Part 4 The PIC Model: Supporting Evidence or: Does it really work?

Evaluating Prescriptive Decision Models Descriptive models are evaluated by their empirical validity Normative models by their theoretical adequacy Prescriptive models are evaluated by their pragmatic value – their ability to facilitate individuals' decision-making

Evaluating Prescriptive Decision Models The basic assumption: the right process increases the probability of choosing the best option The evaluation of the model should examine:  Does the model improve individuals' decision-making processes?  Does it lead to greater occupational satisfaction in the future?  Do individuals generalize the model and apply it to future career decisions?

Prescreening Based on Elimination: Descriptive Validity (Gati & Tikotzki,1989) The monitored dialogues of 384 career counselees with a computer-assisted career information system were analyzed. Results: most users (96%) employed a non- compensatory strategy during all or at least a part of the dialogue: many options considered at a previous stage of the dialogue were not considered at the following stage, showing that individuals tend to use a prescreening strategy based on eliminating alternatives

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

Method - Participants 247 males and 465 females who filled out both a pre-dialogue and a post-dialogue questionnaire Mean age 22.8; mean years of education 12.6  4% high-school students  6% recent graduates from high school  58% recently completed their military service  9% considering an alternative to their current major  3% college graduates deliberating a job choice  8% considering a career transition  12% "other"

Method - Instruments "Future Directions"- Israeli web site (in Hebrew) Pre-dialogue questionnaire (prerequisite to access the system) MBCD - Making Better Career Decisions (mean dialogue time = 40 minutes, SD=25) Post-dialogue questionnaire

Mean Perceived Benefit (MPB) and Willingness to Recommend (WR) the Use of MBCD to a Friend (%) as a Function of the Difference in Decidedness after the Dialogue of MBCD (N=712) Decidedness IncreasedNo changeDecreased Frequency 355 (50%) 266 (37%) 91 (13%) MPB WR% Measure

Frequencies of Degree of Decidedness Before and after the Dialogue with MBCD Decidedness After the Dialogue Decidedness Before the Dialogue no direction only a general direction Client is considering a few specific alternatives would like to examine additional alternatives would like to collect information about a specific occupation sure which occupation to choose

Willingness to Recommend (WR) the Use of MBCD to a friend as a Function of the Degree of Decidedness Before and After the Dialogue with MBCD (N=712) Decidedness Before the Dialogue with MBCD Decidedness After MBCD no direction only a general direction considering a few specific alternatives client would like to examine additional alternatives would like to collect information about a specific occupation Client is sure which occupation to choose

Taxonomy of Career Decision-Making Difficulties (CDDQ; 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 Internal conflicts External conflicts Unreliable Info.

MBCD’s Effect on Reducing Career Decision-Making Difficulties (d, Cohen, 1992) dScale Lack of Readiness Motivation General indecisiveness Dysfunctional Beliefs Lack of Information About The Process The Self Occupational Alternatives Additional Sources Inconsistent Information Unreliable Information Internal Conflicts External Conflicts.65Total CDDQ

MBCD’s Effect (d, Cohen, 1992 ) on Reducing Career Decision-Making Difficulties (Gati, Saka, & Krausz, 2003)

Monitoring the Dialogue Evaluating the input  The 3 facets of preferences (relative importance of aspect, optimal level, willingness to compromise)  Crystallization of preferences (differentiation, consistency, coherence) Evaluating the process  Which options were used and in what order (almost compatible, additional search, why not? what if? Compare occupations, similar occupations) Evaluating the outcome (list of career alternatives)  The number of alternatives on the list  The similarity among the alternatives on the list

Predictive Validity of MBCD Design: Comparing the Occupational Choice Satisfaction (OCS) of two groups:  those whose chosen occupation was included in MBCD’s recommended list  those whose chosen occupation was not included in MBCD’s recommended list

Method - Participants The original sample included 123 clients who used MBCD in 1997, as part of their counseling at the Hadassah Career-Counseling Institute Out of the 73 that 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)

Instruments  MBCD  Questionnaire: clients were asked to report their field of studies, their satisfaction with their occupational choice (scale of 1 – 9): “low” (1-4), “moderate” (5-7), “high” (8-9) Procedure  the located clients were interviewed by phone, six+ years after visiting the career- counseling center Method

Results Frequencies of Occupational Choice Satisfaction by Acceptance and Rejection of MBCD's Recommendations, Based on Sequential Elimination

Frequencies of Occupational Choice Satisfaction by the Search-Model Whose Recommendations Were Accepted

Conclusions Accepting the recommendations of the sequential-elimination-based search of MBCD produces the best outcomes (i.e., highest levels of satisfactions with the occupation) The data does not support the effectiveness of the compensatory-based search The data does not support any advantage of using the conjunction list over using only the sequential-elimination-search list

Alternative Explanations Differences in the lengths of the lists No difference was found in the OCS between clients whose list included 15 or fewer occupations and clients whose list included more than 15 occupations. Therefore, this explanation can be ruled out.

Alternative Explanations (cont.) Clients who accepted MBCD’s recommendations are more compliant, and therefore more inclined to report a high level of satisfaction. However, following the compensatory-model- based recommendations did not contribute to the OCS. Therefore, this explanation can be ruled out too.

Conclusion Following the recommendations of the sequential-elimination-based search of MBCD produces the best outcome

Gender Differences in Directly and Indirectly Elicited Career-Related Preferences (Gadassi & Gati, 2007) Method  Participants: 226 females (74.1%) and 79 males (25.9%) who entered the Future Directions Internet site Age: 17-30, mean=22.84 (median = 22, SD = 3.34) Years of education: mean=12.67 (median 12, SD = 1.48)

Instruments Future Directions ( Making Better Career Decisions (MBCD, The preference questionnaire: this questionnaire imitated the preference elicitation in MBCD Participants were presented with 31 aspects, and were asked to rank-order them according to importance, and to report their preferences in all 31 aspects

Preliminary analysis Lists of occupations. We used MBCD to generate three lists of occupations according to: 1. sequential-elimination 2. compensation and, for 235 participants, 3. the list based on the conjunction between the sequential elimination and the compensatory search lists

Preliminary analysis Determining the degree of gender-ratings of occupations was based on the judgments of 10 undergraduate students.  1 – “most (that is, over 80%) of the individuals who work in this occupation are women”  5 – “most (that is, over 80%) of the individuals who work in this occupation are men – over 80%"  The inter-judge reliability was.96 We computed the mean gender-ratings of the lists of occupations for each participants

Gender Differences in Directly and Indirectly Elicited Preferred Occupations (Gadassi & Gati, 2007)

MBCD - Summary of Major Findings Most users reported progress in the career decision- making process 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 the MBCD Using the MBCD contributed to a decrease in career decision-making difficulties related to a lack of information Following the MBCD’s advice doubled the probability of high occupational choice satisfaction 6 years later PIC is compatible with people’s intuitive ways of making decisions

Summary of Workshop Career counseling may be viewed as decision counseling, which aims at promoting making better career decisions The PIC model facilitates the complex process of career choice by separating it into a sequence of well-defined tasks MBCD is a unique combination of career information system, expert system, and a decision-support system based on the rationale of PIC

Summary of Workshop (cont.) The use of the PIC model (and MBCD) contributes to: progress in the decision process, reduction in decision-making difficulties, and higher occupational satisfaction in the future PIC and MBCD can be incorporated into career-counseling interventions

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Results: Compared Means of the Femininity- Masculinity Score According to Type of List and Gender