Assessment in Career Counseling PSY 504: Psychological Measurement

Career Assessment Origins of assessment in career counseling can be traced back to Frank Parsons “Test and tell” approach not reflective of current status of career assessment Purpose is to gather information to facilitate decision making by counselor/client

Assessing Individual Differences Interests Abilities/skills Values

Interests Often used in career counseling because they can be helpful in describing individual’s general occupational interests Counselors can also assess interests by using measures of expressed and manifest interests Expressed interests – asking clients about their interests, which can be a useful indicator of vocational interests Manifest interests – interests identified by examining how clients choose to spend their time and the activities they select Interest inventories have been found to promote career exploration and connect the client’s interests to specific occupations Strong interests do not guarantee occupational success; these instruments do not provide an indication of ability Interests can be good predictors of career direction

Interests Interest inventories have been found to promote career exploration and connect the client’s interests to specific occupations Some common interest inventories: Strong Interest Inventory Career Assessment Inventory Self-Directed Search Kuder instruments Kuder Occupational Interest Survey Kuder General Interest Survey

Interests Strong Interest Inventory One of the most widely used, researched, and respected instruments; not only in career counseling, but also counseling in general Designed to assist counselors in facilitating the identification of interest patterns and examining where the client has interests similar to those working in various occupations Compares individuals’ responses to items with the response patterns of people in different occupations Appropriate for high school students, college students, and adults There are six sections that address preferences in: Occupations, subject areas, activities, leisure activities, people, and their characteristics

Abilities/Skills Assessment of abilities and skills are often conducted to identify occupational possibilities in which the client could be successful Aptitude tests are often used in career counseling because they are good predictors of occupational success Important for counselors to verify aptitude assessment results with other information (e.g., interest inventory) Some common abilities/skills inventories: Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Campbell Interest and Skills Survey Skills Confidence Inventory Perception of one’s capabilities in performing the necessary activities – i.e., self-efficacy

Values Work values are more highly correlated than interest with work satisfaction No inventory is inclusive of all possible values Clients may value something that is not assessed on the instrument being used Counselors need to supplement the use of a values inventory with an exploration of other possible values Some common values inventories: Minnesota Importance Questionnaire Values Scale Measures both work-related values and general values Salience Inventory Focuses on roles valued by individuals

Career Choice Process Career Decision-Making Career Maturity Other Career Choice Process Measures

Career Decision-Making There is a difference between experiencing normal developmental undecidedness and indecisiveness Undecided means the client has not yet made a career decision Indecisiveness indicates chronic problems with indecision Some common career decision-making inventories: Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale Measures the confidence individuals have in their ability to make career decisions Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire Constructed to measure a theory-based taxonomy of decision-making difficulties

Career Maturity The “extent to which the individual has mastered the vocational tasks, including both knowledge and attitudinal components, appropriate to his or her stage of career development” (Betz, 1988, p. 80) Measures the client’s level of readiness for mastering career development tasks (i.e., identify limitations or deficiencies) Can also be used as an evaluation to determine if career counseling has increased the client’s career maturity Some common career maturity inventories: Adult Career Concerns Inventory Career Maturity Inventory

Qualitative Career Assessment According to Goldman (1990): Qualitative assessment is not standardized tests that usually yield quantitative scores and norm-based interpretation Tends to foster a more active role for the client rather than a more passive interpretation of the results provided Emphasizes a holistic study of the individual compared with relying on more discrete measure of human constructs such as interest, abilities, and personalities Also important to assess and examine the relational influence in career assessment because work and important relationships (e.g., relationships with family members) are complexly interwoven constructs, and sometimes relational influences are ignored

Issues and Trends in Career Assessment Gender and Career Assessment Ethnic and Cultural Differences in Career Assessment

Gender and Career Assessment Interest inventories typically use questions that are reflective of differential experiences It is suggested that same-sex norms should be used rather than combined norms Would increase the likelihood of nontraditional interests being identified Use of less-structured assessment methods has been suggested as a supplement to structured interest inventories This would allow to more easily incorporate discussion of gender and cultural issues Interpretation should be in line with the “opportunity dominance” rather than “socialization dominance” approach The opportunity dominance approach emphasizes that low interest scores may be a reflection of an individual’s restricted learning experiences and opportunities and that new interests can develop if individuals are exposed to new experiences

Gender and Career Assessment Important to examine both internal and external barriers External barriers – gender-role stereotypes, obstacles in educational systems, lack of role models, and the “null environment” Null environment – women in higher education are often neither supported nor encouraged; thus, women are in an environment that is void of assistance Internal barriers – low self-efficacy, performance anxiety, and lower aspirations and expectancies (often due to the socialization process)

Ethnic and Cultural Differences in Career Assessment Cultural validity vs. cultural specificity Cultural validity – addresses the concept of whether instruments that have been developed primarily from a Eurocentric perspective can be used with clients from other cultural backgrounds Cultural specificity – concerns the extent to which variables, such as worldview, cultural identity, communication style, and decision-making preferences, are addressed in the assessment process Recent research has provided some support for traditional methods of assessing career interests by indicating that individuals from diverse ethnic groups use the same cognitive map or structure of preference when examining career interests