Vocational Interest Inventory Research Articles

Vocational interest, skills, and counselling as correlates of unemployed graduates’ readiness to enter low-paying occupations in Delta State of Nigeria

There is a high level of unemployment amongst National Youth Service Corps-discharged graduates of universities and polytechnics in Nigeria, especially in Delta State. This necessitated guiding these graduates to take to low-skill, low-paying jobs, as an alternative to redundancy and the attendant indulgence in anti-social behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between vocational interest, skills possessed and vocational guidance techniques, and unemployed graduates’ readiness to enter into low-skill occupations. A research hypothesis was formulated for the correlational design study. Three instruments: the Modified Bakare Vocational Interest inventory (MB VII), the vocational skills possessed inventory (VSPI), and the vocational guidance techniques (counseling) were used. The study population comprised of all unemployed NYSC-discharged graduates in Delta State. Purposive sampling was used to select two Local Government Areas (LGA’s) from each of the three Senatorial Districts of Delta State (Six LGA’s). Random sampling was used to obtain two hundred and forty respondents from the six LGAs. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that vocational interest, skills possessed and counseling had significant relationships with unemployed graduate's readiness to enter low-skill occupations. They were all predictors of entry into low-skill jobs except counseling.

Evidence of validity based on the relation to other variable of Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory

Introduction. Analysis of the relationship between test scores and other variables provides an important source of evidence for validity. As a new instrument, evidence of validity of Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII) is needed to support its psychometric properties. The purpose of this study is to obtain evidence of the validity of Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII) based on relationships with other instrument which is Vocational Interest Scale (VIS). Method. 570 high school students were asked to complete Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII) and Vocational Interest Scale (VIS). The multitrait-multimethod was conducted by correlating the score of the Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII) with the score of Vocational Interest Scale (VIS). Results. Evidence of convergent validity was found in the Realistic, Artistic, and Investigative interest types. However, the results of the study did not show evidence of convergent validity for Social, Enterprising, and Conventional interest types. The negative correlation found in the Realistic-Social, Investigative-Enterprising, and Artistic-Conventional interest type relationships indicates the evidence of discriminant validity. Discussion and Conclusion. The evidence of validity obtained in this study supports the evidence of validity that has been obtained previously which are evidence of content validity and evidence of internal structure validity of the Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII). The items of Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII) need to be developed further to strengthen the representation of each type of interest.

The Early-Stage Development and Content Validity Examination of Ubaya Vocational Interest Inventory

Vocational interest alignment is the key for job seekers to successfully undertake training programs. However, the assessment tool under the context of the vocational system has not been available, specifically in the Employment and Transmigration Agency of the East Java Provincial Government in Indonesia. Therefore, this research aimed to develop an online assessment to measure the vocational interest of job seekers. It generated theories and items for the Ubaya Vocational Interest Inventory (UVII) and tested the content validity. The process of developing the construct of the UVII was conducted by reviewing the descriptions of job training programs in East Java Province. The examination of content validity involved 10 panelists, and the data were analyzed by the coefficient Aiken V. Based on the categorization of all training program reviewed, the results showed that there were 20 categories of vocations encompassing 4 clusters of interests, which were services, agriculture, arts, and engineering. There were 10 items developed for each category of vocational interest. The content validity examination found that 152, 32, and 16 items at 76%, 16%, and 8% were good (V>0.70), fairly good (V = 0.50 – 0.69), and poor (V<0.50), respectively. The findings indicated that most of the developed items represented the constructs measured. However, items in the fairly good category need to be revised, and those in the poor category should be changed with the new items.

Applicability and Efficiency of a Polytomous IRT-Based Computerized Adaptive Test for Measuring Psychological Traits

Currently, research on computerized adaptive testing (CAT) focuses mainly on dichotomous items and cognitive traits (achievement, aptitude, etc.). However, polytomous IRT-based CAT is a promising research area for measuring psychological traits that has attracted much attention. The main purpose of this study is to test the practicality of the polytomous IRT-based CAT and its equivalence with the paper-pencil version. Data were collected from 1449 high school students (45% female) via the paper-pencil version. The data were used for IRT parameter estimates and CAT simulation studies. For the equivalence study, the research group consisted of 81 students (47% female) who participated in both the paper-pencil and live CAT applications. The paper-pencil version of the vocational interest inventory consists of 17 factors and 164 items. When the EAP estimation method and setting SE < .50 as the termination criterion, better performance was obtained compared with other CAT designs. The Item selection did not help to reduce test duration or increase measurement accuracy. As a result, it was found that an area of interest can be assessed with four items. The results of the live CAT application showed that the estimates of CAT were strongly positively correlated with its paper-pencil version. In addition, the live CAT application increased applicability compared to the fixed-length test version by reducing test length by 50% and time by 77%. This study shows that the polytomous IRT-based CAT is applicable and efficient for measuring psychological traits.

