Parson’s Motivation
Parsons believed that immigration constituted a drag on the advancement of society industrially. Parsons and others observed that too many individuals, especially European immigrants, were being economically and socially wasted “due to the failure of the overly academic school system to come to terms with the new industrial society, which caused students to drop out into the world of work. This not only hurt the individual, but also made the factory inefficient.
From 1894 to 1904 parsons devoted much of his effort to reforming industries, in terms of occupational conditions. During this time period he did not focus on the individual’s vocational needs.
He gained a positive view of vocational education when he was professor at Kansas State University (1897 and 99).
In 1905 Parsons turned from the reform of the industry to the reform of the individuals who would work in it.