Educational counseling has unfortunately seen a decline as a distinct specialization within the United States, yet the critical need for this support persists and is being addressed by various sources. This article aims to demonstrate why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because frameworks like Holland’s RIASEC theory can significantly enhance and modernize educational counseling practices in both secondary and post-secondary environments. Holland’s theory posits that six personality types—Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional—possess unique interrelationships and can be linked to corresponding environmental domains for evaluating educational and vocational alignment. While educational counseling can be differentiated from mental health or traditional career counseling, contemporary career theories offer valuable insights to enrich educational counseling, ultimately benefiting students and educational institutions alike.
Keywords: educational counseling, career theory, Holland, RIASEC, secondary education, postsecondary education, career guidance programs
To understand educational counseling, we can look to the APA Dictionary of Psychology (VandenBos, 2007), which defines it as: “The counseling specialty concerned with providing advice and assistance to students in the development of their educational plans, choice of appropriate courses, and choice of college or technical school. Counseling may also be applied to improve study skills or provide assistance with school-related problems that interfere with performance, for example, learning disabilities. Educational counseling is closely associated with vocational counseling because of the relationship between educational training and occupational choice.” (p. 314)
Interestingly, the Counseling Dictionary (Gladding, 2006) doesn’t specifically use the term “educational counseling” within its definition of counseling, which it describes as: “The application of mental health, psychological or human development principles, through cognitive, affective, behavioral or systemic interventions, strategies that address wellness, personal growth, or career development, as well as pathology.” (Gladding, 2006, p. 37)
However, a renewed emphasis on educational counseling may be emerging. A significant event was the 2010 American Counseling Association meeting in Pittsburgh, where delegates from 29 major counseling organizations reached a consensus on a shared definition of counseling. Crucially, educational goals were explicitly included in this definition: “Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals” (Breaking News, May 7, 2010). This broader definition underscores the importance of educational goals within the counseling framework.
This article will explore five core functions of educational counseling, as identified by Hutson (1958), and illustrate how Holland’s RIASEC theory can effectively inform and strengthen these counseling activities. These functions include: (a) guiding students in choosing a college or postsecondary institution, (b) assisting in the selection of an academic program or major, (c) supporting adjustment to college life and academic programs, (d) evaluating academic performance in relation to educational and career goals, and (e) integrating educational paths with broader career and life decisions. By examining these functions through the lens of RIASEC theory, we aim to highlight why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it offers a structured and insightful approach to supporting students’ educational journeys.
A Look Back: The Historical Trajectory of Educational Counseling
To understand the current state of educational counseling, it’s helpful to consider its historical development. In the early vocational guidance movement, Brewer (1932) advocated for a shift in focus from narrow vocational training to broader education and comprehensive instruction. Brewer even proposed merging education and guidance, potentially elevating educational counseling’s prominence. However, this integration didn’t fully materialize. The term “vocational” was perceived as limiting guidance to occupational choice alone (Shertzer & Stone, 1976), leading to a divide between vocational and educational counseling.
Shertzer and Stone (1976) noted that the term “educational guidance” first appeared in Truman L. Kelley’s 1914 doctoral dissertation at Teachers College, Columbia University. Kelley used it to describe assistance given to students regarding their academic choices and school adjustment. Stephens (1970) argued that this shift from vocational choice to “guidance as education” fundamentally altered the original vocational guidance movement, separating “vocation” from “education”. Consequently, vocational theory became primarily associated with occupational decisions, with educational choices becoming a secondary consideration. This historical divergence, we argue, contributed to the separation of educational guidance and counseling from the robust field of career theory.
Hutson’s (1958) extensive review of educational guidance literature from 1933 to 1956 highlighted the counseling aspect as the most crucial element of educational guidance programs. He dedicated a chapter to “Counseling for Some Common Problems,” identifying ten overlapping counseling scenarios. Several focused directly on educational counseling, including subject and curriculum selection, college decisions (whether to attend and which college to choose), and duration of schooling. Each of these areas involved counseling related to students’ psychological and educational profiles, aspirations, and decision-making abilities. Significantly, while Hutson acknowledged Eli Ginzberg’s vocational theory (Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, & Herma, 1946) as relevant to vocational counseling, he noted the absence of a theoretical framework specifically for educational counseling. Theory-based educational counseling was, at that time, still in its nascent stages.
