Outline

1. Outline • Career counseling • Measuring vocational interests • Issues in measurement • Trait factor approach • Other approaches

2. Career counseling • Until about 100 years ago, this concept didn’t exist • Your job was what your father’s job had been (if you were a boy) – specified by your surname • If you were a girl, you would become someone’s wife or servant

3. What changed? Agricultural equipment Fewer workers needed on farms because new machines vastly increased productivity Career counseling

4. What changed? Industrial revolution – More workers needed in cities where they lost touch with ancestral occupation Jobs involving machinery were mentally challenging Career counseling

5. What changed? 19th and early 20th C immigration to North America from Europe Immigrants lost touch with ancient lifestyles, fathers’ occupations Likely to be people who were not afraid of change Career counseling

6. What changed? Development of roads leading into cities throughout USA Built by large railroads, so people could get from farms into cities, to train stations Let rural children get to city schools to be educated Career counseling

7. While all this was going on, North Americans were becoming more productive and thus wealthier They could afford to educate their children They could also afford to develop a psychological testing industry to guide career choices Career counseling

8. Frank Parsons (1854 – 1908) • Created the profession of vocational counselor • First proponent of matching people to occupations by comparing person’s aptitude and skills occupation demands • Opened first counseling office, in Boston (1908)

9. Three principles we still use today: Satisfying careers are most likely to be selected if you know your own strengths and weaknesses Frank Parsons (1854 – 1908)

10. Three principles we still use today: Satisfying careers are most likely to be selected if you understand the challenges particular careers present and the skills they demand. Frank Parsons (1854 – 1908)

11. Three principles we still use today: It is not enough to know your strengths and to know an occupation’s demands – you must also match the two carefully and honestly. Frank Parsons (1854 – 1908)

12. Online resources you might find useful • O*Net Online • Myskillsprofile • Jackson Vocational Interest Survey • Career Centre at Western

13. Measuring vocational interests • The Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) • The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) • The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS) • Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS) • Jackson Vocational Interest Survey (JVIS)

14. Many of the inventories we consider here measure interests rather than abilities They should be used as part of the process of career counseling They may be most useful for getting people to consider new possibilities Cautionary notes

15. Edward Strong (1884 – 1963) B.S. (Biology) 1906 UC Ph.D. 1911 (Columbia) Professor at Stanford from 1923 Vocational Interests of Men and Women (1944) The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

16. First published in 1927 Originally 420 items reflecting 10 Occupational Scales New editions in 1938 and 1946 1960 Basic Interest scales added 1974 Holland Codes added 1994 Strong Interest Inventory (now 317 items) The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

17. Criterion keying – begin by identifying the likes and dislikes of many people in different occupations Then, to use the scale with a new person, match that person’s interests with interests of a criterion group The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

18. Measurement: Scales from like to dislike Measure frequency of interest in an activity for a given occupational group relative to frequency in the population The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

19. Findings: Patterns of interest remain stable over time Interests largely established by the time you are 17 years old The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

20. Basic interest scale Identifies groups of occupations that share some qualities that you might be interested in Gives a general direction – e.g., “You should work with people” The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

21. Occupational scale 211 occupations Separate scales for men and women The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

22. Personal style scale Prefer to work alone or with people? Practical knowledge or learning for its own sake? The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

23. Personal style scale Careful or quick decision making? Risk-taking? Team orientation (achieve goals by working with others)? The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

24. Criticisms: Sex bias No theory Strengths: High reliability High validity The Strong Vocational Interest Blank

25. Highest reliability and validity of any interest inventory Assesses interests among a wide variety of hobbies, academic subjects, work activities, occupations Sample for comparisons – includes impressive variety of ethnic, social, and educational backgrounds Strong Vocational Interest Blank

26. Internal consistency reliability in high .80s Test-retest reliability (up to 6 months between tests) in .80s Strong Vocational Interest Blank

27. Campbell continued development of Strong’s SVIB Most widely used interest test No sex bias Included J. L. Holland’s theory of vocational choice. The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

28. Test taker responds to each item: Like, Dislike, or Indifferent Yields 4 different scores Holland’s Personality Types Administration Basic Interests Occupational The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

29. Holland: Occupational interests reflect interaction between your personality and environment. People seek an environment that offers right kind of problems and roles, respects their values, lets them use their abilities The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

30. Holland – 6 personality types: Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

31. Holland – another set of labels that may help you remember the different types Doer (R) Thinker (I) Creator (A) Helper (S) Persuader (E) Organizer (C) The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

32. Realistic Less social Like the outdoors Like manual activities Physically robust Practical Non-intellectual The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

33. Investigative Interested in people more than ideas Not very social Dislikes emotional situations Appears aloof The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

34. Artistic Creative Enjoy developing ideas Enjoy expression Dislike conformity Comfortable with ambiguity Not especially skilled socially The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

35. Social Like to work with other people Helping orientation Nurturing The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

36. Enterprising People oriented Goal oriented May seek to dominate others Good at coordinating work of others The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

37. Conventional Does best in highly structured situations and jobs Good with details Like clerical tasks, working with numbers Doesn’t like working with ideas or people The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

38. E C S R Data A I People Things Ideas Holland’s RIASEC Hexagon Prediger’s two underlying dimensions

39. 1992 Also uses Holland’s theoretical structure Extroversion and academic focus scales Assesses skill as well as interest The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey

40. Depending on combination of degree of interest and skill, the test-taker is advised to: Pursue (high interest, high skill) Develop (HI,LS) Explore (LI,HS) Avoid (LI,LS) The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey

41. Second most widely used interest test Criterion keying method Measure = 100 triads of alternative activities For each triad, select most/least preferred Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

42. Dependability Interest Scores Relation of interest patterns to norms of men and women Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

43. Occupation Scores Relation to scores of men and women employed and satisfied in certain occupations Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

44. College major scores Relation to scores of students in different college majors Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

45. Matches people to academic or career fields based on their interests 289 pairs of statements describe job activities Forced choice for each pair Does not compare scores to those of people happy in their occupation Yields 34 basic interest scores Predicts university majors more accurately than most inventories Jackson Vocational Interest Survey

46. Basic Interest Scales – some examples (not a complete list): Creative Arts Physical Science Engineering Life Science Social Science Adventure Nature-Agriculture Skilled Trades Jackson Vocational Interest Survey

47. General occupational themes (G.O.T.) Assertive Communicative Conventional Enterprising Expressive Helping Inquiring Logical Practical Socialized Jackson Vocational Interest Survey

48. Internal consistency reliability (alpha)  .54 to .88. Test-retest reliability (4 to 6 weeks)  .69 to .92. JVIS – Basic Interest Scales Reliability

49. Internal consistency reliability (alpha)  .70 to 92. Test-retest reliability (4 to 6 weeks)  .83 to .93 JVIS – G.O.T. Reliability

50. Criterion keying, no theoretical base Aimed at men not oriented towards college Emphasizes skilled/semi-skilled trades Yields basic interest and occupational scores Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory