Distinguishing Developmental From Chronic Career Indecision: Self-Efficacy, Autonomy, and Social Support

Career indecision can be divided into two categories: developmental and chronic indecision. The former is generally viewed as a developmentally normal problem resulting from a lack of information on the self and on the world of work, whereas the latter is defined as a pervasive inability to make a decision about one’s career. The goals of the present study were to test the validity of this typology of career indecision and to explain these types of indecision as a function of self-efficacy, autonomy, and support from parents and friends. Based on a 3-year longitudinal design with college students ( N = 325), results provided validity for this typology by revealing the presence of two indecision groups (chronically undecided and developmentally undecided) and a group of students who are decided. In addition, results indicated that self-efficacy and autonomy are important dimensions that make it possible to distinguish between these three groups.

Examining the Process and Outcome of Career Counseling for Different Types of Career Counseling Clients

Using cluster analysis, we identified two types of career counseling clients: (a) Clients with moderate levels of career-related distress, discomfort, and uncertainty and (b) clients with high levels of career concerns, personal distress, and stigma about career counseling. The more distressed group expressed lower evaluations of a career counseling session and perceived their counselors as providing fewer action-oriented counseling skills than the less distressed group. No differences emerged in terms of client's perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. The practical implications and limitations of these results are discussed.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Career Factors Inventory on a Community College Sample

A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS 4.0 to validate the 21- item Career Factors Inventory on a community college student sample. The multidimensional inventory assesses types and levels of career indecision antecedents. The sample consisted of 512 ethnically diverse freshmen students; 46% were men and 54% were women. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 50 ( M= 19.3, SD= 3.43). Goodness-of-fit statistics revealed that a minor revision of the four-factor structure proposed by Chartrand and Robbins fit the data, whereas the original model did not. The revision entailed dropping one item while retaining the four factors. Item loadings ranged from .44 to .89; factor intercorrelations ranged from .20 to .80. The internal consistency for the subscales ranged from .77 to .86 and .87 for the total inventory.

An Investigation of Big Five Personality Traits and Career Decidedness Among Early and Middle Adolescents

Big Five personality traits were analyzed in relation to career decidedness among adolescents in middle and high school. Participants were 248 7th-grade, 321 10thgrade, and 282 12th-grade students. As hypothesized, Conscientiousness was positively and significantly correlated with career decidedness in all three grades. Openness and Agreeableness were found to be positively related to career decidedness for these middle and high school students. Emotional Stability was positively, significantly related to career decidedness for the 12th-grade sample. There were no significant differences in correlational results for males versus females. No significant mean differences in career decidedness were observed between the three grades. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and career development efforts.

A Cluster-Analytic Investigation of Subtypes of Adult Career Counseling Clients: Toward a Taxonomy of Career Problems

Two hundred and seventy-eight adults who ranged in age from 18 to 69 years and were voluntarily in career counseling completed measures pre- and postcounseling to assess career-related variables (e.g., vocational identity) and psychological issues that may affect career concerns (e.g., level of psychological distress). Participant-clients received 1 to 14 sessions of individual career counseling, according to the need of each participant. The counselors were trained to use a holistic method of career counseling that emphasized the importance of considering career and psychosocial concerns together in working with the client. Using cluster analysis, four distinct types of career counseling clients were identified that provides an initial taxonomy of career problems with adult career clients. Pre- and postcounseling differences among clusters were examined. Implications of the findings for career counseling practice and further research are discussed.

Career and Vocational Assessment 1993 -1994: A Biennial Review

This is the first biannual review of research for the Journal of Career Assessment. A selective review, this article covers the 2- year period, 1993-1994. Seven inclusion criteria were employed in an effort to reduce the extensive literature by up to 50%. Principal topics were: The origin, structure, and nature of vocational interests; Career indecision; Culture and career assessment; Gender and career assessment; and Tests as tools: What should we teach graduate students? Several conclusions were drawn from this review. The proportion of vocational interests that can be attributed to genetic sources is apparently greater than was previously believed. Further, interests may be broad constructs if strong correlations between interests and personality continue to be found. Repeated confirmation of the circular arrangement of interests is leading to three-dimensional (spherical) models of interests. The introduction of one new, and three revised, interest inventories is testimony to the future viability of vocational interests as diagnostic and treatment devices. Career decision appears to have a strong neurotic component, but our understanding of the nature of indecision is limited by a failure to relate this area to basic decision science. Research on culture and gender in career development continues at a high rate. Finally, questions are raised about the adequacy of vocational assessment training in graduate programs. A call is made for more systematic theoretical work in vocational assessment and for a closer link to interventions.