The visibility of educational counseling in contemporary guidance and counseling literature has diminished. A search using “educational counseling” in social science journal titles and abstracts within our university’s online library databases (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) and PsychInfo) revealed limited results. We investigated hits over the past decade in key journals such as Career Development Quarterly, Journal of Career Assessment, Journal of College Counseling, Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Counseling & Development, and Journal of Counseling Psychology. The search yielded only seven results, with just four appearing in these six journals. This limited presence underscores the decline in focus on educational counseling within the professional literature.
The Rise of Advising, Coaching, and Brokering
While educational counseling has seemingly decreased in prominence over the last half-century, related fields have emerged and expanded, including academic advising, academic coaching, and educational brokering.
Academic advising has become particularly active in the last 30 years. Ender, Winston, and Miller (1984) defined developmental academic advising as “a systematic process based on a close student-advisor relationship intended to aid students in achieving educational, career, and personal goals through the utilization of the full range of institutional and community resources” (p. 19). Creamer (2000) later described it as “an educational activity that depends on valid explanations of complex student behaviors and institutional conditions to assist college students in making and executing educational and life plans” (p. 18). While academic advising typically distinguishes itself from counseling, the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA; http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/index.htm) has incorporated many educational planning and adjustment issues that historically fell under educational counseling.
Academic coaching is another related area, though a full exploration is beyond this article’s scope. Generally, coaching is presented as a service focused on students’ future goals, establishing new life paths through informal mentoring and a positive, preventative wellness approach (Chung & Gfroerer, 2003; Patterson, 2008). However, some critics argue that coaching may resemble counseling without the necessary training and certification, given the less defined professional standards in the coaching field.
Educational brokering emerged in the 1970s to assist adult learners navigating postsecondary education (Heffernan, 1981). Educational brokers offered independent support in exploring, researching, and selecting educational options. Proponents (Heffernan, 1981) argued that institutional educational counselors might be biased, potentially directing students towards their employer’s programs. Brokers were positioned as neutral guides to the broader spectrum of postsecondary choices.
The Relevance of Modern Career Theories
In this article, we advocate for the revitalization of educational counseling by integrating modern career theories. These theories, as outlined by Brown (2002), encompass career contextualist theory (Young, Valach, & Collin, 2002), Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription, compromise, and self-creation (L. Gottfredson, 2002), cognitive information processing theory (Sampson, Reardon, Peterson & Lenz, 2004), life stage/life space theory (Super, Savickas, & Super, 1996), narrative construction theory (Savickas, 2002), person-environment correspondence theory (Dawis, 2002), RIASEC theory (Holland, 1997), and social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2002). We specifically highlight Holland’s (1997) RIASEC theory, emphasizing its environmental component, to illustrate why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it offers a practical and robust framework for educational interventions.
We have established educational counseling as an early and important part of the guidance and counseling field, and acknowledged trends that have recently overshadowed its importance. Ironically, the need for effective educational counseling services remains significant. We believe that applying contemporary theory, especially career theory, is essential for revitalizing this field, informing both practice and future research. In this discussion, we will focus on Holland’s RIASEC theory as a prime example of how theory can drive this revitalization, drawing upon established functions of educational counseling (Hutson, 1958; VandenBos, 2007).
Understanding Holland’s RIASEC Theory
Holland’s theory and associated tools, such as the Self-Directed Search (SDS; Holland, 1994), are well-recognized within career counseling. Since the SDS introduction in 1972, used by over 29 million people globally (Psychological Assessment Resources, 2009), and its integration into instruments like the Strong Interest Inventory (Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994), many counselors are familiar with this framework. However, we believe that this familiarity sometimes rests on incomplete or outdated understandings of Holland’s full contributions. Often, the theory is simplified to a matching model based on a three-letter SDS code and occupational codes from resources like O*Net (http://online.onetcenter.org/) or the Occupations Finder (Holland, 2000).
This partial understanding might stem from the sheer volume of research and literature generated since 1957. Authors (2008) documented 1,609 citations from 1953–2007 across 197 journals, making a comprehensive grasp of this body of work challenging. Furthermore, many relevant articles have appeared in education journals less frequently consulted by counselors, such as the Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Higher Education, and the Review of Higher Education. It’s noteworthy that Holland’s initial work was grounded in educational settings, examining students’ major indecision, college adjustment, academic environments, and faculty roles within disciplines. Smart, Feldman, and Ethington (2000) recognized this gap in applying Holland’s work to higher education, and their research group has published over 20 articles addressing this very issue.
