From Parsons’ “True Reasoning” to Models and Applications in Career Decision Making

1. From Parsons’ “True Reasoning” toModels 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

2. Parsons (1908) Zytowski (2008)

3. During the Process Prior to Engaging in the Process Lack of Readinessdue to InconsistentInformationdue to Lack of Informationabout Lack of motivation Indeci-siveness Dysfunc-tionalbeliefs Cdmprocess Self Occu- pations Unreliable Info. Internal conflicts Externalconflicts Ways of obtaining info. Possible Focuses of Career Decision-Making Difficulties (Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996)

4. 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

5. www.cddq.org

8. The 4 Stages of Interpretation 1 Not Credible Evaluating Credibility Doubtful Credible Estimating Differentiation 2 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 Add Reservation to Feedback Receives Feedback No Feedback 4

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

10. Conclusions • The incorporation of an intermediate level of discriminationincreases the usefulness of the feedback and decreases the chances and implications of potential errors • Addingreservationswhen appropriate is essential for providing a meaningful feedback and decreasing the chances of misleading conclusions

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

12. 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, MBCDisdesigned to help deliberating individuals make better career decisions

13. Making Better Career Decisionshttp://mbcd.intocareers.org

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

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

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

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

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

20. The Four Stages of Interpretation • Ascertaining Credibility,using validityitems and the time required to fill out the questionnaire • Estimating Differentiationbased on the standard deviation of the 10 difficulty-scale scores • Locating thesalient,moderate, or negligibledifficulties,based onthe individual's absolute and relative scale scores • Determiningthe confidence in the feedback andthe need to addreservationsto it (based on doubtful credibility, partial differentiation, or low informativeness)

21. Criteria for Testing the Benefits ofMaking 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

22. After the dialogue 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 - 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 Decision StatusBefore and After the “Dialogue” with MBCD (N=712)

23. 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 wasincluded in MBCD’s recommended list (44%) • those whose present occupation wasnot 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)

24. Summary of Major Findings • PICis 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)