The Career Factors Inventory: Theory and Applications

The Career Factors Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, 1990) is a multidimensional measure of antecedents of career indecision. The first part of this article describes the purpose and theoretical origins of the CFI, as well as the psychometric characteristics of the instrument. The second part of the article discusses potential applications of the CFI and includes a number of examples that illustrate how the CFI has been used in problem prevention, counseling, career development, and administrative planning situations.

The Impact of Work Quality and Quantity on the Development of Career Decision Status

A study is reported that investigates the relationship between career decision status, quantity and quality of work experience obtained by university students. Career decision status is the term used to capture an individual's level of decidedness and comfort with their career decisions and the reasons underlying this state (Jones & Lohmann, 1998). Measures of career decision status were collected from students enrolled in the third year of a Computer Science and Engineering degree over two phases: at the beginning of their third year (Time I); and at the beginning of fourth year (Time II). In between phases, some students completed paid intensive training placements as part of their course requirements, others gained non-degree relevant work experience and others did not work at all. Information was collected on the quantity of work undertaken and quality of work in terms of satisfaction, met expectations and relevance to course of study. Decidedness about career choice was a function of satisfaction and met expectations at work, rather than the number of hours worked. Decisiveness was a function of relevance of work to university degree, rather than the number of hours worked.

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Assessment Feedback Models in Reducing Career Indecision

We examined the relative effectiveness of information giving (IG) and therapeutic assessment (TA) models of career assessment feedback in reducing career indecision. Clients initiating career counseling at a large Midwestern University completed measures of career choice anxiety (CCA), vocational identity, and career decision-making self-efficacy prior to and following a two-session intervention. We also administered measures of treatment integrity and session helpfulness immediately following treatment. Clients were randomly assigned to an intervention based upon either an IG or TA model of assessment feedback. Results indicated that TA participants’ vocational identity scores improved significantly more than those of IG participants; a medium-to-large effect size was identified. TA and IG participants’ CCA and decision-making self-efficacy scores significantly increased but not differentially following treatment. Participants of both groups rated their feedback sessions as “greatly helpful.” We discuss implications for career assessment as well as the limitations of the study.

Social Status Identity: Antecedents and Vocational Outcomes

This study extended the literature on potential antecedents and outcomes of perceived social status, or differential status identity (DSI). Fouad and Brown’s DSI was used as a conceptual lens for examining the relation of supports and barriers to an individual’s perceived social status and subsequent career indecisiveness and career decision self-efficacy. Results from a path model using 299 diverse undergraduate students provided general support for the hypothesized model, which included self-reported race/ ethnicity, social class, experiences with racism and classism and primary caregiver support as antecedents of DSI, and indecisiveness and career decision self-efficacy as outcomes of it. Differential status identity was tested as a mediator of the relations between the antecedents and vocational outcomes. Overall, the model was determined to fit the data well, but some paths were unsupported. Implications for research and practice using DSI as a conceptual framework are discussed.

Career Maturity, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Career Indecision: A Review of the Accrued Evidence

This paper reviews the recent literature on the three related career developmental constructs of career maturity, career decision-making self-efficacy and career indecision. Articles included are those published since 1990, and were generated by searching the relevant psychology and education databases. Criticisms of the usefulness and validity of the constructs are highlighted. In particular, there have been calls for the career maturity and career indecision constructs to be revised and widened. The strengths and weaknesses of the research methodology used in the three areas are also examined, and recommendations for future research are made. In all areas there is a clear need for longitudinal designs to examine these developmental constructs.