This article will focus on the educational decision-making struggles faced by college students, such as major indecision, and explore how Holland’s RIASEC theory can be applied in educational interventions. We will begin with an overview of Holland’s theory regarding personality and environment, and then discuss practical tools based on the theory that can be used in educational counseling to demonstrate why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because of its applicability and depth.
Personality Types within RIASEC
Holland’s typology (Holland, 1997) establishes a theoretical link between personality and environment, allowing the same RIASEC classification system to be used for both. Numerous inventories and career assessment tools utilize this typology, enabling individuals to categorize their interests and personal attributes using combinations of the six types: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and Conventional (C). Table 1 provides concise definitions of these six types in relation to educational options.
Figure 1: Holland’s RIASEC Personality Types and Educational Environments. This table illustrates the key characteristics of each RIASEC type and how they relate to different educational paths and environments, demonstrating why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs.
RIASEC theory posits that when an individual and their environment share similar or identical codes—for example, an Investigative person in an Investigative environment—the person is more likely to experience satisfaction and remain in that environment (Holland, 1997). This satisfaction arises from individuals being able to express their personality within a supportive environment populated by others with similar personality traits. It’s important to note that neither individuals nor environments are purely one type; they are combinations of all six, with a dominant type representing an approximation of an ideal, modal type.
The profile of these six types can be further described by secondary constructs such as differentiation (profile flatness or unevenness), consistency (interest or characteristic similarity on the RIASEC hexagon for the first two code letters), or identity (type stability). These factors moderate predictions about behavior related to person-environment congruence. These secondary constructs provide a deeper understanding of SDS results, with implications for the level of counselor involvement needed (Reardon & Lenz, 1999). Given that these concepts are discussed extensively elsewhere (Reardon & Lenz, 1998), we will focus here on the environmental aspects of RIASEC theory in education and further explain why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because of its environmental component.
Environments in Holland’s RIASEC Theory
While the personality aspects of Holland’s theory are widely recognized, the environmental dimensions—particularly concerning college campuses, academic disciplines, and work roles—are less understood and appreciated (Gottfredson & Holland, 1996). Holland’s early work with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) and the American College Testing Program enabled him to examine colleges and academic disciplines as environments. It’s crucial to recognize that RIASEC theory originated in higher education contexts before expanding to occupations, highlighting why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because of its roots in educational settings.
Gottfredson and Richards (1999) traced Holland’s efforts to categorize educational and occupational environments. Initially, Holland classified occupations or colleges by counting incumbents within an environment. He later shifted to studying environmental characteristics independently of the people within them. College catalogs and academic discipline descriptions were among the public records used to analyze institutional environments. Astin and Holland (1961), while at NMSC, developed the Environmental Assessment Technique (EAT) to measure college RIASEC environments.
Smart et al. (2000) presented evidence on how academic departments socialize students. They reported that faculty in different academic discipline clusters create distinct academic environments based on their preferences for undergraduate education goals, their teaching priorities, student competency emphasis, and their instructional approaches both inside and outside the classroom (p. 238). These environments exert a strong socializing influence on student development and stability of abilities and interests—shaping what students learn and acquire during their college experience (p. 238). Smart et al. observed that faculty in Investigative, Artistic, Social, and Enterprising disciplines create academic environments consistent with Holland’s theory. They found that Artistic and Investigative environments were most “successful” in socializing students, while Social and Enterprising environments were less so (p. 146). This research strongly supports why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it provides a framework to understand and navigate different academic environments.
These findings suggest that students could benefit from viewing academic programs through the RIASEC schema, focusing on the abilities and interests they want to develop during college. Educational counseling can explore these understandings and goal-setting processes, helping students make informed choices based on environmental fit and personal growth.
Furthermore, Tracey and Darcy (2002) found that college students lacking an intuitive RIASEC schema for organizing interest and occupation information experienced greater career indecision. This suggests a normative benefit of the RIASEC hexagon for classifying occupations and fields of study and further emphasizes why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it aids in structuring career-related information. Increasing evidence indicates that a RIASEC cognitive structure is linked to positive career decision variables (Tracey, 2008). Individuals using this structure showed greater career certainty, interest-occupation congruence, and career decision-making self-efficacy at the start of a career course compared to those not using it. Moreover, teaching this structure in a career course enhanced certainty, congruence, and self-efficacy by course completion for those who adopted the model.
