DOCUMENT RESUME ED 246 239 CE 039 258 AUTHOR Gottfredson, Linda S. TITLE The Validity of an Occupational Classification Based on Job Competencies for Assessing Employability. INSTITUTION Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, Md. Center for Social Organization of Schools. SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE Jan 83 GRANT NIE-G-80-0013 NOTE 376p.; For a related document, see CE 039 257. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC16 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adults; Aptitude; Career Choice; Career Education; *Classification; *Employment Potential; Job Analysis; Job Placement; *Job Skills; *Occupational Information; *Occupations; Secondary Education; *Validity IDENTIFIERS *Skills Map ABSTRACT The Skills Map, a comprehensive classification of occupations based on their competency requirements, was developed to assess the employability of individuals and of various groups of individuals in different types of occupations. The data on which it was based were the ratings of required worker traits as given by the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). The practical and theoretical usefulness of the classification was examined according to seven criteria: valid job descriptors, comprehensive occupational coverage, comprehensive aptitude coverage, a comprehensible map of job differences, parallel assessment of people and jobs, a link to demographic data, and multiple levels of analysis. Data for job descriptor validity were positive but inadequate. The DOT ratings provided quite comprehensive coverage of jobs and reasonable coverage of academic and motor, but not interpersonal, aptitudes. Map structure was readily comprehensible. A way to assess jobs and people in parallel ways was not provided. The Skills Map was readily linked to demographic data available according to the Census Bureau's 1970 classification of occupations. It provided a global classification of occupations according to their general differences and additional detail about the aptitudes and activities that individual occupations require. (Appendixes amounting to approximately one-half of the report provide materials and data used in the analyses.) (YL8) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** (1 teN *411) C\J The Validity of an Occupational. Classification Based on Job Competencies For Assessing Employability Linda S. Gottfredson Center for Social Organization of Schools Johns Hopkins University January 1983 U.S. DEPARTMENT OP EDUCATION REPRODUCE THIS "PERMISSION TO BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SEEN GRANTED ED MATERIAL HAS EDUCATIONALRESOURCES(NFORMATJON CENTER IERICI ra,clOCUM:0111", biltn onooduced as tecamood Isom tee persona OlganitatIOn ootonattoti et Mtnot chootps kayo riaen made toonomoo trototlucoon qualeiy, ... RESOURCES ..po,nts 01 ale* 1'0 THEEDUCATIONAL oforations staled al thSfletew CENTER (MCI." mem Ho not necessanly teoceSetut °Shoal NIE INFORMATION pos.hon Or pokey 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the PAQ Services, Inc., for making some of their data available to us. Kimberly Penner and John Burke were of great assis- tance in preparing data for analysis and producing the tables and append- ices. This report is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Education under Grant Number NIE-G-80-0113.Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute or the Department of Education. 3 Abstract This report reviews the development of the Skills Map, a comprehensive classification of occupations based on their competency requirements. The purpose for which the classification was developed was to be able to assess the employability of individuals and of various groups of individuals in different types of occupations. The data on which it is based are the Dic- tionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) ratings of worker traits required. The bulk of the report is then devoted to examining the practical and theoretical usefulness of the classification according to seven criteria: job descriptors are valid, coverage of occupations is comprehensive, cover- age of aptitudes is comprehensive, the classification provides a comprehen- sible and meaningful map of job differences, people and jobs are assessed in parallel ways, demographic data can be directly linked to the classifi- cation, and multiple levels of analysis are included. Data for evaluating the Skills Map against the seven criteria were obtained from four major sources. Publications of the U.S. Employment Service provided data on aptitude patterns among individuals as assessed with the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATE), aptitude patterns among spe- cific occupations as profiled in over 400 Specific Aptitude Test Batteries (SATBs), and aptitude patterns among several dozen major groups of jobs (i.e., the USES's own 66-category GOE occupational classification) as sum- marized by occupational Aptitude Patterns (OAPs). Data from the archives of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) provided additional job descriptors for several thousand job titles. Data on competency require- ments among primarily high-level jobs were collected in a survey of several 4 hundred adult males. Data on 1970 employment by detailed occupational category were obtained from Census Bureau publications. Conclusions are that the Skills Map is potentially very useful for both practical and theoretical applications, but that modifications are needed. Specifically, (a) Data for the validity of the job descriptors is positive but more is needed. (b) The DOT ratings upon which the Skills Map is based provide quite comprehensive coverage of jobs in the U.S. economy. (c) The DOT provides reasonable coverage of academic (i.e., cognitive) and motor aptitudes but not of interpersonal ones. The PAQ contributes items on interpersonal activities, but they apply primarily to high-level jobs. Although the three dimensions of the Skills Map tap the major distinctions among the full range of jobs, the distinctions made by the "dealing with people" dimension should be modified. (d) The structure of the map is a readily comprehensible one. However, the apparent heterogeneity of some of the groups, much of it the result of variation along other dimensions of work (some competency-related and others not), may somewhat reduce the meaningfulness and acceptability of the classification to potential users. (e) The Skills Map does not provide a way to assess jobs and people in par- allel ways. Partial links to GATE scales and curricular content are pro- vided. (f) The Skills Map is readily linked to demographic data available according to the Census Bureau's 1970 classification of occupations. (g) The Skills Map provides a global classification of occupations according to their general differences. It also provides additional detail about the aptitudes and activities individual occupations require. A level of analy- sis intermediate to these two, which would provide "sub-maps" of competen- cies of secondary importance in several major sectors of work, would be desirable. Lower (i.e., more detailed) levels of description can be obtained by organizing studies of specific occupations or training programs according to the Skills Map structure. 6 Table of Contents ZEFII Introduction 1 Development of the Skills Map 2 Evaluation of the Skills Map 9 Criterion 1: Valid job descriptors. The classification should be based on reliable and valid data on the abilities required by jobs. 9 Type of job data 9 Reliability and validity of data 11 Distributions for the DOT aptitude ratings 14 Correlations among DOT Ratings and GATE scores for aptitudes 15 Criterion 2: Occupational coverage. The classification should provide comprehensive coverage of occupations the economy. 22 Criterion 3: Aptitude coverage. The classification should be based on information about worker traits required; all important types of job related competencies should be included and data not directly relevant to worker competencies should be excluded. 25 Job-oriented, worker-oriented, vs. attribute requirements data 25 Factor analyses of more- vs. less-relevant DOT data 28 DOT and PAQ coverage of academic, motor, and interpersonal competencies 30 Aptitude factors in high-level work as revealed by the Gilman data 31 Criterion 4: Comprehensible map. The classification should provide a meaningful and readily comprehensible map for grasping the major differences among the competencies required by different jobs. 37 Rational vs. empirical methods and face validity 37 Comparison of the Skills Map to the USES occupational classification 42 Criterion 5: Parallel assessment. The classification should be directly linked to a way of assessing whether individuals possess required job competencies. 58 Linkage to GATE Scales 58 Specification of the practical meaning of the ROT scales used in creating the Skills Map 59 Criterion 6: Link to demographic data. It should be possible to link the classification of job demands to employment statistics or demographic data about workers. 64 Criterion 7: Multiple levels of analysis. The classification should incorporate several levels of analysis so as to allow several Levels of decision making (from broad to narrow) and to allow linkage with other materials developed at various levels of specificity.