Part 4 The PIC Model: Supporting Evidence

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

2. 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

3. 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?

4. 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

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

6. 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"

7. 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

8. Decidedness Increased No change Decreased Frequency 355 (50%) 266 (37%) 91 (13%) MPB 3.12 2.57 2.52 WR% 93.5 74.8 72.5 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) Measure

9. Decidedness After the Dialogue Decidedness Before the Dialogue 1 2 3 4 5 1- no direction 34 7 6 7 0 2 - only a general direction 41 66 15 9 5 3 - Client is considering a few specific alternatives 27 58 84 30 6 4 - would like to examine additional alternatives 23 51 35 54 6 5 - would like to collect information about a specific occupation 9 20 21 41 28 6 - sure which occupation to choose 3 0 1 9 16 Frequencies of Degree of Decidedness Before and after the Dialogue with MBCD

10. Decidedness Before the Dialogue with MBCD Decidedness After MBCD 1 2 3 4 5 1- no direction 38 14 17 29 -- 2 - only a general direction 85 73 67 67 100 3 - considering a few specific alternatives 100 93 82 97 100 4 - client would like to examine additional alternatives 100 92 100 82 100 5 - would like to collect information about a specific occupation 100 85 90 98 89 6 - Client is sure which occupation to choose 100 -- 100 100 81 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)

11. During the Process Prior to Engaging in the Process Lack of Readiness due to Inconsistent Information due to Lack of Information about Lack of motivation Indeci-siveness Dysfunc-tionalbeliefs Cdmprocess Self Occu- pations Internal conflicts Externalconflicts Ways of obtaining info. Taxonomy of Career Decision-Making Difficulties(CDDQ; Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996) Unreliable Info.

13. MBCD’s Effect onReducing Career Decision-Making Difficulties (d, Cohen, 1992)

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

15. 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

17. 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

18. 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)

19. Method • 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

20. ResultsFrequencies of Occupational Choice Satisfaction by Acceptance and Rejection of MBCD's Recommendations, Based on Sequential Elimination

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

22. 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

23. 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.

24. 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.

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

26. 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 DirectionsInternet site • Age: 17-30, mean=22.84 (median = 22, SD = 3.34) • Years of education: mean=12.67 (median 12, SD = 1.48)

27. Instruments • Future Directions(http://www.kivunim.com) • Making Better Career Decisions(MBCD, http://mbcd.intocareers.org) • The preference questionnaire:this questionnaire imitated the preference elicitation in MBCDParticipants were presented with 31 aspects, and were asked to rank-order them according to importance, and to report their preferences in all 31 aspects

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

29. 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

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

31. 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

32. 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 • MBCDis a unique combination of career information system, expert system, and a decision-support systembased on the rationale of PIC

33. 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

35. END • sofsof

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