Applying RIASEC Theory in Educational Counseling Practices
In this section, we examine Hutson’s (1958) five fundamental educational counseling functions and explore how Holland’s RIASEC theory can inform and enhance each of these practices, demonstrating concretely why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because of its practical applications. To effectively utilize a RIASEC perspective, counselors should have a solid understanding of Holland’s theory (Holland, 1997). Clients might complete the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1994) and review the Occupations Finder (Holland, 2000), Educational Opportunities Finder (Rosen, Holmberg, & Holland, 1997), and You and Your Career (Holland, 1994) booklets. These resources operationalize and explain the theory in accessible terms. Equipped with this foundational knowledge and these tools, counselors and clients can collaboratively address educational challenges and make informed decisions.
1. Choosing a College or School with RIASEC
The sheer number of educational and training options can be overwhelming. For example, Choices Planner (Bridges, 2009), examining just one state, identified 196 postsecondary institutions offering associate, bachelor’s, and professional degrees. This system allows selection based on criteria like school type (public, private), distance from a ZIP code, state regions, campus setting, tuition ranges, affiliations (women’s, religious), on-campus housing, and over 30 sports. Expanding the search to multiple states dramatically increases the options.
Interestingly, postsecondary school options are less abundant for Realistic and Conventional types. Smart et al. (2000) even excluded these areas from their study of baccalaureate colleges and universities. College-level occupations are less commonly associated with Conventional and Realistic categories, while Investigative and Artistic work are more frequently linked to higher education and advanced cognitive skills. Smart et al. found few college majors, faculty, or students categorized as Realistic or Conventional within their samples.
Further analysis of associate, bachelor’s, and professional programs in the Educational Opportunities Finder (EOF; Rosen et al., 1997) reveals distributions across RIASEC categories. Of the 750 programs listed in the EOF, 296 are at the associate level, 492 at the bachelor’s, and 645 at the professional level. With some programs offered at multiple levels, the total listed is 1,517. Figure 2 illustrates that proportionally more Realistic and Conventional programs are available at the associate level compared to bachelor’s and professional degrees. Conversely, professional degrees are more prevalent in the IAS categories. This suggests that vocational-technical schools and community colleges are more likely to offer programs in the Realistic and Conventional areas. Thus, RIASEC theory can guide school selection, especially for students aligned with these less-represented types, demonstrating why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it helps identify appropriate educational environments based on personality type.
Figure 2: Distribution of Programs of Study by RIASEC Categories and Degree Level. This chart shows the varying availability of academic programs across different degree levels (Associate, Bachelor’s, Professional) in relation to Holland’s RIASEC types, highlighting why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs for matching students to suitable educational pathways.
Authors (1996) documented this phenomenon, reporting that their postsecondary institution’s student body was predominantly S, E, and I types, creating an SEI-type school. They found that across 153 fields of study with 10,439 students with declared majors, the RIASEC distribution was: R, 5%; I, 19%; A, 13%; S, 34%; E, 19%; and C, 10%, resulting in an SEIACR student profile. Such a student population would find Conventional and Realistic types in the minority.
RIASEC theory informs college choice by providing a framework of six environments and assessing each environment’s priority and influence in socializing students. Students with Enterprising personalities might thrive in schools that reinforce these traits, and similarly for RIASC environments. The environmental aspect of RIASEC theory is key in educational counseling, offering a structured approach to guiding students toward suitable college environments and further illustrating why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because of this environmental focus.
2. Selecting an Academic Program or Major Using RIASEC
Choices Planner (Bridges, 2009) lists over 780 academic programs or majors for a single state. Large universities can offer hundreds of undergraduate majors, overwhelming students. Holland’s RIASEC schema simplifies this process by providing a categorization framework, making exploration and selection less daunting and demonstrating why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it simplifies complex choices.
Firstly, understanding RIASEC theory equips students with a schema for categorizing vast amounts of academic information. Table 1 illustrates this practically. Students pursuing bachelor’s degrees can be informed that most college majors are concentrated within Holland’s Investigative, Artistic, Social, and Enterprising areas (Smart et al., 2000), reducing hundreds of options to four primary areas.
Secondly, Smart et al.’s (2000) research on bachelor’s programs is based on the idea that “faculty create academic environments inclined to require, reinforce, and reward the distinctive patterns of abilities and interests of students in a manner consistent with Holland’s theory” (p. 96). Furthermore, “students are not passive participants in the search for academic majors and careers; rather, they actively search for and select academic environments that encourage them to develop further their characteristic interests and abilities and to enter (and be successful in) their chosen career fields” (p. 52). This empowers students to make informed choices, actively selecting environments aligning with their learning preferences and career aspirations and highlighting why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it emphasizes student agency and informed decision-making.
