Factors and Effects of Self-Acknowledgment of Vocational Strength: An Empirical Analysis using the "Survey on the Working Style of Those in Their 30s" (Japanese)

The aim of this paper is to examine how working people acknowledge their own vocational strength, using data from the "Survey on the Working Style of Those in Their 30s." Main findings are: 1) The acknowledged strengths can be classified into "skills/qualifications" and "communication/behavior"; 2) While both types of strength have been formed mostly within workplaces,"skills/qualifications" is more likely to be formed within educational institutions, especially in the case of women; 3) Men who work longer hours or who engage in managerial, secretarial, service and sales jobs, and women who earn lower wage have tendency to acknowledge "communication/behavior" as their strengths. Men and women who engage in professional or technical jobs and women with higher education or with higher income tend to acknowledge "skills/qualifications" as their strengths; and 4) Self-acknowledgement of "communication/behavior" tends to accompany men's rise intention and women's preference for non-regular jobs. Self-acknowledgement of "skills/qualifications" tends to accompany an inclination to improve their specialty or to make contributions to others and the attitudes of successful careers. These findings imply that self-acknowledgement of "skills/qualifications" might be effective for career formation, especially for women.