Economic Geography Geographies of Occupational Attainment National Science Foundation
$130,000, 9/1/01 - 8/31/03 (and continuing)
(PI: J.W. Harrington)
This research takes an institutional approach to the individual's gaining and using occupation-specific skills, and to the local availability of occupation-specific labor (through training and through migration). The preparatory and geographic paths toward a given occupation should vary across institutional contexts and personal and employer characteristics; and the mix of employer characteristics and institutional contexts vary systematically across places (metropolitan areas, in this research project). The objective of the research project is to compare the sources (by type andlocation) of computer programmers' training across regions, industrial sectors, and personal characteristics. (1) Research questions will first be investigated using secondary data (primarily from the U.S. Census) for all Metropolitan Statistical Areas of the U.S. (the "case" or unit of analysis will be the metropolitan area): local rates of occupational attainment will be related to relevant economic, educational, and social variables; the proportion of self-identified programmers who made an inter-county move in the previous five years will be related to relevant variables. (2) A second component of the project entails primary research in five mid-sized metropolitan areas with a high proportion of programmers. Two data-collection strategies will be used in the second component. (2.a.) First, secondary statistical sources and archival sources will provide background information on issues of programmer labor supply, demand, and training. In addition to creating local-context data, this process will be the source of contacts for interviews. (2.b.) Second, interviews will be conducted. The first round will be with key employers of programmers and leaders of local professional organizations and workers' organizing groups. The second round will interview employees who are identified and self-identify as programmers, whether or not they are currently employed as such. The key questions (for observation and inquiry) are: sex and race; current employment arrangement and tenure; approximate age and location at which the individual gained original training as a programmer; motivations for occupational and locational choices; earlier careers and parents' occupations; and incidence and sponsorship of further training. The information from both types of interviews will be used to relate local characteristics of labor-force size, employer size, employment practices, and growth rates to the locations and ways in which programmers gained and maintained their skills.