Thirdly, Smart et al. (2000) identified primary and secondary recruits in bachelor’s programs. Primary recruits are freshmen directly entering disciplines, while secondary recruits are those who change majors later. Their research found that two-thirds of freshmen (primary recruits) initially chose Social majors and persisted in that area over four years, while slightly over half in the Enterprising area persisted. Persistence rates in Artistic and Investigative areas were both around 64%. Overall, about two-thirds of freshmen persisted in their initial discipline, and about 30% changed areas.
Research from Smart and colleagues offers valuable insights to alleviate student anxiety about major selection. Instead of solely focusing on major-related occupations, students can consider the characteristics of IASE environments, prioritizing them based on their goals, interests, values, and skills. This understanding helps students seek program information detailing whether the program environment aligns with RIASEC characteristics, such as professor-student interactions, classroom activities, learning project types, and leadership styles. This nuanced approach to major selection underscores why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it moves beyond simple job matching to consider the broader learning environment.
3. Adjusting to College and Academic Programs Using RIASEC Insights
Faculty in IASE disciplines establish specialized academic environments shared by students in those majors. Smart et al. (2000) described the variability in socialization styles and environmental effects on student behavior and thinking, providing crucial insights for educational counseling and student major decisions. Understanding these environmental characteristics is essential for effective guidance and demonstrates why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it helps students anticipate and navigate the college environment.
Investigative environments prioritize developing analytical, mathematical, and scientific competencies, with less emphasis on character or career development. Faculty favor structured teaching, are subject-matter focused, and have specific course requirements, emphasizing exams and grades. This environment attracts the highest percentage of primary recruits.
Artistic environments focus on aesthetics, emotions, sensations, and the mind. The curriculum emphasizes literature and arts, and creative thinking. Faculty value character development, student freedom, and independent learning, employing varied instructional strategies.
Social environments have a strong community orientation, characterized by friendliness and warmth. Like Artistic environments, they value historical perspective and character development. Unlike Artistic environments, they also value humanitarian, teaching, and interpersonal competencies, supporting colleagueship and student independence, and using informal small group teaching.
Enterprising environments strongly emphasize career preparation and status acquisition. Faculty focus on leadership development, using social power for career goals, and striving for organizational and career success. Teaching strategies are balanced, but faculty prefer working with career-oriented students on specialized issues related to achievement.
Once a major is chosen and students interact with peers and faculty, they gain personal insights that necessitate adjustments for success. Smart et al. (2000) found that seniors in IASE areas were composed of 30–50% primary recruits and about half secondary recruits (major changers), meaning almost half of seniors ended up in an IASE discipline different from their initial choice.
Student migration patterns among these environments vary. Two-thirds of Artistic seniors were secondary recruits, not initially intending to major in art. About a third of Social area migrants came from Investigative, Enterprising, or undecided areas. Social environments appear most accepting and least demanding, with Social disciplines showing less impact on related interests and abilities. Students moving to Investigative areas often came from Enterprising areas, and vice versa, indicating a degree of similarity and transferability between these types. These migration patterns highlight the dynamic nature of major selection and further emphasize why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it helps counselors understand and guide students through these transitions.
Smart et al.’s (2000) findings reveal the fluidity of major selection and the heterogeneous nature of IASE environments regarding initial preferences. They also provide insights into student movement between IASE disciplines, informing educational planning about how these disciplines interact with different student types.
In summary, Smart et al. (2000) found that congruent students in Investigative, Artistic, and Enterprising environments enhanced their self-reported interests and abilities over four years, further developing existing traits. These environments also fostered related traits in incongruent students, but the gap between congruent and incongruent students persisted. Both groups made parallel changes in abilities and interests, but congruent students had higher levels at graduation. Investigative and Enterprising environments had the most significant impact on student characteristics. Communicating these findings in educational counseling can reshape discussions about college educational goals and demonstrates why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it allows for tailored advice based on environmental impact.
4. Assessing Academic Performance with RIASEC Considerations
Early in his career, Holland (1957) explored the influence of college on students, noting that personality traits and beliefs beyond aptitude are linked to success. Gottfredson (1999) highlighted that Holland’s early research showed that much of college outcomes related to pre-existing student characteristics. Holland argued that college selection heavily relying on academic potential measures overlooks significant talent. For instance, selecting the top 10% based solely on grades would exclude about 86% of high school class presidents (Enterprising types). The importance of noncognitive traits (like RIASEC personality types) in academic performance assessment is a key contribution of Holland’s theory and research, demonstrating why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it broadens the understanding of academic success beyond traditional metrics.
