A 1987 study, which involved 26 male and 805 female early childhood workers from 85 center-based programs in 20 states, was conducted to develop a social-ecological perspective on professional orientation and job satisfaction and on structural components of early childhood programs. Professional orientation is characterized by a person's emphasis on growth/change, knowledge-based skill, decision-making autonomy, reference-group orientation, goal achievement, and loyalty to clients/professional associates. Central to this social-ecological perspective is the "goodness of fit" between the person's needs and the setting's demands. The sample included 242 classroom assistants, 473 teachers or head teachers, and 116 administrators or supervisors. A five-page questionnaire was developed to measure the structural components of program size, legal structure, and type as well as the professional orientation of the centers and each person. Results confirm that persons are clearly influenced by the professional orientation of their work environment. However, further analysis is needed to understand the interaction effects of different combinations of the structural components if the results would be similar when controlling for the persons' role. (TJH)