Occupational Careers

Professor Slocum uses the concept of career as the central integrating idea for a wide range of information about contemporary work and occupations from current social science research, from historical sources, and from his own considerable personal experience and that of his students.This second edition incorporates much new data and many new approaches that provide insight or raise significant questions about the validity of conventional attitudes toward occupational careers. Greater emphasis is placed on the rapid changes that have taken place in recent years in attitudes toward work, on the continuing impact of scientific and technological developments on occupations and work organizations, on new trends in the demand for academic and professional personnel, and on the career-related problems of women and minority groups. In addition, Professor Slocum now presents a more fully developed overview of the major social and cultural factors and processes involved in occupational choice, preparation, and achievement. After introducing the notion of an occupational career as a sequence of increasingly responsible roles and discussing the changing contemporary meanings of work, the author proceeds to analyses of the impact of scientific and technological change on career planning, the occupational requirements of work organizations, occupational status levels, the labor force and employment trends, and recent trends and future prospects in major occupational categories. Chapters are devoted to detailed discussions of the characteristics of professional and scientific occupations, the relationship between education and occupation, special problems of intergenerational and individual occupational mobility, and the dynamics of educational and occupational aspirations and decisions. The final chapter is directed toward the problems of career choice and planning that are likely to confront the young adults for whom the book will be especially useful.The book is brief but comprehensive in coverage, free of jargon and lucid in expression. It will be an invaluable resource and text for teachers and vocational counselors dealing with problems of the sociology of occupations and work and in educational programs concerned with occupational choice and guidance.