Do gender, ethnicity and education affect people’s ability to get jobs that fit their interests?

In a study published in Applied Psychology, researchers investigated the degree to which people can obtain jobs that fit their interests (called vocational interest fit), with the goal of identifying any differences in fit across race/ethnicity, gender, and education.

The study included a diverse sample of more than 250,000 American employees. Overall, employees showed moderate positive vocational interest fit with their jobs. There were small gender differences in vocational interest fit favoring men, especially white and Hispanic men, with minimal differences across other race/ethnicity groups.

Considerable differences were observed regarding education, however. Employees with higher educational attainment showed greater vocational interest, particularly among women.

“This research is an important catalyst for better understanding whether all people can obtain jobs they find interesting,” said corresponding author Alexis Hanna, Ph.D., MS, of the University of Nevada, Reno. “Vocational interest fit is an under-studied avenue of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, particularly with respect to intersectional aspects of people’s identities, so more research should continue to investigate barriers that hinder people from obtaining their most desired jobs.”