Development and psychometric properties of the Nonverbal Vocational Interest Scale (NVIS)

Vocational interest inventories play an important role in supporting adolescents and young adults in their vocational choice. However, existing verbal and pictorial questionnaires have limitations regarding the complexity, abstraction level, and ambiguity of the item material. The presented research attempts to overcome these limitations by developing a new pictorial questionnaire. Study 1 describes the construction process of the Nonverbal Vocational Interest Scale (NVIS) and its psychometric properties, evaluation, and construct validation. Data from N = 363 adolescents and young adults in lower secondary school and vocational training centres were considered. Study 2 was conducted to confirm convergent and discriminant validity. N = 237 adolescents and young adults completed the revised form of the NVIS and the Photo-Interest-Inventory (F-I-T). The results confirm that the NVIS is a reliable and valid computer-based instrument for assessing vocational interests. Limitations and implications for further research and use in vocational training and counselling settings are discussed.

Validity and Reliability of Turkish Version of Skills Confidence Inventory

The Vocational Interest Inventory is one of the most commonly used instruments in career counselling in the past and present. The aim of this study is to adapt the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI) and obtain validity and reliability evidence for its Turkish version. The SCI Turkish version is called BGMIE (Becerilere Güven Mesleki Ilgi Envanteri) and is a list of vocational interests consisting of 164 items measuring 17 different areas of vocational interests. In the study, data were collected from 32 university students for the linguistic equivalence test, from 765 high school students for the pretest, and from 1449 high school students for the final test. The validity of the BGMIE was examined using the bilingual group, linguistic equivalence, and CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) scores. The results of the CFA analyses indicate a perfect fit for nine factors (Creative Production, Cultural Sensitivity, Data Management, Helping, Leadership, Office Services, Public Speaking, Science, Teamwork), a good fit for seven factors (Mechanics, Organisational Management, Project Management, Sales, Teaching, Use of Technology, Writing), and an acceptable fit for one factor (Mathematics).

Influence of Environment and Gender on Career Choice among Secondary School Students in Kaura Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Nigeria

The study examined the influence of environment and gender on career choice among secondary school students in Kaura Local Government of Kaduna State. A descriptive research design was used and 18 secondary schools were clustered into three chiefdoms to draw a sample of 6 secondary schools using purposive sampling technique. Also, a sample of 422 students from a population of 3558 students from the three Chiefdoms was drawn using cluster sampling technique. The study developed and used a questionnaire tagged ‘Environment, Gender and Career Choice Questionnaire (EGCCQ)’ with correlation coefficient of 0.78. The students’ career choice was based on the adoption of Career Interest Survey (CIS) and Vocational Interest Inventory (VII) developed by Bakare (1977). Descriptive statistics of simple percentage was used for the research question generated, while inferential statistics of multiple regression analysis was employed to analyse the null hypotheses developed for the study and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that students had preferences for career choice based on gender and environment. There was a significant composite influence of environment and gender on career choice among secondary school students in Kaura Local Government of Kaduna State, with the influence of environment being relatively than that of gender. It is therefore recommended among others that students should be well counselled in the choice of career process by professional counsellors and they should take into consideration the immediate environment of the students, their gender, interest, ability, skills and personality.

The Effect of Vocational Interest Inventory Guidance and Interpretation Activities on the Self-understanding Levels of Middle School Students

The Effect of Vocational Interest Inventory Guidance and Interpretation Activities on the Self-understanding Levels of Middle School Students

Summaries

In the Netherlands and Flanders, vocational interest inventories are frequently used to address (study) career dilemmas. In contrast to their popularity in practice, in the Dutch language region, there is relatively little research looking at vocational interest(s) (inventories). This article introduces the Spherical Model of Vocational Interests and the Dutch translation of the Personal Globe Inventory(PGI; Tracey, 2002), a measure for this model. The Spherical Model adds Prestige interests as a third dimension of vocational interests to the traditional two-dimensional circumplex. Additionally, the Spherical model splits the traditional circumplex in eight, rather than six, interest domains. The quality of the Dutch PGI was investigated with 12 samples. The psychometric qualities of the full Dutch PGI and its short version appeared to be acceptable to exemplary: the items of the scales largely fitted with the appropriate scales, the scales correlated according to the expected circumplex order, and the reliabilities were acceptable. The largest gender difference was found on the People-versus-Things dimension. Additionally, younger and more educated people scored higher on Prestige interests. Future research could further the understanding of the content of the Prestige dimension and how this dimension affects (study) career processes and outcomes.

Students’ interest as correlate of career aspiration of senior secondary school students in Rivers State

Study investigated the relationship between vocational interest and career aspiration of senior secondary school students in Rivers State. One research The question and four hypotheses tested at .05 level of significance. The population of the study comprised senior public secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The sample of the study consisted of 200 senior public secondary school students drawn through stratified sampling technique. Two standardized instruments – motivation for occupational preference scale (MOPS) and vocational interest inventory (VII) were used in gathering data for the study. Pearson product moment correlation method was used in analyzing the research question and hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that there was significant relationship between students’ interest and their career aspiration. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made and conclusions were drawn.

Development of Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory for Adolescents

Introduction. This study aimed to develop Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII), a vocational interest inventory for adolescents presented in the form of picture pairs, specially developed to represent the Holland’s RIASEC characteristics.Method. To obtain the evidence of test content, 31 experts judge the suitability of the PVII’s items with the theory. Items with high Aiken’s V index were selected and tested to the adolescents. The respondents for PVII’s testing were 826 High School students. The item analysis of PVII was performed for each interest type to select items with the corrected item-total correlation coefficient .30 or higher. Internal consistency and test-retest procedure were applied to get the reliability coefficients of the PVII. The construct validity for each type of interest was analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).Results. Based on Aiken's V index of .80 or higher, 24 items were selected each with corrected item-total correlation coefficients ranging from .308 to .684. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients ranged from .600 to .788, while the test-retest reliability ranged from .707 to .820. The result of CFA showed that the factor loadings of the PVII’s items ranged from .403 to .820; all of the factor loadings were significant at p< .01.Conclusion. The findings of this study provide psychometrics support of the PVII as an adequate instrument to assess vocational interest in adolescents.

PSYCHOSOCIAL CORRELATES OF CAREER MATURITY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN SOKOTO METROPOLIS, SOKOTO STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated psychosocial correlates of career maturity of secondary school teachers in Sokoto metropolis. The population of the study was all 1,298 teachers in 25 public secondary schools in Sokoto metropolis. The sample size of 297 teachers was selected using proportionate random sampling technique. Three instruments were used for data collection. They include an adopted version of Jung’s Typology Test (16Personality Questionnaire) to measure personality type. The instrument was validated by experts in counselling and measurement at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and co-efficient of 0.68 was returned for the instrument when it was tested for reliability. The second instrument as Bakare’s Vocational Interest Inventory (VII) that was used to measure vocational interest of the respondents and its validity and reliability were obtained and documented by Bakare, The third instrument was Tambawal’s (2001) Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale (CMIAS) used to measure teachers’ career maturity which was validated and its reliability was obtained by Tambawal. Three research hypotheses were formulated and tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient, and Multiple Regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The study found significant relationship between career interest and career maturity of secondary school teachers, but found no significant difference between personality and career maturity of secondary school teachers. The study recommended that Sokoto state chapter of Counselling Association of Nigeria (CASSON) should, on a regular basis, organise seminars, workshops and symposia for teachers to furnish them with information on the types of personality that fit different careers and how they can manage their personality to grow in their chosen careers.

Vocational Interest of Secondary School Students with Reference to their Gender

This study is an attempt to know the vocational interest of the secondary school students. The sample consisted of 120 students of class 9th. That is 60 male and 60 female. Vocational interest was measured by “Vocational Interest Inventory” (Jansari). The data was analyzed by using ‘t’ test. The results reveal that male students are more interested in enterprising fields of vocation than female students.

Adolescents’ Gender And Age As Correlates Of Career Choice Among Secondary School Students In Southwest Nigeria

The issues of gender and adolescents age difference as they relate with choice of career among secondary school students in southwest Nigeria are the core concerns of this paper. The study was an empirical one which focused on senior secondary school students who are in their penultimate years in the secondary school, where subject selection takes place based on their career interests. A total of 100 SSII students responded to the study, who were selected through a multistage random sampling technique. The instrument, tagged “Student Career Inventory (SCI) was constructed by the researchers and validated against two similar instruments namely - the Vocational Interest Inventory (VII) and Career Inventory Survey (CIS) for content and construct validities using factor analysis. This yielded coefficients of 0.58 and 0.63 respectively. The same process of factor analysis was used to test the reliability of the instrument which was found to be reliable with a coefficient of 0.966. The finding of the study showed a significance difference in the choice of career between male and female students, but not significant as with respect to age difference between 15 and 17 years. Based on this, it was recommended among others that gender issue should be put into consideration when career choice is to be treated.

The Appropriateness of Using the Self-Directed Search Questionnaire in Developing Countries: A Pilot Study with South African Navy Divers

In contested labour markets in developing countries, vocational interest inventories could potentially match applicants to speciality occupations. This descriptive study investigated the appropriateness of career interest, represented by the SDS, to guide vocational placement in a developing country. The study applied Holland’s concepts of congruence, differentiation, and consistency of vocational profile to South African Navy divers as a case study. The 81 navy divers generated an S/R/E code, but with questionable congruence, and poor differentiation and consistency. The results suggested that the profile might reflect socioeconomic dynamics rather than the expression of personality-vocational matching, and such scales might not be useful for vocational placement in local environments. The study cautions the use of vocational guidance instruments in context of developing countries, where socio-economic considerations may outweigh personality characteristics in career choices.

Assessing the congruence of worker and workplace using the proximities of their RIASEC types

Vocational interest inventories are often designed, scored and interpreted in accordance with the six Holland types (R, I, A, S, E and C) and their hexagonal arrangement. A three-letter code then identifies the three types on which the person scored most highly. The congruence between a person and their environment (e.g. workplace or field of study) may affect their satisfaction and performance, and how to define congruence is a question of long standing. The method proposed here is based on (a) the presence and position of each of the six Holland types in the two three-letter codes being compared (or their absence from the codes) and (b) proximities of all pairs of types, reflecting the hexagonal arrangement of the types. There is discussion of whether the hexagonal arrangement ought to be used in calculating congruence, but a definite answer is not yet clear.

Validity of Person Matching in Vocational Interest Inventories

Research for more than 60 years has shown that entry into occupations can be predicted from scores on interest inventories at a rate better than chance (Donnay, ). The psychometric scoring methodologies used today by a majority of vocational interest inventories were developed in the 1920s and 1960s. Researchers are challenged with improving the theory and science behind vocational interest inventories to align them with current vocational constructions. In this study, validity comparisons were made between person matching and standard scoring based on 5,143 medical students who had taken a vocational interest inventory and had entered their medical residency. Person matching was found to improve differentiation between occupational groups and increase the amount of information offered in the scoring report; in addition, it could potentially increase occupational group assignment to advance vocational interest inventory validity.

Construction and Validation of Career Interest Scale for Senior Secondary Schools Students in Nigeria

The construction and validation of career interest scale is borne out of the need to develop an interest scale that will be valid and reliable for the measurement of interest of any individual student who aspires to choose a direction of study that will enable him perform exceptionally well in any chosen field. The study is directed to the SSII students who are in their penultimate year of writing their final secondary school examination. A total of 1090 responses were processed. A multistage random sampling technique was adopted, and the population was the Senior Secondary Schools in the southwest Nigeria. The construct validity was established by convergent validity of the instrument “Student Career Inventory” (SCIn) with Career Interest Survey (downloaded from internet) and Vocational Interest Inventory developed locally by C.G.M. Bakare (1977) both with correlations of 0.63 and 0.58 respectively. Factor analysis was also employed to further confirm the content, construct, and the unidimentionality of the instrument. It also confirmed the criterion related reliability of the instrument with Holland’s postulations. The result further proved that, apart from validity and reliability of the instrument, it revealed that there was significant difference in the choice of career interest between students in urban and rural locations; and between male and female students in south west Nigeria.

Reliability and Validity of the “Reading-free Vocational Interest Inventory (R-FVII)” in Adolescents and Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

It is noticed lack of vocational guidance tools for students with intellectual disabilities (ID), certified as to their reliability and validity. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of the “Reading - Free Vocational Interest Inventory” (R-FVII) of Becker (1981), which is one of the best non - verbal assessment tool of vocational preferences. The participants were 35 students with mild ID at the Training Schools for Persons with Special Needs in Western Macedonia and their teachers (N=34). Based on the data obtained, it was found that the tool has satisfactory levels of reliability and validity.

Does gender-specific differential item functioning affect the structure in vocational interest inventories?

The study investigates consequences of eliminating items showing gender-specific differential item functioning (DIF) on the psychometric structure of a standard RIASEC interest inventory. Holland’s hexagonal model was tested for structural invariance using a confirmatory methodological approach (confirmatory factor analysis and randomization tests of hypothesized order relations). Results suggest that eliminating items showing gender-specific DIF had no considerable influence on the instrument’s psychometric structure. Considering DIF as one possibility to improve test fairness when developing interest inventories is discussed.