From Parsons’ “True Reasoning” to Models and Applications in Career Decision Making Itamar Gati The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Presented at the Symposium (Paul Gore Chair) Spotlight on Science: Contributions from Vocational Psychology

Parsons (1908) Zytowski (2008)

Prior to Engaging in the Process Possible Focuses of Career Decision-Making Difficulties (Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996) Prior to Engaging in the Process Lack of Readiness due to Lack of motivation Indeci-siveness Dysfunc-tional beliefs During the Process Lack of Information about Cdm process Self Occu- pations Ways of obtaining info. Inconsistent Information due to Unreliable Info. Internal conflicts Externalconflicts

The Empirical Structure of CDM Difficulties (CDDQ, N=10,000) Lack of motivation Indecisiveness Dysfunctional beliefs Lack of info regarding the Cdm process Lack of info about the Self Lack of info about Occupations Lack of info about Ways of obtaining info. Unreliable Info. Internal conflicts External conflicts

www.cddq.org

The 4 Stages of Interpretation 1 Evaluating Credibility Not Credible Doubtful Credible 2 Estimating Differentiation Low Questionable High 3 Locate Salient Difficulties Aggregate Reasons to Add Reservation (RAR) Compute Informativeness (B /W ) B/W < 1 RAR = 3 B/W > 1 RAR ≤ 2 4 Add Reservation to Feedback Receives Feedback No Feedback

The distribution of types of feedback in 4 groups (N=6192)

Conclusions The incorporation of an intermediate level of discrimination increases the usefulness of the feedback and decreases the chances and implications of potential errors Adding reservations when appropriate is essential for providing a meaningful feedback and decreasing the chances of misleading conclusions

Among the salient difficulties is: lack of information about the career decision-making process (4) Three Levels of Difficulties (negligible, moderate, salient difficulty) in the Ten Difficulty Categories and the Four Groups (N = 6192; H-Hebrew, E-English, p-paper and pencil, I-Internet) LP

MBCD Making Better Career Decisions MBCD is an Internet-based career planning system that is a unique combination of a career-information system a decision-making support system an expert system Based on the rationale of the PIC model, MBCD is designed to help deliberating individuals make better career decisions

Making Better Career Decisions http://mbcd.intocareers.org

MBCD’s Effect (Cohen’s d) on Reducing Career Decision-Making Difficulties (Gati, Saka, & Krausz, 2003)

Frequencies of Occupational Choice Satisfaction by “Acceptance” and “Rejection” of MBCD's Recommendations (Gati, Gadassi, & Shemesh, 2006)

Gender Differences in Directly Elicited and Indirectly Derived Preferred Occupations (226 Women + 79 Men, Mean Age=23; Gadassi & Gati, 2008) Data from participant: 2. Preferences in 31 career-related aspects 1. Directly Elicited list of preferred occupations 5. comparison Occupational information database 3. Matching preferences & database 4. Indirectly Derived list of recommended occupations MBCD

Gender Differences in Directly Elicited and Indirectly Derived Preferred Occupations (Gadassi & Gati, 2008) masculine feminine

www.cddq.org itamar.gati@huji.ac.il

The Four Stages of Interpretation Ascertaining Credibility, using validity items and the time required to fill out the questionnaire Estimating Differentiation based on the standard deviation of the 10 difficulty-scale scores Locating the salient, moderate, or negligible difficulties, based on the individual's absolute and relative scale scores Determining the confidence in the feedback and the need to add reservations to it (based on doubtful credibility, partial differentiation, or low informativeness)

Criteria for Testing the Benefits of Making Better Career Decisions Examine users' perceptions of MBCD   Examine changes in user’s decision status Examine perceived benefits Locate factors that contribute to these variables

Decision Status Before and After the “Dialogue” with MBCD (N=712) Before the dialogue 1 2 3 4 5 1- no direction 34 7 6   2 - only a general direction 41 66 15 9 3 - considering a few specific alternatives 27 58 84 30 4 - would like to examine additional alternatives 23 51 35 54 5 - would like to collect information about a specific occupation 20 21 28 6 - sure which occupation to choose 16

Predictive Validity of MBCD (Gati, Gadassi, & Shemesh, 2006) Design: Comparing the Occupational Choice Satisfaction (OCS) of two groups six years after using MBCD : those whose present occupation was included in MBCD’s recommended list (44%) those whose present occupation was not included in MBCD’s recommended list (56%) Method Participants 73 out of 123 counseling clients were located after six+ years; 70 agreed to participate in the follow-up: 44 women (64%) and 26 men (36%), aged 23 to 51 (mean = 28.4, SD = 5.03)

Summary of Major Findings PIC is compatible with people’s intuitive ways of making decisions (Gati & Tikotzki, 1989) Most users report progress in the career decision-making process (Gati, Kleiman, Saka, & Zakai, 2003) Satisfaction was also reported among those who did not progress in the process Users are “goal-directed” – the closer they are to making a decision, the more satisfied they are with MBCD The list of “recommended” occupations is less influenced by gender stereotypes (Gadassi & Gati, 2008)