Academic success is measured by student persistence/institutional retention, GPA, student satisfaction, awards, program engagement, and long-term professional accomplishments. While all programs require cognitive skills, some emphasize RIASEC-related interests and abilities like creativity, leadership, and community service.
RIASEC theory suggests that students in highly congruent environments will persist, achieve, and gain recognition. Educational counseling should provide opportunities for students to clarify the implications of being in, moving to, or leaving environments that match their type or offer desired skill development. Achievement and satisfaction are theoretically linked to person-environment congruence, further reinforcing why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it provides a framework to predict and understand student success and satisfaction.
5. Connecting Education to Career and Life Decisions Through RIASEC
Holland’s RIASEC theory offers a simple yet effective framework for understanding people and their options—educational programs, occupations, work environments, leisure activities. Conceptualizing people and options within these six areas improves personal and career decision-making and highlights why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it offers a versatile and comprehensive decision-making tool.
For instance, students conducting informational interviews can structure questions and observations around RIASEC codes prevalent in the interviewee’s life or organizational setting. When considering job offers, students can assess person-organization fit using the RIASEC schema, particularly the alignment with their supervisor’s personality.
The UMaps project at the University of Maryland (Jacoby, Rue, & Allen, 1984) exemplifies RIASEC application to life/career options. This program, based in the Office of Commuter Affairs, helped students explore campus opportunities and resources related to RIASEC types. UMaps used posters and brochures with standardized layouts for each RIASEC type, including study areas, career possibilities, internships, volunteer options, and related student organizations. Each map included a RIASEC type description and a brief self-assessment. This demonstrates why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because of its practical application in resource organization and career exploration.
Reardon, Lenz, and Strausberger (1996) classified university majors using the Educational Opportunities Finder (Rosen et al., 1997) to assess career center client types and design interventions. For example, Realistic and Investigative students might prefer computer-assisted guidance systems like Choices Planner over individual counseling. Descriptive major information could include course structures, learning style expectations, faculty interests, program objectives, volunteer experiences, introductory classes, employment opportunities, and graduate profiles, all indexed by Holland codes. This illustrates why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it informs tailored interventions and resource allocation. Brochures and advising materials can incorporate Holland codes to broaden RIASEC application to life and career decisions.
Conclusion: The Enduring Value of Holland’s Typology in Career Guidance
This article has shown how educational counseling has become marginalized in traditional counseling, despite its continued relevance. While distinct from mental health and career counseling, modern career theories, particularly Holland’s RIASEC theory, can revitalize educational counseling to benefit students and schools. The extensive research on educational environments by Smart and colleagues (2000) demonstrates why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it provides a robust theoretical and empirical foundation for effective practice.
Educational counselors using RIASEC theory require thorough knowledge of the theory, supporting research, instruments, and derived counseling techniques. This theory-driven practice can represent a new paradigm in educational counseling. Holland’s (1997) theory is most effective when extremes of wealth, social class, genetics, and health are not dominant factors, suggesting it’s most broadly applicable to general student populations rather than those at the extremes of personal traits or circumstances.
RIASEC theory helps identify conditions and traits associated with educational decision-making difficulties. Authors (1998, 1999) and Holland, Gottfredson, and Nafziger (1975) indicated that poor diagnostic signs on the SDS (e.g., low congruence, differentiation, consistency, coherence, profile elevation, high Realistic/Conventional codes) suggest need for intensive counseling. This is a key area for trained educational counselors, differentiating them from academic advisors or coaches. Students with high Artistic codes might also need more support due to their preference for non-rational decision-making approaches (Holland et al., 1975). These diagnostic insights highlight why Holland’s typology is very useful in career guidance programs because it allows for early identification of students needing more intensive support.
Smart et al.’s (2000) research reveals academic department variations and implications for university systems. Counselors and staff should inform students about the impact of majors on interest and skill development. Beyond course requirements and career alignments, providing research-based information on how academic environments socialize students will empower them as informed “consumers” of majors and academic programs. Ultimately, understanding and applying Holland’s RIASEC typology is crucial for revitalizing and enhancing career guidance programs in educational settings, ensuring students receive the support they need to make informed and fulfilling educational and career choices.
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Robert C. Reardon, NCC, is Professor Emeritus and Sara C. Bertoch, NCC, is a career advisor, both at the Career Center at Florida State University. Correspondence can be addressed to Robert C. Reardon, Florida State University Career Center, PO Box 3064162, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, [email protected].
