directed Search have been created and are licensed for sale by the publisher, and 12 other translations are sold by foreign publishers (King, personal communication, June 13, 2012).
We find it noteworthy that so many publications related to Holland’s ideas connect to the practice of career counseling and program development. This theory seems to have retained its viability in the postmodern age, because it is so useful and practical for persons worldwide to understand and apply. It has also been incorporated into so many other tools and programs that the theory and hexagon have become icons in our field. We believe that the scope of this practical application will be difficult to dislodge, notwithstanding the views of some leaders in the field who believe matching models are outdated and advocate for a new paradigm in career theory.
Our analysis of the bibliography revealed that 531 or 27% of the references dealt with issues related to diverse populations and another 153 or 8% dealt with various instruments and tools that measure constructs in RIASEC theory. These findings suggest that Holland’s theory is active for scholars and researchers as well as practitioners.
Dissemination for Increased Accessibility
The new RefWorks system provides for a more user-friendly access (RefShare) to the information in the bibliography that will enable scholars and researchers to search for literature that matches their areas of interest. At this RefShare link (http://www.refworks.com/refshare2?site=020751135918800000/RWWEB1061316284/012991109946687000) users can view, print, or export full or select sections of the bibliography. There is also an option to send an e-mail to one of the researchers for further information. RefWorks users can also create a personalized list of references from this main bibliography without altering the original database. Additionally, the website link reflects any updates that are made by the researchers.
Limitations
Studies using archival data are dependent upon the quality of the library search engines and the terms used in the search. This study was conducted at one university library and researchers at other institutions using different facilities and search engines might obtain different results. However, in this information age characterized by the rapid flow of information, document search tools such as those used in this study may be utilized more frequently in the future.
This bibliography does not indicate the quality of the references, which ones are accurate, poor, good, and the like. However, assuming that most of these documents were reviewed or edited by some independent person or group, perhaps even a blind review for a refereed journal, we believe that the quality of this bibliography merits use by scholars and practitioners in the field.
Finally, some other “issues” appeared in the data. For example, if a journal was published in multiple languages it may have been counted more than once, but when we saw publication in an alternative language we listed them in Table 2 as one entry. In addition, some journals changed names, for example, Vocational Guidance Quarterly to Career Development Quarterly or Personnel & Guidance Journal to Journal of Counseling & Development, and in such cases both names were used. Three journals identified in the 2007–2011 period were not named; thus, these articles make up the “unknown” category created in RefWorks. Also, the lack of information provided in some citations made it difficult to properly categorize the articles.
Implications for Research and Practice
Perhaps using bibliographic research tools such as those used in this study will help researchers avoid the problem noted at the outset of this article: “… practitioners and researchers seem to have failed to note the improvements and extensions in the theory’s 1997 revision” (American Psychologist, 2008, p. 673). With over 1,970 reference citations included in this bibliography (and more added daily), the problem of currency is even more daunting.
Regarding the last point, we note that Holland’s 1997 book is the last attempt to summarize and evaluate the literature related to RIASEC theory. Given Holland’s death in 2008 (Gottfredson, 2009), we wonder which individual or organization will step forward to lead and manage this theory and its related applications? What new theoretical constructs and instruments should or will be created to carry on this body of work? There are a number of public and private organizations that have a stake in this theory and applications, along with individuals from various fields who have built their careers around his work. We wonder what role they will play in this regard, if any?
The rise and decline of a career theory and body of work may mirror that of any social system, for example, group, organization, culture, and the use of bibliographic studies such as this one may be a method for documenting the phenomena. Although John Holland died in 2008, the theory, along with the related tools, instruments, and applications, may continue to attract practitioners and scholars in the future. This could be especially true if new editions of instruments and new findings based on the theory find their way into the literature.
Even in this time of globalization and rapid change, we conclude that structured matching models, especially Holland’s RIASEC typological theory, will continue to hold promise for scholars and practitioners in vocational psychology and guidance throughout the world. Bullock, Andrews, Braud, and Reardon (2009–2010) reported finding 43 translations of the SDS in their study of Holland’s theory and the SDS that indicates ongoing activity in this area. The Diverse Populations bibliography included 531 citations concerning gender, national, and ethnic diversity, which suggests that RIASEC theory is boundary spanning in numerous ways.
The extensive body of work related to Holland’s RIASEC theory can be intimidating for those contemplating investigations in this area, but we hope that tools like this bibliographic database will make such research more manageable and increase the quality of the studies undertaken. Reardon et al. (2011) wondered about the source of new knowledge in vocational psychology and career development, and we suggest that bibliographies like this one may help answer that question.
In summarizing the impact of Holland’s work 20 years ago, Borgen (1991) noted that by any standard Holland’s influence was unmistakable in vocational psychology, research on his theory was voluminous and unabating, and the widespread use of his inventories was huge. This bibliography provides tangible evidence to support Borgen’s observation. And in spite of complaints about the matching approach, Holland’s RIASEC version of this remains evident in the literature. Brown (2002) stated, “ … most career development theorists and practitioners are unready to jettison one hundred years of thought and research because of criticism from post-modern thinkers” (p. 513).
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.