The limited research on technicians has produced inconsistent results concerning
their job and career concerns. This study compares technician work values with
professionals and, through a need-environment congruity model, identifies
primary situational factors associated with varying levels of self-investment in
their occupational roles. In the sample site, the U.S. Forest Service, three
important concerns emerged from this assessment-opportunities for: structure
and feedback; job control; and personal growth and development. The contextu
ally flexible methodology employed in this study appears to have particular
utility in research which attempts to isolate critical individual-environment
conflicts in this heterogeneous occupational population.
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